INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ChickenCanoe]

Judging from the difference in species and the characteristics tend to be consistent between breeds regardless of what the differences in varieties, whether they have horns or not wouldn't signify a difference in wool characteristics. I'm thinking of the differences between cattle or chicken breeds. Horned Hereford cattle are pretty much the same as polled Hereford. Characteristics of a White Leghorn are pretty close to those of Black Leghorns.
If you find out there is a difference, let me know.
Are you talking about a hand carder or machine?

Do you have space to raise your own sheep, or desire to?

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Judging from the difference in species and the characteristics tend to be consistent between breeds regardless of what the differences in varieties, whether they have horns or not wouldn't signify a difference in wool characteristics. I'm thinking of the differences between cattle or chicken breeds. Horned Hereford cattle are pretty much the same as polled Hereford. Characteristics of a White Leghorn are pretty close to those of Black Leghorns.
If you find out there is a difference, let me know.
Are you talking about a hand carder or machine?

Do you have space to raise your own sheep, or desire to?

I have the space and the desire but DH isn't for it at this time, although we have discussed it. I'd much rather use a machine to card then mess around with dog brushes or hand carders. I'm doing research into it and I'd like to buy American made if possible. I think DH would be behind the investment more if it was an American company.

So basically I've tried lots of fibers at this point and have figured out that I hate plant fiber. My favorites are merino and Dorset as far as sheep. Shetland fiber is nice but it's really hard to get that horsey smell out. I had to wash it twice with baking soda and dog shampoo and it still smells...horsey.

Alpaca/llama fiber is nice but it is no challenge to spin. It's a little boring. I love how soft it is it's just going thru the motions tho.

Ultimately my experimenting with fiber has lead me further to believe I want to raise sheep with the space we have. Unfortunately a lot of our space is wooded rn which is why the wait. However by finding a local source for the fiber that I can temporarily purchase from should net me with the possibilities to purchase my own breeding pair in the future.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I understand both of you. US made is important to me too. I worked for Ford Motor Company for 32 years. In the feed mill industry, we accessed mostly American equipment.
Sheep are fairly easy to care for but it still puts more on your plate. The sheering event can be daunting. It is only once a year though. You also have the opportunity for milk and meat. The milk can open up another world of cheese, butter, yogurt, et.al.
Raising a few sheep also offers an opportunity for border collie and sheep dog training. Well trained herding border collies sell for many thousands of dollars and are quite rare. They are also used for Canada goose control but must initially be trained on sheep.
Just buying the wool from someone else takes all that away - for better or worse. And depending on how much spinning you do, a few sheep probably wouldn't be enough.

I never considered plant fiber. Are you familiar with the resort town of Branson, Missouri? The top attraction for over 50 years has been Silver Dollar City. One of the attractions is spinning. They made yarn from all sorts of fibers explaining that almost anything works. They used various things like Angora rabbits, goats, and dogs. They even used human hair which, in their opinion, was the worst. I seem to recall you can wash any of them, but the human hair always had an unpleasant scent.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

There is a such thing as hair sheep. My family has been raising them for about 7 years now. They don't need any shearing. They just shed their hair once a year like a dog.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I understand both of you. US made is important to me too. I worked for Ford Motor Company for 32 years. In the feed mill industry, we accessed mostly American equipment.
Sheep are fairly easy to care for but it still puts more on your plate. The sheering event can be daunting. It is only once a year though. You also have the opportunity for milk and meat. The milk can open up another world of cheese, butter, yogurt, et.al.
Raising a few sheep also offers an opportunity for border collie and sheep dog training. Well trained herding border collies sell for many thousands of dollars and are quite rare. They are also used for Canada goose control but must initially be trained on sheep.
Just buying the wool from someone else takes all that away - for better or worse. And depending on how much spinning you do, a few sheep probably wouldn't be enough.

I never considered plant fiber. Are you familiar with the resort town of Branson, Missouri? The top attraction for over 50 years has been Silver Dollar City. One of the attractions is spinning. They made yarn from all sorts of fibers explaining that almost anything works. They used various things like Angora rabbits, goats, and dogs. They even used human hair which, in their opinion, was the worst. I seem to recall you can wash any of them, but the human hair always had an unpleasant scent.

I've spun angora too. It's another favorite fiber of mine but it would require a hutch that's away from the wind which would have to wait until the new barn gets built. In my research sheep don't even require a structure...just fencing. I read you're a grass farmer when it comes to raising sheep...grow grass here, let them in, grow grass there, put em back.

I have a border Collie but she's only trained as a service animal. I spoke with a professional border Collie trainer and tbh I didn't like the "cut of his jib". I love dogs but I'm not about to say "this one can't learn so put it down" as he was inclined.

To be perfectly clear I'm not into raising a small flock to make money. I'm just a house wife with a small farm looking to add more animals because I love them, I love caring for them and if they benefit me, all the better.

There's a lot of plant fiber that can be spun: cotton, flax, pineapple, kelp, etc. Most of it though requires using the fastest ratio and strong tension. It can be a pain to draft depending on the staple length. You can also spin some dog or cat fur but some needs to be carded with other fibers. My dogs staple length would need to be carded. I tried spinning it but it just fell apart because the fibers just weren't long enough to wrap together. I have been to both those places you mentioned but not since high school

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

There is a such thing as hair sheep. My family has been raising them for about 7 years now. They don't need any shearing. They just shed their hair once a year like a dog.

I've never spun any hair sheep wool. Although I am aware of their existence

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Sorry, I didn't mean to come of as I did. I didn't realize you were spinning the wool.

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Just putting out feelers come spring. We will have 2 buff Brahma heritage roos/cockerels in need of a home. We have the three boys now, they were hatched here(aug24) and raised under hens, but we're only keeping one.

I'll try to get more photos once they come into their feathers more but they are all legs right now lol

First photo I was trying to fill their feed and he just kept coming up between my legs lol

We are near Greencastle 46135