It All Started with Two Lambs
I grew up in a horse family — not a sheep family. Sheep weren’t part of my childhood dreams.
But when I was pregnant with our second son, Chris and I brought home two Romney lambs… and everything changed.
We fell in love instantly.
There is something about sheep — their gentle eyes, their quiet presence, the way they learn your voice — that captures your heart before you even realize it’s happening. What began as two lambs soon grew into a flock, and along the way, our appreciation for the incredible diversity within the sheep world grew too. We added more Romneys and later some Shetlands, each bringing their own charm to the farm.
Learning and Loving Many Breeds
When I worked as the manager of a large resort fiber farm, I had the opportunity to raise and care for several other breeds: Leicester Longwools, California Variegated Mutant Romeldales (CVM), Babydoll Southdowns, and Border Leicester/Suffolk crosses. Each breed had something special about it — a look, a fleece, a personality quirk. I truly loved something unique about every one of them.
And then, in 2018, I discovered Finnsheep.
Discovering Finnsheep
At the time, Finnsheep were still fairly new to New England. Our first Finns came from Boondoggle Farm in Putney, Vermont. From the very beginning, we knew we had found something extraordinary.
Also known as Finnish Landrace sheep, Finns are an ancient short-tailed Scandinavian breed. They’re naturally polled (hornless), which makes handling easier and safer. But while their history is impressive, it’s their hearts that won us over.
Personality That Makes Daily Chores a Joy
Finnsheep are smaller than most breeds, which makes them wonderfully manageable — especially now that we’re in semi-retirement on our Vermont farm. But what truly sets them apart is their personality. Finns are exceptionally friendly — almost goat-like in their curiosity and affection. They greet us. They follow us. They want to be part of whatever we’re doing.
When your sheep meet you at the gate with bright eyes and wagging tails, daily chores don’t feel like chores at all.
A Spinner’s Dream: The Fiber
And then there’s the fiber.
Finnsheep wool is often described as a spinner’s dream — soft, lustrous, and incredibly versatile. It’s a medium-fine, single-coated fleece (24–31 micron count) with a 3–6 inch staple length, soft enough to wear next to the skin. Crafters love it for spinning, knitting, and felting.
Even better, Finnsheep come in a stunning range of natural colors — white, black, gray, brown, and fawn — often with beautiful variations and depth of shade within a single fleece. Their natural palette means we can create without dye if we choose.
And here’s something truly remarkable: Finnsheep can be sheared twice a year. With space for just twelve sheep, we harvest the equivalent fleece of twenty-four. For a small farm like ours, that’s an incredible advantage.
Devoted Mothers and a Sustainable Flock
As devoted and capable mothers, Finns are known for having large litters — twins are common, but we’ve had many triplets and even quadruplets. Despite that, they are attentive, nurturing, and steady. Watching a Finn ewe mother her lambs is one of the quiet joys of shepherding.
Finnsheep live around twelve years, which means we don’t need to continually raise large numbers of lambs to maintain our flock. Three years ago, we welcomed seven lambs, bringing us to a total of twelve sheep — a perfect number for our land and more than enough wool for us to use and enjoy.
The Perfect Fit for Our Farm and Our Philosophy
For us, Finnsheep are the perfect fit.
They’re manageable in size.
Rich in fiber.
Naturally colorful.
Full of personality.
Most importantly, they align beautifully with our philosophy: we raise sheep not for meat, but for companionship and fiber. They are not production units — they are individuals. Pets with purpose. Partners in our daily life.
After decades of working with many breeds — and loving them all — we’ve found our home with Finns.
And we truly can’t imagine our farm without them.
Recommended Sheep Reading
If you’d like find the perfect sheep for you, or simply learn more about various breeds, I highly recommend reading The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius
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