HulderUll is a short-drawn wool and yarn colour-sorted by hand, washed and spun in Norway. Through a national network we’re focusing on the conservation of the breed, and the special quality of the wool. Still, the pure breed continues to be considered endangered.įor us at HulderUll it’s important to preserve the original look and breed typical of Grey Troender. The meat is also lovely, as the fine-grained texture makes it extra tender. Most people keep the animals because of their particularly fine wool and the fantastic pelts. There are currently around 2000 breeding animals in Norway (mostly in Trøndelag), but the number is rising. A painstaking breeding effort began, working to regain the old characteristics for which the breed was known. The animals were picked up from the slaughterhouse’s lorry, and a conservation herd was established in our village by Ole Hans Lien. Today, there’s growing interest in using naturally coloured wool.Įverybody thought the Gray Troender sheep was extinct when a small flock, on the way to the slaughterhouse, was discovered here in Telemark in 1992. The tradition of seasonally herding animals from one permanent settlement to another is a well-established ranching tradition, from the Alps (where sheep, cattle, and pigs are herded) to Central Asia (where goats, yaks, and camels are herded). Industrial concerns became dominant, and coloured sheep breeds lost the battle to white, meat-rich breeds. But when white wool could again be dyed, the opposite trend was seen. Throughout the war years, when colours were rationed, the breed was popular due to its numerous shades of gray. In the 1930-40s the breed numbered 18,000 animals in Trøndelag. Sæland from 1922: "The distinctive colour and body, and the very fine wool, clearly distinguish these sheep from the common gray or black sheep which are spread across the land". Loyt Johnsen described the Gray Troender in his master's thesis at the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1941: “From many years ago we know of flocks of sheep from Trøndelag which are distinguished by having particularly fine wool". Gray Troender emerged as a mixture of Old Norwegian sheep and the Tauter sheep. It’s said that the monks at the Tautra monastery in Trøndelag brought sheep from abroad, and developed a special breed of merino sheep which was called the Tauter sheep (see picture).
The breed has roots back to the Middle Ages.
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