Soay Sheep - our latest project

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Matt,
I am curious about not having to shear these sheep. I understand that it must mean their hair will stop growing at some point, but what will be the best way for you to get the wool? Brushing or shearing anyway?

They shed their wool annually. Those who are not interested in collecting their wool generally just let it all shed off naturally. It comes off in bits and clumps, and I'm told the sheep help it along often by rubbing up against fences and trees, etc. (I don't have experience with that yet). But those who want to collect the wool do so by "rooing." You can tell from looking at it when they are loosing their wool. You just grab the sheep and begin working it off with your hands. It pulls right off when it's ready. (Learn more here).

Their wool is incredibly soft. My wife has a shopping bag full of it that the breeder in SC gave us when we first visited. She can spin, but has limited experience in cleaning and carding raw wool to make the roving. She's done a bit with this wool, but found the process labor intensive. So in all likelihood we'll be sending our raw wool off to a mill to make into roving for her to spin and then knit or crochet with.

Depending on the size of the sheep, and whether the ewe has lambed that season or not (its a hormonal thing) we might get between 1 and 2 lbs of wool per animal per year. So not a huge amount, seeing as we only have four sheep. But enough for my wife to do a special project or two.