The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Wylfenne on February 14, 2019, 08:39:45 pm
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Hello!
I have a tiny flock of Finnsheep. I've been wanting to get the "coats" for them to keep their amazing fleeces clean but it's been slow going. I've managed to afford three coats so far, for my girls with the most luxurious wool, shortly after shearing. I had planned on having the next sizes up figured out and purchased by now but my truck broke down and I desperately needed a way to get to work so I had to spend a lot of money to get a car right away and that's taken my plans to the back burner a bit. They coats are now too small and I have had to remove them.
The sheep really need the coats, as my property is mostly wooded with ancient vine maples, some conifers and brambles. No pasture to speak of so I bring in grass hay. Come shearing time they have been full of sticks and bits of tree moss and seed pods and sticker vines- as well as the usual vm from the grass hay they eat and straw they bed upon (when they actually find the weather disagreeable enough to actually get out of it, which seems to also felt the tips somehow.) I've not had a workable fleece since I started this endeavor.
My question is what size increments should I purchase the coats? I notice they are sold in 2 inch (5 cm) increments from the people that make them.
From reading all the articles I can find, I know that it is possible to have to change up 4 or 5 times from shear to shear, depending upon breed (and variables such as weather and what they eat, etc.) Since I am terrible at math, I can sort of see how, given the staple length at shearing, going up 2" increments in size each change 4 or 5 times would make sense, but it seems more to me that it should be more like 4"-6" each time... given that the size is all around them as they get fluffy. Do I even make sense? :(
I so very much would appreciate to hear from anyone with experience in this matter!
Thank you so much for your time!
Wylfenne
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Hopefully someone from a drier climate than the U.K. will come on and help you. It’s too moist and humid in the U.K. to coat sheep, so I’m afraid most of us will have no knowledge to help you, sorry.
Whereabouts are you? And do you spin :spin: yourself?
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Do you have a sewing machine? You could make your own from old curtains sourced from a charity shop.
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Hopefully someone from a drier climate than the U.K. will come on and help you. It’s too moist and humid in the U.K. to coat sheep, so I’m afraid most of us will have no knowledge to help you, sorry.
Whereabouts are you? And do you spin :spin: yourself?
:wave: Hello! I hope I'm doing this reply correctly! Not sure what or how yet so I'm hoping to figure it out! :)
Thank you so much for replying! I am located in the Pacific NW of the USA, a ways up north from Seattle. It is pretty wet and rainy here too. The humidity doesn't seem to be too much, but the weather sure does felt the wool right on the sheep.
I do spin! :spin: :excited: I've kept hoping to get this jacket stuff figured out so I can get usable fleeces of my own sheep to work with, especially because the Finn wool is so lustrous and fine. It breaks my heart to bin the fleeces I've been shearing but they are such hard- felted masses when they come off they are really very useless.
I did get in touch with a lady that used to make and sell sheep coats here in the states and she told me that their method was to change them up a size about every 6 weeks, depending on the sheep and the wool growth, etc. so now I have a pretty good idea of how to do this sheep coating/jacketing thing. Yay!
Do you have a sewing machine? You could make your own from old curtains sourced from a charity shop.
I do have sewing machine! I actually had planned on making some of the coats myself as well, as the lady whom used to make and sell sheep coats has a web page with her instructions and it looks easy enough! It's just right now there are not enough hours in the day sort of thing. For this being winter time, I'm sure very busy lately!
I hadn't thought of using old curtains. That's a good idea for re-purposing if I could find some with material light enough! The two places I found that sell the coats "ready made" suggest a light weight 500d cordura or a 120d oxford nylon so fine wool won't felt under the weight of it.
Cheers!
Wylfenne
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I think sheep are usually coated to keep the fleece clean, I don’t think a coat will stop them felting. In fact I suspect it would make things worse, as it would interfere with the natural breathability of the fleece.
The ingredients for felting are temperature change, agitation and lubrication. A hot sheep in humid conditions will sweat, the sheep moving about (coated or not) will cause the agitation. Sheep sweat - called suint - combines with lanolin to form soap, which gives the lubrication - and voila, the ingredients for felting.
I did gently hint that coating sheep in humid conditions is not only counter-productive, it’s unkind, because the coat will interfere with the sheep’s ability to regulate its own internal environment.
If you absolutely must, I’d suggest doing an experiment with just one sheep, because as I’ve said above, I’d predict the fleece would felt worse under a coat than not. Most of the moisture will come from within, sweat, and it’s going to sweat more, and be able to lose moisture less, if you cover its wool with any other fabric. If you do try, use a fabric that’s breathable - a natural fibre like cotton, I’d think. For pities sake don’t use nylon. And keep a veterinary thermometer handy and monitor the sheep’s temperature and other signs of health.
A better approach to reduce the felting and wasting of fleece would be some or all of the following :
- ensure the sheep have a spacious, well-strawed, airy, dry, clean bedding area
- feed any hay loosely strewn on the ground, not in a heck (rubbing against the feeder can cause felting around the neck, and hay seeds working their way into the fleece increase the agitation and propensity to felt)
- keep sheep away from vegetation they can use to scratch on - brambles, thorn and horse bushes etc - as they will achieve more scratching and thereby more felting if they have things to scratch against
- eradicate all plants which produce burrs of any kind - sticky buds, cleavers, burdock, etc - as these work their way into the fleece and increase the likelihood of felting. If you see burrs or cleavers on the sheep, get the clippers out and remove them immediately, before they get well and truly buried into the fleece (which takes days not months)
- ensure ectoparasites are well-controlled, as these also cause itching and scratching. Bedding needs clearing out and replacing regularly, old hay needs removing frequently, as mites love these environments
- consider a pre-winter clip (leave an inch or so, and do it a month before the weather really turns) to reduce the amount of fleece carried over into the following year’s fleece, and hence matting and sweltering
- ensure the sheep are clipped as soon as they are ready; the fleece will start to felt very quickly once the sheep are getting hot and the lanolin starts to rise. Partly the heat, sweat and lanolin as described above, and partly the sheep will also become itchy with the weight of hot wet fleece, and start to rub and roll to scratch, thus increasing the agitation and hence felting. (And again, I don’t think coating will help; they’ll still roll, possibly more so as they’ll likely be even hotter and sweatier under the coat.)
- I’m not familiar with the Finn breed, but some of our native / primitive breeds start to have fleece be ready to come off in patches, not the whole fleece in one. So you might find that clipping what parts are ready, rather than waiting until you can get the whole fleece off, gets you more of a quality fibre - although not always in one piece, of course.
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I’ve now re-read your opening post, and see that the sheep have only wooded vegetation to wander about in, so they do pick up lots of foreign bodies into the fleece which will exacerbate felting. I think in these circs, coupled with the humidity, I’d suggest moving to a breed which doesn’t felt so easily, either by selling and replacing or by breeding across, or just enjoying the sheep and giving up on fleece fibre. Or switching to a different species - pigs love woodland ;)
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Hi and welcome to TAS.
I'm no good at sewing, but easily made some coats for my goats, following patterns I found online. Would it be possible to adapt something like that?
I suppose if you can sew, you could make it so material along back is waterproof, and down sides is lighter breathable fabric?