Judging a Flock By Its Cover

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Although diet and genes determine basic wool quality, trauma can severely affect it. Sudden changes in feed, routine, surroundings, a caretaker or flock members can cause stress, which in turn can cause a wool "break." Breaks, or weak points, in a fleece mark traumatic events as clearly as rings mark the age of a tree.

At left, a small barn with built-in feeders and solid sides facing prevailing winds provides adequate protection for Child's sheep. The open sides reduce moisture buildup and ammonia fumes, which can cause problems in more tightly sealed structures.

To protect the value of her wool, Child avoids stressing her sheep. "You don't take them off a low-protein diet and suddenly put them on a high-protein diet." While a bag of sheep feed may provide the same nutrition as alfalfa/orchard grass hay, you can't abruptly substitute one for the other without disrupting the animal's digestion.

Child also guards her investment against external threats like harsh weather and debris. Sheep unwittingly collect in their fleeces sandy soil, burdock, briars, hay and more. This dirt and vegetable matter must be removed, and tangled fibers must be straightened before wool can be spun. To accomplish this, commercial processors mechanically scour and card wool.

D one by hand, it's quite a job. Thus handspinners, particularly those who like to spin "in the grease" (preferring the rich lanolin of unwashed wool), will pay top dollar for a quality fleece in prime, clean condition.

Child's answer? Jackets.

Available in canvas, plastic or plastic-coated fabric, jackets (also called sheepcovers) keep sheep clean and may help to guard against the sun's ultraviolet rays, thereby reducing fading at the tips of colored wool.

About the only minor downside to jackets is that they can rub the fleece and cause it to become slightly tippy, with fiber ends twisted together or matted. The easy solution is "flick carding," a quick action with a carding comb over the fleece's surface that unlocks and straightens tips.

Shepherds report that wool grows more under jackets, and studies done at the University of Wyoming support this idea.

WoolGlossary

BREAK: weak points in a fleece caused by trauma CARD: wire-toothed device used to untangle wool COARSE: wool with larger diameter fibers, generally scratchy to touch
CRIMP: Wave or natural zigzag of wool fiber that allows itto stretch and

spring back. Combing or carding wool stretches the crimp. Water triggers crimp "memory" and makes it spring back. Heat increases water's effect.
FINE: wool with small diameter fibers, generally soft to touch
HANDLE: how the wool feels to a spinner or weaver
IN THE GREASE : wool

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