How to Raise Wool Animals for Yarn

How to Raise Wool Animals for
Yarn
I
raise wool animals for yarn. The beginning of any wool yarn
starts with fiber harvested from a wool producing animal. This
is why we got into the world of keeping fiber goats and sheep.
Beginning with Pygora Goats, we started to raise wool animals.
I don’t spin on a spinning wheel and frankly, I have no
desire right now to learn how to do that. I tried once. And
promptly returned the wheel to my friend.
To me it was
frustrating, and really I wanted to be with the animals. If I
explain the process of sheep to yarn a bit more, maybe you
will understand why I don’t want to spin the wool into yarn.
Why I don’t Want to Learn to Spin
Fiber
Spinning of the
fiber is how combed and picked fiber is
turned into yarn. It takes letting go and also holding on.
And no, that doesn’t make any sense to me either. I have
tried a couple of times to become a spinner. For right now, I
am happy being in the trenches, the front line, of making
wool. I enjoy watching and assisting my sheep and goats as
they make wool. My job is to ensure their safety, provide the
right food and care, and have the wool removed when the time
is right.
Additionally, feeding affects the wool produced. The right
balance of nutrients from the forage and possibly grain
supplement goes into the wool production. We monitor these
factors as the seasons change and watch the animals condition
and the wool.
Shelter also plays into the quality of the fiber. Wool break
can occur if the animal is rubbing on a fence or a doorway.
Even pasture raised animals should have somewhere to take
shelter during extreme weather conditions.
Learning the Process Even If I
Don’t Plan to Do It Myself
In my situation, I would prefer to work with the artists and
craftspeople who know the yarn business for my processing. I
firmly believe that no one can do everything. Not only do we
raise wool animals, we also raise other livestock, keep a
family business going, keep up with a large family and grow
garden produce for our table. Oh and the poultry. Chickens
ducks and soon geese, live here too. Taking care of it all
takes lots of time. I prefer the animal care to almost any
other task I could find to do, so I leave the wool processing
to the fiber mill.
However, I believe in order to raise a good fleece producing
animal, I need to understand how the fleece is processed. What
makes a fleece optimal for different types of processing.
What makes a good yarn fleece. Why would I want to know all
this if I don’t plan to learn to spin yarn? Because it helps
me to produce a better raw product.
The sheep and goat
shearer and I work closely together during shearing to remove
the fleece in good condition, remove it from the shearing
field and store it properly, until it is skirted for the mill.
Behind the Scenes of How We Raise
Wool Animals
Much goes into a fine yarn before you purchase it from a
website or yarn boutique. Learning to raise wool animals is an
age old tradition. Sheep, goats, alpaca, llama, buffalo, and
yak are some of the animals raised for fiber. Most people
would not think that buffalo and yak could be fiber producing
animals but they actually produce a soft fine fleece that is
made into a luxury yarn. I chose to focus on the Pygora breed
of goat over a decade ago. After researching wool producing
animals, I decided goats fit into our farm and lifestyle the
most. The Pygora goat is a specialty breed that was developed
in the twentieth century from a breeding program between the
registered Pygmy breed and the registered Angora goat breed.
Hardy and friendly, we enjoyed raising our small Pygora flock
and welcoming the new babies in the spring. We learned to
shear this breed and harvest the soft downy fleece. Pygora
fleece is so fine that it works better as yarn if it is
blended with a wool that has more memory to it, such as
Merino. Sheep were added to our flock in the last few years
and we are working on developing a yarn from our farm’s wool
producing animals. A few years ago we made the decision to
begin using a professional shearer for harvesting the wool.
This frees up more time to care for the spring chores and
tasks and I don’t lose time because I strained my back
shearing.
More time is required after the fleece is shorn. When you
raise wool animals the fleeces have to be skirted before going
to the mill. This step is mandatory before most wool mills
will accept the fleece for processing. Skirting the fleece is
the step where the bad parts of the wool, the belly area,
crotch, and back leg wool is removed. This wool is usually
stained and matted from the animal lying down and also feces
and urine stain the wool.
