The Icelandic cattle are found on the island
of Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean. They originated from cattle
brought from Norway during the settlement of Iceland in the 10th
century.
It´s a dual-purpose breed and a very
small one, total Icelandic cattle stock counts only 75,000 including
30,000 lactating cows.
The breed is usually polled and especially
colourful with about 6 basic colours and more than 100 colours schemes.
The most common colours are red or red pied,
brindle, brown and black or black pied. Icelandic cows average 430
kg while bulls average 600 kg. The breed is usually polled.
Cows are selected for milking potential with
emphasis on protein percentage or yield in the milk.
The bulls are selected firstly by their pedigree
and secondly on the basis of performance of their daughters
(progeny test). In 1997, cows yielded an average of 4,235 kg of
milk containing 4,00% fat and 3,33% protein during lactation.
Reference:
Gudmundur Jóhannesson, Iceland
Mason, I.L. 1996. A World Dictionary of
Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties. Fourth Edition. C.A.B International.
273 pp.
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