The Norwegian Grey Troender ( no, Grå trøndersau) is a very rare breed of domesticated

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

that originated from crossbreeding native landrace sheep with the now extinct Tautra sheep in the late 19th century. There are currently approximately 50 individual animals, nearly all residing within

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

.NGH Nordisk GenBank Husdyr
/ref> Originally bred in the

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

region of Norway, from where the sheep derives its name, the Grey Troender are most commonly varying shades of grey in color with distinctive white "tear drop" markings under the eyes. However, black, brown and white woolled Grey Troenders occasionally do occur. Both rams and ewes are polled and the breed have half-long or variable length tails. The

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

of the sheep is uniform with mean fibre diameter of 32.3 micrometres and greasy fleece weight. The wool was traditionally used for handicrafts and the pelts were used for woolskin rugs. The adult live weight of ewes is between . The mean litter size is 1.8 lambs born per year. Lambs are generally slaughtered at 6 months age ( live weight). The present population numbers only around 50 sheep but is increasing. In 1998, the Committee on Farm Animal Genetic Resources established a project for collecting and freezing semen from Grey Troender sheep rams in an effort to revive the breed.

References

Sheep breeds Sheep breeds originating in Norway {{sheep-stub