Please tell me when a lamb is born, are they born with some fleece already or are they naked?
After birth, how long can the sheep be shorn for their wool? How long it will take for the fleece to be fully grown before another shearing is needed?
All lambs are fully covered with wool when born; but the wool is very short - just a few milimeters long. The wool grows quickly, and most lambs *can* be shorn at around 6-8 months of age; although typically lambs are shorn for the first time at around one year of age.
While most breeds are shorn annually thereafter, a few of the faster-wool-growing breeds (with generally coarser wool) are shorn every 6 months.
4 comments:
how long can you store a wool clip for? if the wool isnt fit for hand spinning can it be used for anythign but compost? do you know how one could sell wool to say...carpet makers? or perhaps to lanolin grinders? or perhaps it could be donated to a free trade organization for some kind of tax write off? any ideas on any of that?
What is the longest to shear? If I have a lamb in Dec. should it be sheared with rest in spring or wait for 18months?
That pretty much depends upon how fast the lamb's wool has grown, as well as your own use for it.
Assuming this is NOT a longwool breed - if I owned a December born lamb, I would have it shorn for the first time at around 16 months.
It's hard to save a wool clip for more than a few months, unless it is washed. Even then, adequate vermin-proof storage is difficult unless you have good, secure climate-controlled space for it.
Wool can be sold at your local wool pool, but typically it doesn't bring very much return. Check with your local ag extension office for current details.
To the best of my knowledge, carpet makers and lanolin producers buy pooled wool; they don't buy directly from small producers.
I know of no free-trade organizations who want wool. Doesn't mean they don't exist; but I have no clue how to find one. Shipping raw animal products (such as unwashed wool) across international borders would likely pose insurmountable complications.
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