Wool
A sheep will need to be shorn for the first time at 14 - 16 months of age, and annually thereafter. In the UK, wool has become a by-product of the sheep industry, fetching about 50p per kilo. A fleece weighs between 2kg and 4kg - the cost of shearing almost outweighs the income received. Regardless of that, shearing has to be done for welfare reasons.
We don't intend to shear our own sheep ourselves. We'll get a contract shearer to do it in the summer (2008).
The best quality fleece comes from unbred ewes or wethers, so we'll get our best fleeces next year before our sheep lamb for the first time in 2009. I'm not sure what we'll do with them since I don't spin. Yet.