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Full wool Merino sheep Merino sheep and red goats. Madrid, Spain. The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool.It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the breed were not allowed, and those who tried risked capital punishment.
Outcrossing with English long-wool breeds and selection produced a well-defined breed, [2] differing in several important points from the original Spanish Merino. The size was greater, with full-grown ewes weighing up to 200 lb and rams up to 300 lb. The wool clips were larger and the wool length had increased to greater than 3 in (80 mm).
Newly built New England textile mills gobbled up all the wool they could get. Prices skyrocketed for the fine merino wool with its unique water-shedding qualities and longer fiber. [7] Vermont became the toast of the nation's agricultural community. By 1830 merino sheep had become the state's principal livestock. A few statistics tell the story.
Medieval English wool trade. Sheep, shown here in the 1240s or the 1250s, became increasingly important to English agriculture. The medieval English wool trade was one of the most important factors in the medieval English economy. [ 1 ] The medievalist John Munro notes that " [n]o form of manufacturing had a greater impact upon the economy and ...
The Valais Blacknose is a dual-purpose breed, reared for both meat and wool. The wool is coarse: fibre diameter averages approximately 38 microns, and staple length is 100 mm (4 in) or more. [4]: 940 The annual yield of wool is about 4 kg (10 lb) per head. [3]: 281. Near Zermatt, with the Matterhorn in the background.
The finest and most valuable wool comes from Merino hoggets. Wool taken from sheep produced for meat is typically coarser, and has fibers 40–150 mm (1.5–6 in) in length. Damage or breaks in the wool can occur if the sheep is stressed while it is growing its fleece, resulting in a thin spot where the fleece is likely to break. [13]
At maturity, the Dohne Merino ram weighs 80 to 100 kg (180 to 220 lb) and the ewe will weight 50 to 65 kg (110 to 143 lb). At 100 days, both sexes will weigh 25 to 35 kg (55 to 77 lb). Yearly fleece production is 3.5 to 5.0 kg (7.7 to 11.0 lb) with an average diameter of 17 to 21 microns.
A finer-wooled sheep (e.g. Merino, Rambouillet) actually has far more wool follicles than the long-wooled sheep, but each supports a slower-growing fiber that is, therefore, shorter at periodic shearing. The "clean yield" (net weight after thorough washing) is typically high for Romneys, 75–80%; this is a higher yield than is got for most ...