Helsingefår are one strain of several Swedish breeds referred to as "forest sheep", each of which is geographically and genetically unique and very rare. They originate from two different groups of sheep with similar geographical origins, characteristics, and appearance.
In the summer of 1987 a farmer called Gun-Marie Swessar purchased the last sheep from the Olander brothers in Mållångstuga outside Alfta and the sheep were of the type that their mother had always had.
In the early 1990s these sheep were noticed by Lars Englund, who was travelling around the country looking for coloured rye sheep and Lars contacted Nils Dahlbeck, who was working on the "Horngumse" project searching for original Nordic sheep with horn-bearing rams, as the rams in the flock had "old-fashioned" horns with flattened horn tips.
In 1994, Mats Olsson purchased a group of sheep from Fredrik Lindblom in the village of Borgsjö, Medelpad, that he had kept for 40 years These sheep had a great variety of colours, were of an older type with short ears and short tails, and some of them had so-called "kläppar-skillings" or "skillingar" on the upper part of the neck, and these skillings are small teat like growths under the chin on the neck and may be a sign of older origins as old texts make reference to sheep in Sweden in the 19th century having skillings.
Later that autumn, a black ram with "stately horns" was taken from Gun-Marie Swessar's farm, with the help of Nils Dahlbeck, to breed with the ewes that Mats Olsson purchased. The following year, some ewes were sold to Gene Fornby outside Örnsköldsvik, and in February 2003 the remaining sheep at Gene Fornby were added to the Helsinge sheep gene bank.
The Helsinge sheep has been preserved in the gene bank of the Swedish Farm Sheep Association since 1999 and are a conservation breed with 1060 breeding ewes as of 2021. They used to be the common sheep in the province of Hälsingland in north-east central Sweden. Helsinge sheep are often very friendly and affectionate towards their owners but can be a little wary of strangers. They prefer to graze in pastures with trees rather than pastures with just grass
Helsinge sheep vary in type but are often quite robust and older ewes often have large, rough heads. Ewes weigh about 40-60kg, and Rams weigh about 50-70kg and stand about 74cm at the withers; ewes weigh about 40-60kg and stand about 66cm at the withers. Ewes are good mothers and can lamb year-round. Young ewes usually have one lamb while older ewes usually have two lambs but triplets occur and rarely even quads.
Sheep vary greatly in colour and markings. Most are black, which often fades over the years, but grey, brown, brindle and almost completely white animals also occur. Sheep with more than one colour are common. Blaze or panda markings are common, as well as other facial markings such as flour mole, ewe spots and badger markings. Ewes are polled, and rams are usually beautifully horned but may be polled. Scurrs or small horns may occur. The tails are usually short and often free of wool but can also have longer curly wool. The rams often have coarser mane hair on the neck and shoulders, and this can sometimes occur on ewes.
The fleece is double-coated, made up of medium and long wool types and sometimes finer wool. The wool is very variable and is excellent for spinning and felting. It can be similar to fine wool but is usually of the rya type or tapestry. There can also be different types of wool on the same sheep. Fibre diameters vary so much that there isn't much point quoting micron counts.
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