Sheep production

21/09/2022

24/08/2022

HOW WOOL IS MADE - A SHEEP'S STORY
Most people know that wool comes from sheep, but how it transforms from a sheep’s fluffy coat to material that’s ready to be worn is a journey. Wool goes through a multi-step process to clean it, regularize it, and transforms it into soft yarn. Although machinery can make the process much faster today, in most ways the process is the same as how people have been preparing wool for centuries.
Shearing the Sheep
Every year, at the end of winter, sheep farmers shear their sheep, using an electric tool similar to a razor that removes all of the sheep’s fleece in one piece. A single sheep’s annual fleece can weigh over 8 kilos, although most are around 3-4kgs. When done with care, shearing doesn’t harm the sheep – a key priority of our wool vendors at Baabuk. Shearing leaves them with a thin, cool coat for the summer months. Without shearing, the sheep’s fleece can severally overgrow, such as the famous case of “Shrek the Sheep”.
The wool is then sorted and prepared for cleaning.
Cleaning the Wool
A simple step of washing the wool with removes dirt, other contaminants, and natural oils from the wool. Some of these byproducts of cleaning the wool get used for other purposes. Lanolin, a wax secreted by sheep that helps to protect their wool, is included in many beauty products such as skin moisturizer.
Carding the Wool
Next, the wool fibers go through carding, a process that pulls them through fine metal teeth. Sheep wool is naturally curly; carding straightens out the fibers and makes them soft and fluffy. Originally, carding would be done by hand using two metal combs. Today, most manufacturers use machines to card large batches of wool more quickly. By the end of carding, the wool fibers are
lined up into a thin, flat piece. These sheets can then be drawn into long, thin pieces called rovings
Spinning the Wool into Yarn
Spinning turns the wool pieces into a material that’s usable. Spinning uses a wheel to spin 2-5 strands of wool together. This forms long, strong pieces of wool that you would recognize as yarn. Different processes create different kinds of yarn that work for distinct final products. Worsted spinning, for example, makes a smooth, thin yarn that’s perfect for suits and other garments made with the finer material. Woolen spinning, on the other hand, makes a thicker yarn that’s perfect for knitting.
Weaving and Knitting
Some wool yarn is sold directly to consumers, who use it to craft hand-made scarves, sweaters, and other clothing. Other yarn forms the raw material for all kinds of wool products, from shoes to coats. It’s woven into pieces of fabric that are ready to be shaped by fashion designers.
Dyeing
Wool quickly absorbs water, which makes it very easy to dye. It can be dyed at almost any stage of the process, depending on what the final product will be. Simply submerging the wool into boiling water with the dye material, or applying colorful dyes directly to the fabric, produces the desired color.
The process of transforming a sheep’s fleece into soft and cozy wool is truly an art form that needs to be carefully managed. Although the process can be time-consuming, the end product carries many natural benefits. We’re proud to produce our sneakers, slippers, and boots with quality as the primary objective, from 100% natural wool – no blends and no compromises

24/08/2022

A single sheep, on average, provides around 4.5 kg of wool per year, the equivalent of 10+ metres of fabric. This 4.5 kg of wool is enough to make six sweaters, three suit and trouser combinations, or the fabric to cover one large sofa.
Sheep are domestic animals raised on farms for their wool, meat and milk. Along with goats, pigs and cattle, sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated.
Wool sheep are classified as Ovis aries aries. Merino, Rambouillet, Blue Faced Leicester, and Corriedale breeds are among the best-known wool sheep.
There are hundreds of sheep breeds …
Some sheep breeds are raised for their meat, others for their wool, others for both. The Texel and Dorset breeds are good choices for meat production. But there are literally hundreds of sheep breeds.
All wool can be used
Wool can be used for different purposes, depending on the coarseness of the fibre and on other characteristics such as fibre length and crimp. Very fine wool is primarily used for clothing while coarser wool is used in carpets and furnishings such as curtains or bedding.
Quick Wool & Sheep Facts
A single sheep, on average, provides around 4.5 kg of wool per year, the equivalent of 10+ metres of fabric.
This 4.5 kg of wool is enough to make six sweaters, three suit and trouser combinations, or the fabric to cover one large sofa.
World sheep numbers in 2021 rose to 1.266 billion head, up from 1.263 billion head in 2020.
China has the largest sheep population, followed by India, Australia and Sudan

