[Jacob-list] Re: Sheep shearing question......

[Linda]

Thank you, it's very clear.
I have seen the weak layer a couple of times in ewes that underwent a serious stress event during pregnancy and had the 
one ewe with mastitis that actually lost most of her fleece.  But, I don't think it's a standard occurrence around 
here, judging from my own wool and fleeces I've bought from neighbors.  I wonder if it might be because we have such 
mild winters?  I'm in NE Georgia, in the mountains, where it is unusual for temps to go much below 20 or so in the 
winter.  Does that make any sense?

Linda

On Sat, 7 Aug 2004 23:44:40 +0100, gordon johnston wrote:
>Lots of people don't know about the rise, so don't worry. Just think tree
>rings. When it's summer and the feeding is good, the wool grows long and
>thick. In winter when it's cold and the feeding's poorer, the wool growth
>slows and thins. This thinner, weaker wool is the rise - the layer of weak
>wool between last year's strong summer growth and this year's strong summer
>growth. The rise is most marked in ewes as in the winter they are growing
>lambs at the expense of their own wool, so the rise is particularly pronounced
>- a very noticable layer of very weak wool that hand shears just zip through.
>If a ewe is stressed by illness during pregnancy, this weak layer is so weak
>the the fleece can just fall off. With tups (rams) and gimmers the rise is
>minimal and can be hard to discern in places. Makes shearing accurately more
>difficult.
>
>I hope that is reasonably clear
>
>Gordon with 2 more sheep to shear.
>
>
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