Farm animal production:
Sheep need to be taken care of well if they are to give the best possible meat and wool. Farmers must pay attention to management of stock, including breeding, crutching, inoculation, lambing, weaning, drenching, fresh water, feed and general farm maintenance.
Shearing:
Sheep are herded into a holding pen from where they are caught and passed to the shearer, who shaves the fleece from the sheep using mechanical shears. The fleece is then thrown, clean side down, on to a wool table by a shed hand or 'roustabout'. The fleece is trimmed or ‘skirted’ to remove the rough or soiled parts of the fleece. The removed pieces can still be used, for example as filling, matting or insulation, and are packed separately to be sold with the fleece.
Wool Classing:
the wool is examined for its quality and characteristics, then graded and sorted into different 'classes' which indicate market value. Some of the characteristics that Wool Classer looks for are:
The wool is then compressed and packed into bales for transportation off to be processed.