09/08/2022

Vegetation control
Using sheep for custom grazing could prove to be the most profitable sheep enterprise. While the demand for lamb and wool seems limited, society seems willing to spend "unlimited" amounts of money to enhance the environment. Increasingly sheep (and goats) are being viewed as a natural and environmentally-friendly way to manage landscapes. At the same time, land managers don't want to own sheep. They want to contract grazing services.
There are many factors to consider when developing a fee-based grazing business: cost of fencing, water supply, the need to check animals daily, and a place to keep the sheep when they're not on a job. Fencing is the usually the major constraint. Predators may present a problem in remote locations. If the site is in view of the public, the public may expect the sheep to have access to shelter. It is a good idea to vaccinate sheep for rabies; it may be required.
While any kind of sheep can be used for grazing and vegetation control can be combined with production, a flock of mature wethers could prove to be the best choice. They are easier to manage and can be pushed to eat undesirable plant species without adversely affecting productivity.
Over the years, sheep have been used to control unwanted vegetation in orchards, vineyards, cemetaries, and on Christmas tree plantations. They have grazed under power lines, in national parks and historic battlefields, at ski resorts, and in urban settings. They have been used for noxious w**d control. Compared to goats, they are easier to contain, easier to handle, less destructive, and do a better job maintaining grassy landscapes. However, goats are a better choice to control brush, shrubs, and tree seedlings.

09/08/2022

Club Lambs
Some sheep farms specialize in the production and sale of club lambs. Club lambs are "feeder" lambs (ewes or wethers) that youth purchase to develop as market lamb projects to exhibit at county and state fairs, regional and national shows. Market lamb projects are usually "terminal," meaning they start with the purchase of a lamb and end with the sale of the lamb for slaughter.
While any lamb can be shown as a market lamb class, certain breeds will usually be more competitive, unless lambs are shown by breed. Heavy muscled lambs that finish over 125 lbs. are usually the most competitive in the show ring and in championship drives. Hampshires, Suffolks, and crosses between these two breeds are the most common type of club lamb, as well as the most competitive.
Dorsets, Southdowns, and Shropshires can also make good club lambs. Some shows separate lambs by weight increments, while others separate lambs by breed. Some shows collect carcass data on lambs and award additional prizes to youth participants. In live shows, judges don't always pick the lambs that will hang the best carcasses. Judging is very subjective and often the result of the lastest fad(s).
Some practices often employed in the club lamb sector may be distasteful to some people, e.g. lack of forage in the diet, late castration, ultra-short tail docking, and forced exercise. The important thing to remember about a club lamb project is that it is a youth project intended to teach young people valuable life skills. To put winning (at all costs) above youth development is sadly missing the point.

09/08/2022

Many sheep farms specialize in the production and sale of seedstock or breeding stock. Breeding stock may include ewes and rams, purebred registered animals, or commercial crossbreds. Customers for breeding stock may be other seedstock producers or commercial sheep producers.
In areas where there is a large commercial sheep industry, producers may be able to establish a demand for commercial rams. One option for selling rams is to participate in Central Ram Performance Testing Programs. In a ram test, rams are evaluated for various traits including growth, feed efficiency, wool traits, parasite resistance, and breeding soundness. Rams that don't meet performance standards are not allowed to sell. Consignment sales, production sales, and private treaty sales are other means of selling breeding stock.
Record keeping is an important aspect of seedstock production. The National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP) is quantitative genetic evaluation program for small ruminant producers. It calculates EBVs (estimated breeding values) for various traits and allows the comparison of sheep from different flocks under different feeding and management systems. NSIP data is processed by Australia's LAMBPLAN. Producers can also do their own on-farm record keeping. There are various computer programs available for this purpose. A spreadsheet can also be used. There are apps for mobile devices.
Nowadays, it is recommended that breeding rams, especially those sold to other seedstock producers, be blood tested for scrapie genotype. Rams with susceptible genotypes (e.g. QQ) should probably not be sold for breeding, if progeny will be kept for breeding. QQ rams can be used to produce club lambs or as terminal sires in commercial flocks where all lambs will go to slaughter. Scrapie is not a genetic disease; however, an individual's genotype determines whether it will get scrapie if it is exposed to the infective agent.
Producers of breeding stock may also wish to enroll their flocks in the Voluntary Scrapie Flock Certification Program (VSFCP). The VSFCP is a monitoring program for scrapie administered by USDA-APHIS. It is usually a requirement for export of live animals.

