Why Is Wool Cut From Sheep in the Spring?
Most wool producing sheep herds are found in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Unlike other animals and its wild sheep cousin, the Dall's sheep, the domesticated sheep does not shed its wool or fleece and requires annual shearing. The Dall's sheep sheds its fleece annually in spring. Spring is also the best time to shear sheep to preserve their health, protect them from extreme weather conditions, obtain high quality wool and prepare them for lambing.
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Sheep Health
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Long fleece can pick up dirt, plant burrs, manure and other materials. It encourages insect infestations. The sheep body louse only infects sheep and can cause severe itching and discomfort. When fleece is moist and dirty, it attracts blowflies that lay eggs on the sheep. When the eggs hatch, maggots will eat the flesh of the sheep. Spring shearing will give sheep a shorter, cleaner fleece in summer when insects abound. A healthy sheep will produce a better quality wool.
Weather Protection
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The fleece on sheep keeps them warm in winter. It can make the sheep uncomfortably hot in summer if they are not sheared in spring. Studies showed that about one inch of fleece in summer is optimal for cooling effects. Spring shearing allows for a short cover in summer. If you wait until summer to shear your sheep, you may give the sheep sunburn.
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High Quality Wool
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Most sheep are only sheared annually in spring. Annual shearing yields long wool fibers, which make for a high quality yarn. When sheep are sheared twice a year, wool fibers are shorter and make for a lower quality wool. Merino wool is the finest and softest wool and comes mainly from Merino sheep in Australia. Each fiber of Merino wool is very fine, while the wool from American and New Zealand sheep is coarser.
Sheep under one year of age are called lambs. The fleece of lambs makes for a very soft wool.
Lambing
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Sheep owners usually shear their pregnant sheep one month before the sheep give birth, called lambing. Sheep usually lamb in spring, but sometimes they lamb in fall. Don't shear sheep too close to lambing, because it will stress them. Shearing before lambs are born will make it easier for the lambs to find their mother's teats. Shearing will prevent the lambs from ingesting dirt or manure stuck to the mother's fleece. Don't shear ewes (female sheep) when they are with their lambs, because it can cause havoc and injury to the lambs. Right after lambing, the wool grown by ewes may be sparser and of poorer quality.
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