The Old Norwegian Sheep (Norwegian: Gammelnorsk sau) is likely the breed that most closely resembles the original Northern European short-tailed sheep in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. Although the breed almost went extinct at several points in the last century, conservation efforts have succeeded in growing the population to around 30,000 animals and the breed is no longer considered threatened. The breed is particularly suited for being kept outside all year, a practice that stems back to the Viking Age.
History and origins
The breed likely descends from bronze-age sheep from
Western Norway
Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...
. This was the most common breed in Norway until the end of the 19th century, when it was overtaken by breeds that had been imported from England since the early 1700s. In the beginning 20th century, only small and scattered populations of Norwegian short-tailed sheep remained. Today, all Old Norwegian Sheep descend from
Austevoll
Austevoll is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality and an archipelago in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Midthordland in Western Norway. The administrative centre ...
.
Split from Spælsau
In 1912, two breeding programmes were started to conserve what remained of this original Norwegian sheep stock. One of these breeding stations housed coastal sheep, which eventually gave rise to the Old Norwegian Sheep, whereas the other breeding station housed inland sheep, which eventually gave rise to the closely related
Spælsau
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The Spælsau (Old Norwegian Short Tail Landrace, Gamalnorsk spæl Norwegian) is a breed of sheep from Norway. Many consider Spælsau to be the original breed of sheep in Norway, and it is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep ...
.
Characteristics
Old Norwegian Sheep is small and easy at foot. The colour scheme varies greatly. Unlike Spælsau, it is not desirable for the wool to be long, as this can cause issues during winter. The breed naturally sheds its wool, and so there should be little or no need to shear.
Rams
In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS) When escaping predators, the herd will flee in a distinctive pattern that draws the predator towards the stronger animals thereby protecting weaker individuals. Because of the breed's speed, losses to predators are very rarely registered.
Grazing
The grazing habits of the Old Norwegian Sheep is adapted to the heathermoorlands of Coastal Norway. In addition to common heather, Old Norwegian Sheep graze on
leaves
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
,
herb
Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...
s,
kelp
Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order (biology), order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genus, genera. Despite its appearance and use of photosynthesis in chloroplasts, kelp is technically not a plant but a str ...
and other
seaweeds
Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...
. The breed can dig through the snow to reach heather even during the winter. This, combined with the relatively mild winters in Coastal Norway, means that the breed is capable of being kept outside the entire year.
Meat
The Old Norwegian Sheep does not produce a lot of meat. The meat is renowned for being tender and marbled. If reared traditionally, the taste is described as approaching
gamey
Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, tho ...
and is considered sweeter than normal
mutton
Lamb and mutton, collectively sheep meat (or sheepmeat) is one of the most common meats around the world, taken from the domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries'', and generally divided into lamb, from sheep in their first year, hogget, from sheep in thei ...
Norsk Villsau (literally Norwegian Wild Sheep) is a trade mark for Old Norwegian Sheep that is reared in the traditional fashion by being kept outside all year in Norwegian heather moorland. Since 2010 Villsau fra Norskekysten (Wild Sheep from Coastal Norway) has also been protected geographical indication in Norway. The owner of both the trademark and the protected geographical indication is the common-interest associatio Norsk Villsaulag The creation of the brand name appears to correlate with a subsequent increased interest in keeping the breed.