Icelandic Sheep - Color Genetics

Color Genetics

The colors of Icelandic sheep are inherited in a similar way to those of other sheep, but they display more variety in color and pattern than most other breeds, and there are some variations not seen in other sheep. Each sheep carries three genes that affect the color of the sheep, and for each gene, there are dominant and recessive alleles. Each lamb will receive one allele from each parent of each of the genes shown below.

Locus Gene name Dominant alleles Recessive alleles
B Base Color black brown (moorit)
A (agouti gene) Pattern white (gray, badgerface, mouflon) (gray, badgerface, mouflon) solid
S Spotting no spotting spotting

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