Rum River icelandics

Latest news

May 26, 2009

Our VAI lambs are finally here! After much anticipation, we acheived a respectable 50% conception rate. We have 3 wonderful rams and a single spotted ewe. Our cleanup wasn't as successful as we had hoped, resulting in a spotted ewe and a beautiful and dashing moorit grey ram. Check our out Lamb Gallery for some recent photos. We are very excited about the Hvellur, Prins, Dropi, and Blettur lines we are bringing into our flock with this years lambs. So far, the Hvellur Son and Prins Son lambs are looking to be wonderful additions to any flock. As they mature through the summer months, we will be keeping an eye on them to make sure they are keeping up with expectations, and will provide you with up-to-date photos and pricing based on their condition.

April 16, 2009

We are still awaiting the new arrivals. They should start hitting the ground starting the 27th of April. We are all very excited on the prospects. This is our second year using the VAI technique and expect fair performance. Check out our VAI Sires Gallery (link below) to see which rams we used. Also, take a look at the VAI Sires I have picked for next breeding season under the 2009 VAI Wish List link below. I hope to improve my flock considerably with these AI bloodlines, and making those improvements available to you.

March 9, 2009

As you can see, we are slowly revealing our new web page format. This site will be fully functional later this week. Come back soon!!

March 9, 2009

We are anxiously awaiting the arrivals of our spring lambs. This is our second year using the VAI technique and are excited to see which genetics we will have to offer. This year, we used semen from Blettur, Dropi, Prins, and Kvellur.

Welcome to Rum River Icelandics

Welcome! Here at RRI, we sell registered purebred Icelandic Sheep. Our primary goal is to provide you with the freshest bloodlines and the best improved breeding stock. We are currently implementing what we call "Primary VAI", which means 70% of our ewes of breeding quality and age (2 years or older) will be inseminated for up to 2 cycles. If at that point she returns to cycle for a third time, we will breed her to the finest farm ram available to us. By doing our breeding plan in this way, we are affording ourselves the genetics of top quality rams, fresh bloodlines, and an overall improvement to the breed, without sacrificing the wool qualities we have taken the last 4 years to develop. Please take a look at the VAI Sires used for the 2008-2009 VAI Sires Gallery , and then take a look at our 2009 VAI Wish List.

2009 Lambs

The 2009 lambs are on their way. I expect them to start showing up in mid-April! Click on the 2008 VAI Sires Gallery in the "Useful Links" section to see the sires used for last fall's breeding.

About Us

We are located 6 miles northwest of Milaca, Minnesota, just 3 miles off of U.S. Highway 169. Nestled in a new development area, we have about 7 acres of what was once an alfalfa field. When I moved here with my wife and children in the fall of 2002, we debated back and forth about what to do with 7 acres. It's too much to mow, not enough to farm. We thought of raising animals, but what? Were we going to raise elk, Lowline Angus, alpacas, or Whitetail Deer? Maybe open a nursery business growing shrubs, trees, and other landscape plants? Never did I imagine that we would choose sheep! Lo and behold, on that fateful spring day in 2003, I was looking through a book about various breeds of sheep and came across this very unique looking animal. It had the shape of a sheep, the horns of a sheep, but was it? The wool, long and flowing, looked more like an exotic animal from some far off place. Little did I know that it did indeed come from some far off place. That place being Iceland. From that day forward, our hearts were set on the Icelandic Sheep. Every day has been a joy in taking care of them, nurturing the lambs, watching them jump and play in the springtime sun, and watching the rams establish their dominance. There have been many heartbreaks along the way, but all-in-all, I couldn't be happier with anything else!