Survey of the Animal IndustryIowa Western Community College

Provide protection to the animal

Most fibers have little commercial value,

wool and mohair are the exception

Hides from young lambs can be processed

into lambskin coats

Hides with longer wool can be processed

into ornamental rugs

Fiber grows from the follicle

Cuticle holds the fiber together (outer layer

of fiber)

Felting is the intermingling of wool, allows

fibers to be woven into woolens

All hair and wool fibers are similar in

structure

Wool fibers have waves (kinks) called crimp

Kemp fibers reduce value of the fleece

because they lack crimp

Mohair fibers have no crimp

The amount of wool produced is a result of

nutrition and breeding.

◦ Production reduced when less than 8% protein

Through breeding, wool can be increased by

selecting breeding stock based on fleece

weight, staple length, fineness

Producers should try to maximize all profits

(meat and fiber production)

1. Sheer when dry2. Inferior portions of

the fleece should be sorted out.

3. Sack by wool grades

4. Reduce double clips5. Properly fold and

tie the fleece with twine.

6. Use lanolin based paint

7. Separate black faced sheep from other fleece

8. All tags, sweepings, and other clippings should be packed separately

9. Reduce twine fed to sheep

10. Avoid environmental stress

11. Avoid course fibers (kemp)

Burry – wool that contains vegetable matter (grass seeds, prickly seeds)

Chaffy – wool that contains vegetable matter ( hay, straw)

Cotted – matted or entangled wool fibers Dead – wool from non-slaughtered dead

animals Murrain – wool obtained from decomposed

sheep

Class is determined by staple length and the

fineness determines the grade

◦ The American grade, spinning count system, micron

diameter method (most accurate)

Classes of wool are: staple; French combing;

and clothing

Fineness of wool depends on body region from

which it was obtained

Greasy wool – wool or fleece shorn each year

from the sheep

Scoured wool – washing and rinsing of the wool

to remove grease, dirt, impurities.

Australia, China, New Zealand lead the world in

greasy wool production.

Wool growth depends on breed, Mohair grows

12 inches per year.

Direct sale to warehouses through

partnerships

Worldwide changes have allowed the selling

of wool on objective measurements of

quality.

Wool is typically purchased on a clean or

scoured basis

Fibers are used in making cloth and carpets

Cloth allows moisture absorption while

maintaining warmth and is resistant to fire.

However, wool tends to shrink and cause

people to itch.

WURLAN treatments help to prevent

absorbing water or blending with other fibers