La bergère bretonne by Paul Gauguin
Finnish Nursery Rhyme
Introduction
Aurorae borealis seen from Siilinjärvi, Finland ©Janne
Mention Finland and most people will instantly think of the aurora borealis, majestic forests, pristine lakes, and long snowy winters where the sun hardly rises. Perhaps a few may start humming the tune “Finland” by Monty Python where Michael Palin sings the famous chorus, “Finland has it all!”. But mention Finland to spinners and other thoughts will immediately emerge; beautiful, soft, open wool, a pleasing crimp, fine wool, luster. All these are thoughts of Finnwool. These are the mental images, which come to my mind as I am about to write this article.
The first time I was drawn – yes, it spoke to me – to Finnwool was at the annual Gore Place Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts. I was volunteering my drum carding skills for the Boston Area Spinners and Dyers. We were carding wool, spinning, and making bracelets for children while introducing them to the world of handspinning.
Lovely Finnwool!
It was during the break that I spotted the irresistible white cloud of incredibly soft fiber at a local vendor stall. I looked at the tag to find out the name of the wool I was about to purchase. It was Finnwool and I was in love.
History of The Breed:
©Andrei Niemimäki, Turku, Finland
The history of Finnish Landrace sheep goes back to the Iron Age. They belong to the northern short-tailed breed of sheep, which include the Romanov, Goth, Spaelsau, Faroe, Orkney/Shetland, British Four-horned, and Cladagh sheep. The word landrace means “country breed (or race)” in Danish. A landrace animal or plant was not bred by humans to favor a specific set of characteristics, e.g. breeding to improve wool or meat quality. Finnish Landrace sheep evolved naturally in response to their environment. They have been a fixture of the rural Finnish countryside and are considered to be of national cultural interest. Historically, the landrace’s chief product has been wool but in modern times the focus has been on producing lamb meat.
The Finnish Sheep Breeders Association of Finland was formed in 1918 to improve the quality of wool and meat. In 2004, they were joined by the Finnsheep Association of Finland to offer support and connection to breeders of Finns throughout the world, as well as to preserve the breed through conservation endeavors. Their efforts include the freezing of semen and embryos as well as live gene-bank animals kept around the country. There are an estimated 20,000 Finnsheep ewes in Finland with approximately 8000 of those ewes officially registered, as of 2008.
©Dave_S. of flickr
Finland started exporting Finnsheep in the early 1960’s first to Britain and then into North America. The United States gained its first Finns in 1968. The main purpose of importation was to start a crossbreeding program to take advantage of the prolific nature of the breed. They have proven to have an excellent effect on wool quality and have also increased lambing rates. Crossbreeding Finnsheep with various other sheep has created 20 different breeds.
Imported by Australia in 1981, the Finn is most often crossed with Merino sheep. The Finn-merino has more lambs and offers high quality wool without the act of mulesing. Many other breeds have been successfully crossed including the Dorset and Texel sheep. Dolly, the famous cloned sheep, was a Finn-Dorset.
What’s in a name?
Map of Finland
Suomenlammas, which, when translated to English, means Finnsheep are also called Finn and Finnish Landrace Sheep (which are used interchangeably). It is easy to get confused as to what sheep we are talking about.
Image of Kainuunharmas and ahvenanmaanlammas ©Jaana Viinikka
There are three similar breeds of sheep in Finland that are often mistaken for each other. The Suomenlammas is the topic of this article and is what we think of as a traditional Finnish Landrace sheep. A very close relative of the Suomenlammas is the Kainuunharmas. Kainuunharmas means the grey sheep of Kainuu, which is a region in the North-east of Finland. It was only recently that this grey colored sheep was determined to be a different breed through DNA testing. Their appearance is similar to the Suomenlammas though the fleece of the Kainuunharmas is not as fine.
The third type of native sheep in Finland that we come across is the Ahvenanmaanlammas on the Islands of Åland. Åland is comprised of 6,500 islands and skerries, 65 of which are populated. It is the smallest region of Finland and it sits in the entrance of the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. The Ahvenanmaanlammas differ from Finnsheep and their closely related cousin, the Kainuunharmas, in size and fleece quality. They are much smaller animals, have a dual coated fleece, and both sexes may be horned. As of 2008, there were 900 Åland ewes in Finland.
Breed Characteristics:
Finnsheep are social animals with a strongly developed herd instinct. Males typically weigh between 150-200 lbs. Adult females weigh in at 120-190 lbs. Both sexes are naturally polled with only 1% of Finn males having horns. Their heads and legs are free of wool. They have a kind, endearing face with eyes that speak of intelligence and humor. An interesting characteristic of the short tailed sheep is that it has less space between each vertebra. Also, instead of the typical 20 vertebrae of sheep, the Finns are equipped with only 13.
Finnsheep, as mentioned before, are famous for their prolific breeding. It is an extremely fertile breed, with the ewes having a high rate of ovulation, a large womb, early maturity, and excellent mothering ability. It is no surprise that there have been more university studies involving them than any other sheep breed in the world. Some areas of interest in these studies are increased milk production, bone strength, and exploring the various reasons for their reproductive prolificacy.
