wool and mohair
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Wool and Mohair. Survey of the Animal Industry Iowa Western Community College. Animal Fibers. 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 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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