The East Friesian, a rare heritage sheep breed, is the gold standard for milk production among sheep. They are also gentle and easy to handle, fertile averaging 1.9 lambs per year, and pasture well. EFs are particularly well-suited to cool climates and tolerate wet environments and do well in the homestead setting where the breed was developed. They are often used to improve other dairy sheep breeds that are adapted to be hardier in more trying climates. If you want the best sheep breed for milk production, you want East Friesians.
Ewes 2-4 years old produce about 130-160 gallons of milk with 5.8% fat at 5% protein. Ewes 5 years and older produce 185 or more gallons with 6% fat and 5.2% protein per 210-230 day lactation.
The American spelling and translation of the sheep breed is “East Friesian” sheep (not “Fresian” or “Frisian”). It is pronounced /ˈfriː.ʒən/ (free-zshun). A quick side note: the black and white milk cow known around the world as a heavy milk producer was also developed in the same area and is known as the Holstein Friesian.
The East Friesian is a very old breed believed to have been developed about 1,000 years ago along the coastal meadows ranging from Zeeland in the westernmost area of the Netherlands to Friesland in the northernmost part and into northwest Germany.
The current breed is known as Fries/Frisian Melkschapen in the Netherlands. In western Netherlands, it was called Zeeland Melkschapen but that studbook has since been discontinued and now is combined into one breed and studbook. They are still sometimes referred to as Frisian/Zeeland Melkshapen in Europe even though they are the same breed. The Dutch Fries Melkschapen studbook is the oldest current studbook dating back to 1908. In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland they are called Ostfriesische Milchshaf where another studbook is maintained.
Shown above: In the masterpiece The Ghent Alterpiece (AKA Adoration of the Mystic Lamb of God), an earlier East Friesian sheep is depected on one of the panels. The alterpiece in the Cathedral of St. Bavo in Ghent, Belgium was attributed to Netherlandish brothers Jan and Hubert van Eyck, completed in 1432.
The first recorded specific description of the breed dates back to 1840. Later in the 1800s, the breed nearly disappeared with the importation and crossing with English breeds. K.N. Kuperus in Marssum started his own sheep registration in 1885, kept his studbook private until 1905, and is credited as being a major contributor to the preservation of the breed. Members of the Dutch registry have fluctuated over time with breed reaching near extinction in the mid-1900s when the population dwindled to about 500. However, current Dutch membership includes a dozen or so commercial dairies and around 30 hobby farmers and about 700 active breeding sheep in the Netherlands. It is a rare “pet” breed in the Netherlands and has been given an “endangered” status there.
August Friedrich Schenck painted “Anguish” around 1878 and appears to be the old East Friesian breed (shown above).
The East Friesians were developed for milk production, fertility, and character – like all dairy animals, they need to be easy to handle. In their native territory, they are milked to produce feta, brie, cottage cheese, butter, ice cream, and yogurt. They are the gold standard among dairy sheep in terms of volume of milk produced and are well-suited homestead use.
East Friesian Sales
If you are interested in purchasing Arcadian East Friesian sheep, please check out or sheep for sale. We sell most of our sheep by waitlist. The waitlist means interested individuals provide their contact information, and Farm Arcadia reaches out to them when we have sheep available before advertising them more widely.
We also list sheep semen available for sale from Candadian, Dutch, German, and farm-raised purebred East Friesian rams.
More Information About East Friesians
There is a lot more to share about East Friesians, our flock, how to buy sheep, and some basic sheep care pointers. Please browse our pages with more information to see if we have answers to questions you may have.
Arcadian East Friesian Registry
(Studbook)
Our studbook (sheep records) are available through an online searchable database. As the studbook is open for members verify sheep parentage and register them, this provides a way to “prove” the sheep breed. If showing or evaluating sheep, we also have established a breed standard based off of the Dutch and German standards.
Please check out our registry for more information on documented pure and crossed East Friesian sheep.
Farm Arcadia 