Vegetable matter needs to be
removed. This is the hay and leaves that get stuck in the
fiber while the animal is foraging and grazing. Regular soil
and debris will wash out during the scouring steps but the
bits of manure, feed, large vegetable material and mats should
be tossed out before the fleece goes to the mill.
Some
people choose to coat their animals in a lightweight cover to
make the skirting process easier. Again, personal choice, and
one I decided to not use.
Having just one season of fleeces to skirt can be quite a
task. If something happens in life and you don’t get to it
one year, the next years fleeces get added to the
pile. The once or twice a year shearing results in fleeces
that pile up quickly. With just a flock of 18 wool producing
animals, this was quite a pile of fleece to sort.
happened and it took quite a while to sort through.
Yes it
bags of raw fleece on shearing day
A Chance to See Where the Magic
Happens- A Visit to the Wool and
Fiber Mill
The washing system. The fleece comes out looking whiter than
white! Beautiful!
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the mill and learn
from the owner/operator about my fiber and what she planned to
do with it. I am very happy with the working relationship we
are building, as our fiber is put to the test, to find out how
it should be processed and spun. Or not spun as the case may
be. Sometimes the answer may be, no. The Finn fleeces I took
to the mill last fall were found to be too short in staple
length to spin on the large machines. The machines produce a
very uniform yarn, because they are given a uniform roving to
spin from. That is the key. I learned that for the machine
to work it’s magic it needs to have a uniform staple length.
Without this uniformity, slubs and breaks in the yarn will
occur.
The owner showed me how to look at the carded and
picked roving. Once I was informed of what to look for, and
compared to a sample of what it should look like, I could see
that this roving was not going to be commercially spun into
yarn.
However, the roving is beautiful, soft and it could
very possibly be perfect for a hand-spinner to work with as
they could make allowances for the sections of shorter staple
length.
the spinners
In addition, second cuts in the fiber or fleece lead to the
short pieces and non- uniform staple length. The spinning
frame can work with lengths at least 2.5 inches long. If they
are shorter than that the slubs form, or the fiber comes apart
completely leading to a weak breakable yarn. Definitely not a
product I want to sell to my customers.
The spinning frame closeup. Staple
length plays a vital role in a
consistent yarn result.
Large areas of slubs are seen
in the yarn due to short
lengths in the roving fibers.
Some art yarns will use slubs
for texture but it can also be
a weaker yarn.
Some of the changes we will make with our sheep flock in the
coming year should yield a better raw wool for the mill to
process for us. The doorway leading from the paddock into the
stall for the sheep needs to be enlarged. A few of the sheep
have wool break on their backs from rubbing on the top of the
door opening.
occurrence of
We will work with the shearer reduce the
second cuts. Second cuts get into a fleece
during shearing, if the blades go back over an area that was
not sheared closely enough the first time through. The best
way to avoid second cuts is to shear the animal without
backing over any area until the fleece is removed from the
shearing area. Then, the animal can be cleaned up, removing
the shorter fibers left behind.
Why We
Raise Wool Animals
Sheep and other fiber producing animals provide so many
products. Raising a sheep or goat that also grows fiber gives
you the opportunity to harvest wool, enjoy fresh milk if you
breed the animals, and can provide meat for your family if you
choose that option. I chose to raise wool animals in order to
harvest wool. Choosing to use a mill to produce the yarn is
the right decision for our farm. We can concentrate on the
farming and animal care end of this process and let the mill
operator produce a quality product for us to offer as a farm
product.
If you are thinking about raising wool animals, these ideas
might give you somethings to think about before you acquire
your flock. Everyone can design their own way to raise wool
animals. The important idea is to give it serious thought
before hand so you don’t become over whelmed with all that
goes into raising wool producing animals for yarn.
Our yarns and spinning fleece and finished goods for sale can
be found on our ETSY shop. Please stop by and see if we have
what you are looking for in quality yarns and fleece.
Creek Farm on Etsy
Timber