The Wool:
Natural Brown Finnwool, oh yeah!
A typical Finnsheep fleece weighs 4-8 lbs with a yield after washing of about 70%. The most recurring color is white, which is the dominant gene, but many sheep of colored wool are produced including black, brown, spotted (pie-bold), fawn, badger-faced pattern, and grey. Fiber fineness is 24-31 microns or 60s-50s for a Bradford count. Staple length is generally between 3-6 inches. Fleeces should contain little to no guard hairs, have a silky feel, medium crimp, and open locks.
The wool has moderate loft, is semi-lustrous, and is somewhat elastic. Care must be taken not to agitate the fleece when washing as it felts easily.
Finnwool is suited to a multitude of textile and crafting projects including sweaters that are warm yet lightweight, woven blankets and throws, and outwear such as mittens, hats, etc. It will take dye well and will add luster and loft when blended with camelid fibers such as alpaca and llama. It is a truly versatile wool with unlimited uses for the creative mind.
Resources:
I would like to thank Pia Parikka of the ProAgria Keskusten Liitto and Dr Juha Kantanen,Head of Farm Animal Section ofNordGen – Nordic Genetic Resource Center for answering my many questions and providing me with extra valuable resources. Also, I would like to thank Jaana Viinikka for his lovely sheep picture and wonderful links.
Agricultural Research Institute of Iceland, NorthSheD: Origin and Diversity of North European Sheep Breeds, http://www.rala.is/beta/01%20Finn%20sheep.htm, Retrieved on Aug 30, 2010.
American Wool Council, Wool Grades and the sheep that grow the wool, http://www.sheepusa.org/get_page/pageID/134, Retrieved on Aug 30, 2010.
Dictionary.com, Landrace, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/landrace Retrieved on Aug 30, 2010.
Finnsheep Breeders Association, Inc, Breed Information, http://www.finnsheep.org/Home_Page.html, Retrieved Aug 31, 2010.
Finnsheep.fi, Finnsheep, http://www.finnsheep.fi/english/index.html, Retrieved Aug 30, 2010.
Fournier, Nola and Jane, S, In Sheep’s Clothing, A Handspinners Guide to Wool, 1995, Interweave Press, Loveland, CO, 222p, Hardback (ISBN 1-883010-11-X)
Heinonen, Sampsa: Organic Farming in Finland. In: Steffi Graf / Helga Willer (Eds.): Organic Agriculture in Europe. Results of the Internet Project http://www.organic-europe.net, Co-funded by the EUCommission, General Directorate Agriculture (GD Agri), SÖL-Sonderausgabe 75, Stiftung Ökologie & Landbau (SÖL), Bad Dürkheim, Germany, 2000.
Kuehn, Bridget, M, Goodbye, Dolly; first cloned sheep dies at six years old, American Veterinary Medical Association, Javma news, professional issues, April 15, 2003, http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/apr03/030415f.asp, Retrieved on Aug 31, 2010.
Häggblom, Maija, Maatiainen, Åland Sheep: more than just sheep in Åland, http://www.maatiainen.fi/tekstit/ahvenanmaanlammas2009.htm, Retrieved on Sept 1, 2010.
Häggblom, Maija, Maatiainen, Sheep Finland, Aland sheep and kainuunharmas, http://maatiainen.fi/tekstit/lammas.htm, Retrieved Sept 1, 2010
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Finland), Agricultural Production, http://www.mmm.fi/en/index/frontpage/agriculture/maataloustuotanto.html, Retrieved Aug 30, 2010.
Ross, Mabel, Encyclopedia of Handspinning, 1988, B.T. Batsford, London, 224pp, ISBN: 0-7134-4703-6
Ryder, M.L., A survey of European primitive breeds of sheep, Ann. Genet. Sel. Anim., 1981, 13 (4), pp 381-418
Scantours, The history of the Åland Islands, http://www.scantours.com/history_of_aland.htm, Retrieved on Sept 1, 2010.
Statistics Finland, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery, http://www.tilastokeskus.fi/tup/suoluk/suoluk_maatalous_en.html, Retrieved on Aug 30, 2010.
Strandén, M.-H. Li, I, Kantanen, J, Genetic diversity and pedigree analysis of the Finnsheep breed, Journal of Animal Science, 2009.87:1598-1605, doi: 10.2527/jas.2008-0848 originally published online Jan 2, 2009; Retrieved Sept 13, 2010.
US Dept of State: Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Background Note: Finland, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3238.htm, Published June 23, 2010, Retrieved Aug 31, 2010.
Wikipedia, Finland, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland, Retrieved Aug 30, 2010.
Wikipedia, Landrace, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landrace, Retrieved Aug 30, 2010.
Wikipedia, Northern European short-tailed sheep, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_European_short-tailed_sheep, Retrieved Aug 30, 2010.