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Our colourful Icelandic cows.

The icelandic cow is an ancient breed, rather small but comes in all sorts of colors. The first cows came to iceland with the settlers, before year 1000 AD, and ever since there has been little or no import of dairy cows. This breed, because of its purity and isolation, is unique in the world.This breed is the only breed of dairy-cows in Iceland, and because of the import-ban we are free from most of the diseases so frequent in many countries.
    They use feed very efficiently, which is good in a country where other feed than grass-hay is expensive.   Usually they are only fed grass-hay, and less than 4 kg (8 pounds) of cereals per day (usually a concentrate-mix with minerals in it). Most farms in Iceland have tie-stalls, but milking-parlours are becoming more frequent.
    The summer is short here, and the cows have to be in the barns from the beginning of october to the beginning of june, at least here in the northern part of the country (so they are housed 8 months per year). The pasture is mostly timothy and other kinds of grass. Often cabbage, ryegrass, turnibs, barley or oats are grown to prolong the growing season. Then the cows can eat this in september, when grass has stopped growing.   It is most common to harvest hay in plastic-wrapped roler-bales here, or dry hay bales, so usually the hay here has at leat 50 % dry matter.
    The icelandic cows are healthy, often they are in full milk production at the age of 9.
    95 % of the icelandic cows are born without horns.
    The icelandic cow is a dairy-cow, and as a meat-producer it is light, usually 380-450 kg (760-900 lbs).   The average yield is near 4500 kg per year (9000 lbs) but individuals can milk up to 11.000 kg (22.000 lbs) per year. In spite of being small, they have good, deep bodies, and a large measure around the barrel, so they can eat a lot of hay.
    Most icelandic cows have naturally no horns, but a small percentage (3-5%) are born with the genetics for growing horns. They are not docked, but this genetical tendency is being worked against by selecting only horn-less bulls as insemination bulls.
    All dairy-cows in Iceland have individual names.

Examples of the colours in the cows at Langhus farm:

Steingrá.
Stone grey with dapples (rare color).
Also called blue roan.
Name Yrja (Dapple).
C: Lukka.

Yrja out on pasture.
C: Lukka.

Grönótt.
White with coloured ears and nose (rare color).
Name Jóli (Santa), because he was born on X-mas day.
C: Lukka.

Rauð.
Medium red, solid colored.
Name Bylgja (Wave).
C: Lukka.

Rauðskjöldótt.
Red pied, Dark red base color.
Name Skrauta (Fancy).
C: Lukka.

Kolótt.
Black with red dorsal stripe and top of head.
Name Rán (a sea-goddess).
C: Lukka.

Hryggjótt (rare color).
Linebacked (white dorsal stripe).
Name Blíða (tenderness).

Bröndótt.
Brindled (red-and-brown striped).
Name Kotasæla (Cottage-happiness).
C: Lukka.

Brandskjöldótt.
Brindled (striped) with white markings.
Name Kórona (Crown) because of her white crown.
C: Lukka.

Sægrá.
Sea-grey, solid color, rather rare.
Name Sleikja (Lick), because she loves to "pet" us.
She also has horns.
C: Lukka.

An Icelandic full grown red bull
(not ours, we use insemination for our cows).

A black and white calf.
One totally black, the other is pied, but with so much white that there are only 2 small spots on it.
C: Lukka.

If you are black with red dorsal stripe,
and pied too, you become a tricoloured cow.
Named Stirtla (tail).
C: Lukka.

With a "helmet" (hjálmótt).
An unnamed heifer.
C: Lukka.

First day of freedom in the spring:

Muuuh, the last one is a heifer.
C: Lukka.

He he I can buck too!
C: Lukka.

Summertime

Summer in pasture eating timothy is wonderful.
C: Lukka.

Mmmm, delicious cabbage (munch, munch, munch).
C: Lukka.

Icelandic cows with a glazier in the background.

Fall.

The cows can take a bit of cold. It's hard to see, but there was an inch of snow that day, it's the 15. september at Langhús. The day after it had disappeared again.
C: Lukka.

You might be a dairy farmer : 1.      If your backyard ends at an electric fence.
2.      If the kids drinking glasses are milk replacer cups.
3.      If manure is a dinner table topic.
4.      If you know the price of milk per hundred weight but not by the gallon..
5.      If your kids sandbox is an old tractor tire.
6.      If you have three pairs of Tingley boots and two pair all go to the
        same foot.
7.      If the medicine cabinet in your house contains a container of bag balm.
8.      If you’ve ever gotten an award for fat (and were proud of it).
9.      If your idea of a power lunch is a sandwich on a tractor.
10.     If your idea of carpentry work includes a chainsaw and bent nails.
11.     If fence repair is second nature.
12.     If you can fix anything with baler twine, a piece of wire, duct tape
           and a pair of vise grips.
13.     If your idea of a neighborhood watch is someone calling you to let
            you know your heifers are out.
14.     If the front door on your house has the key in it all the time so
            it doesn’t get lost.
15.     If your idea of mass transit is moving your cows to the crowd area, a
              holding pen or pasture.
16.     If most of your good headgear advertises semen or seeds.
17.     If you have more than a dozen cats.
18.     If you have more pictures of your cows than of your kids.
19.     If your idea of overnite delivery is pulling a calf at three in the morning.
20.     If you can remember the name of every cow on the farm but the names
             of your children elude you..