Crossbreeze Farm Icelandic Sheep

Welcome to Crossbreeze Farm Icelandic Sheep

and

Kross Gola AKC/UKC Registered Icelandic Sheepdogs  

All of the puppies are reserved.

Ace, Biggby, and Dodge at 7 weeks.

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The Puppies are Here!

Link to puppy page

Vera delivered 5 big male puppies early on the morning of 12/17/12 

Kross Gola Kelinn (Calvin) at 8 weeks 

AKC CH Foothills Laki and Lavendels Vera are expecting a litter in December 2012

Contact us for more information

colleen@crossbreezefarm.com

Foothills Laki acheived his AKC Championship in January 2012

See more of him on the

Icelandic Sheepdog Page

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Kross Gola Elska at 1 year 

The first Kross Gola Litter

("Cross Breeze" in Icelandic)

turned 1 year old on 7/22/12 

See their pictures on the

2011 Litter Puppy Page!

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We have some lovely roving and felting bats for sale. See them on the roving page.

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Welcome to Crossbreeze Farm!

We specialize in raising and selling registered Icelandic Sheep. This ancient breed is known for its high quality wool, meat and milk.

Our sheep are registered with the Canadian Livestock Corp. and we participate in the Voluntary Scrapie Prevention Program

We have found Icelandic sheep to be wonderful animals for a small farm setting. They are excellent mothers, usually producing twins and raising fast growing lambs on hay or pasture without grain supplementation. They are curious, friendly and playful. We halter train all of our lambs for ease of handling. Icelandic sheep are wonderful for clearing brush. They will eat just about anything (they love poison ivy!) Some farms milk their sheep and use the milk in cheese or soap production. Their fleeces are great for hand spinning and felting art. These sheep are truly versatile!

Feel welcome to tour our site to view our Icelandics. We are certain you will enjoy them as much as we do. We believe that these beautiful creatures are a gift of God for all to enjoy.

Thanks for visiting.

Enjoy your stay at Crossbreeze!

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Our Sheep are registered with the Canadian Livestock Records Corperation (CLRC)  This is the registering body for Icelandic sheep in North America.

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The 2013 Lambs are Here!

See them on the 2013 for sale  Page

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Our Sheep are handled from birth and are very friendly.  (We make sure the rams are respectful of humans and not too tame.)

 Above:  Abby with Evangeline and Artemis

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Last year's lambs,

Ralph and Stallone had an excellent time at Michigan Fiberfest

This year's lambs have the same sire as these guys:

Stallone won 1st place Icelandic Ram Lamb, 1st place pair of ram lambs, Reserve Champion Icelandic Ram, Best Fleece on the Hoof, and Best Michigan Natural Colored Fleece

Ralph won 2nd place out of 12 Icelandic Ram Lambs, 1st Place in Pair of Ram Lambs.  We are very proud of them both!

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Contact us with any questions. 

We love to talk about our sheep!

For more info on Icelandic Sheep,

Visit ISBONA (Icelandic Sheep Breeders' Association of North America)

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Icelandic Sheep Care

Crossbreeze Farm 

Here are a few tips I have picked up from experience and other shepherds: 

1. Shelter:  Always provide shade.  Sheep are more sensitive to heat than to cold. 
2. Water:  Fresh water must always be available. 
3. Food:  Icelandic sheep thrive on good grass, legumes, and hay.  They will eat almost anything, but introduce new foods gradually.  Avoid too much alfalfa.  If a sheep eats too much rich food, it can “bloat.”  You should keep a bottle of Therabloat on hand just in case. 
4. Minerals:  Loose sheep minerals or goat minerals offered free choice.  I use Tractor Supply’s Dumor brand.  I also use a brand of mineral called Sweetlix.  I have begun to add SelPlex natural selenium (http://www.sel-plex.com/en/about/pages/default.aspx) and vit. E to my minerals. I add about 2 lbs Selplex and 3 lbs E 20,000 to one 50 lb bag of minerals.  The Selplex can be obtained from North Central Feeds, Gonvick, MN 218-487-6040 ask for Zena. She'll box up small amts.  I also offer dried kelp separately as well as a product called Dyna-Min (http://www.agri-dynamics.com/) that contains copper, cobalt, and many other trace minerals.  Recently it has come to my attention that sheep need more cobalt, so try to find a mineral mix which has cobalt in it.  If you have a grain elevator, they may carry these products or be able to get them for you.  If you can’t locate them, I may be able to help you find a source. 
5. Protein block:  If the sheep are stressed by heat, lambing, travel, heavy worm infestations, etc. I give them a Dumor Sheep or Goat Protein block.  The goat block has some copper in it which Icelandic sheep need in their diet.  They love these! 
6. Treats:  Roasted soybeans, sunflower seeds and shredded beat pulp are all healthy snacks. 
7. Worming:  There are many chemical wormers.  Some are no longer effective on sheep parasites. I use: Levasole (levamisole), and Cydectin (Moxidectin).  Valbazen (albendazole) is used for liver flukes and tapeworm,  Check with a vet, Pipestone Sheep Supply, or other livestock supply co. for availability.  Worm according to weight and do not underdose!  Wt. Formula: measure around sheep. This is the girth (G).  Measure the length of the sheep from shoulder to hip (L).  G x G x L divided by 300 = weight.  Worm the sheep based on the color of its inner eyelid.  Pull out the lower lid and examine it.  If it is pale pink or white, worm the sheep.  In spring and summer, check eyelids often (every week or two).  Another sign of serious parasites is “bottle jaw.”  This is a swelling under the lower jaw.  If you see this, worm immediately!  Some shepherds use organic methods of worming with or instead of chemical wormers.  See Drench Recipe in packet for one vitamin and mineral drench that I use.  Parasite information:  http://www.sheep101.info/201/parasite.html 
8. Vaccinations:  Sheep should receive a CDT booster every spring. 
9. Shearing:  Icelandic sheep are generally sheared in spring and fall (March and November.)  The spring clip is shorter and better for felting; the fall clip is longer and is used for spinning. 
10. Hooves:  Most shepherds trim their sheep’s hooves a couple of time per year with trimmers made for that purpose. (Pipestone or Premier) 
11. Supplies:  Syringes and needles, BoSe (selenium and vit. E) PenG and LA 200 (antibiotics)  
12. Ask questions!  Call or e-mail myself (269-792-1437, colleen@crossbreeze.com), other shepherds, the Yahoo ISBONA group, Pipestone Vets, or your own vet.   The Maryland Small Ruminant web site has a ton of information:  http://www.sheepandgoat.com/