09/08/2022

Sheep Dairying
Sheep have been milked for thousands of years and were milked long before the first cow was milked. The world's commercial dairy sheep industry is concentrated in Europe and the countries on or near the Mediterranean Sea. The dairy sheep industry is very small in the United States. Most sheep dairies are located in the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin and Minnesota), California, and the New England states.
Sheep's milk is usually made into gourmet cheeses. Some milk is made into yogurt and ice cream. Fresh sheep's milk is seldom consumed. Milk can be sold to a processor for conversion to cheese (or other products) or the milk can be processed on-farm by the producer and marketed as a value-added product.
While any breed of sheep can be milked, there are specialized dairy sheep breeds, much like there are specialized breeds of cattle and goats for dairy production. The two dairy sheep breeds raised in the US are the East Friesian and Lacaune. The Awassi, a dairy breed from the Middle East, was recently introduced to the US via embryos and semen.
Non-dairy breeds which are best adapted to dairy production are Dorset and Polypay. They only produce 100 to 200 pounds of milk per lactation, while crosses between domestic breeds and specialized dairy breeds average 250 to 650 pounds of milk per lactation. At one time, there was interest in creating a dairy hair sheep by crossing the Katahdin with the Lacaune. While not as heavy a milk producer, the Icelandic is a triple-purpose sheep.
The nutritional requirements of dairy ewes are significantly higher than for ewes being raised for meat and/or wool. Total feed requirements will depend upon genetics and length of lactation. It is important to note that some feeds can impart undesirable flavors to the milk (e.g. fish meal) and should not be fed in large quantities during lactation. Dairy ewes have the highest water requirement of any class of sheep at approximately three gallons per head per day.
While most non-dairy producers wean their lambs at 60 days of age or later, dairy lambs are usually weaned at 30 days of age or younger, so that the ewes can be milked when they are still producing significant amounts of milk. Milking facilities and equipment will be the biggest expense in a dairy sheep operation. The type of milking parlor may vary according to the size of the operation. Producers milking less than 50 ewes may utilize a platform for milking, whereas a "pit" parlor is desirable for larger operations.
After milk is cooled, it can be shipped to a processing plant or frozen for later use or shipment. While fresh milk may result in a product of slightly higher quality, frozen milk has been shown to produce very acceptable products. The ability to freeze milk on the farm and deliver large quantities to the processor at infrequent intervals allows the establishment of sheep dairies great distances from a processing plant.

09/08/2022

Wool Production
Wool was the first commodity to be traded internationally and is the product the public most commonly associates with sheep. However, the importance of wool (as a product) relative to meat has declined dramatically. In the early 1900's, the majority of income from a sheep enterprise was from the sale of wool. Today, it is the other way around. While wool is still important on many sheep farms, lambs almost always contribute the majority of income to the sheep farm. Fine wool brings the most money in the commodity market.
Selling wool in the commercial wool market has limited profit potential for most producers, but the niche marketing of wool can pay big dividends. For example, while wool sold commercially may bring only 50 cents per pound, fleeces sold to hand spinners could bring as much as $15-$20 per pound. Many producers have their wool processed into yarn, roving, blankets, or crafts and market value-added products. There are several cooperative ventures in the US that will add value to a producer's clip.
Fleeces sold to hand spinners need to be of high quality. Feeding, housing, health care, handling, and harvesting are all critical to the production of high quality wool. It goes without saying that fleeces should be skirted. Skirting is when the undesirable parts of the fleece are removed: belly wool, top knots, leg clippings, tags, stained wool, cotted wool, and short wool.
Some producers put covers on their sheep to prevent the fleeces from getting dirty and guard against the sun's ultraviolet rays, which may cause fading at the tips of colored fleeces. Since wool grows more under covers, covers have to be changed repeatedly as the fleece grows.
The marketing of fine wools is also becoming more of a niche market, as farmers and ranchers are finding ways to add value to their wool clips.

09/08/2022

Hair Sheep
The declining value of wool relative to meat, along with the decreasing number of sheep shearers, has contributed to the expansion of hair sheep, not only in the United States, but other countries as well. It is estimated that approximately 10 percent of the world's sheep population is hair sheep. According to a 2011 NAHMS study, 21.5 percent of sheep operations in the U.S. raised hair sheep breeds. Over 90 percent of the lambs that are marketed through the sale barn in San Angelo, Texas are now hair sheep.
Hair sheep naturally shed their coats (mixtures of hair and wool fibers) and typically do not require shearing, crutching, or tail docking. Hair sheep (of tropical origin) tend to be more resistant to internal parasites (gastro-intestinal worms) and other pests than wooled sheep. In addition, hair sheep breeds possess many desirable reproductive characteristics, such as early puberty, out-of-season breeding, and prolificacy.
Hair sheep are usually promoted as an "easy-care" alternative to wooled sheep and traditional high-cost production systems. Hair sheep ewes are often lambed on pasture. Lambs are commonly grass-finished. Hair sheep lambs are usually better suited to the ethnic markets than the commodity markets, which tend to prefer heavy with more finish (fat cover). At the same time, hair sheep will also work in more intensive production systems.
Because hair sheep production continues to grow, there may be a good market for hair sheep breeding stock. Many hair sheep producers sell their ewe lambs as breeding stock and their male lambs for meat.