Part Two: Preparation

General
Full length fleeces
Lambs and second shear fine wools
Crutchings

General

The aim is to produce lines of wool that have a uniform colour, length, fault and fibre diameter (in the case of fine wools). To achieve this, processing faults and basic breed types should be kept separate.

Listed below are the processing faults that may be present and require separation:

• Dags
• Urine stain
• Mixed length – particularly short*
• Cotted portions
• Clumps of vegetable matter
• Mixed fibre diameter
• Non-scourable stains, particularly canary yellow
• Clumps of pen stain
• Patches of pigmented fibres
• Heavy contamination by mud, earth or other non-wool substances
• Skin pieces
• Rubbish

* As a guide, the shortest and longest staple within a line should not be more than: Fine 25 mm, Mid-micron 35 mm and Crossbred 50 mm.

Adequate labour is essential for effective wool handling. The wool handler must:

• Separate the permanently discoloured belly wool
• Keep the board clear of short crutch wool and second cuts
• Keep dags and stains separate
• Separate locks and second cuts from the body wool, both on the board using a broom or scraper, and when the fleece is thrown
• Wool handlers must pick up and throw each fleece to ensure that it is evenly spread over the table, to allow for easy identification and separation of processing faults
• Short wools are usually better handled on the board as the sheep are shorn

The level of fleece preparation required to remove processing faults will depend on the type of wool and extent of fault.

Full Length Fleeces

The following guidelines show what should be removed from each fleece, according to the colour of the clip.

Grading Full Fleece Crossbred Wool

These clips need not be divided into fineness brackets, but this will depend upon the age of the sheep, the micron range and price differentials. High bulk wools should be kept separate. It is important that off-type fleeces be removed from the main line.

Classing Full Fleece Fine Wools

These will be classed for fineness – usually fine, medium and strong. Secondary lines of off-type fleeces will cater for those of very different length, colour or with significant faults.

The following descriptions should be used as applicable but in most clips only two or three main lines will be required for fineness.

The following wools must be separated from the main fineness lines:

Lambs and Second Shear Wools

This caters for body wools which do not hold together and are best handled on the board, then taken to a stack on the wool room floor for blending and checking before pressing. Shorter and/or discoloured wool, urine stains and dags, should be removed from the main body wool as it comes off the sheep.

Lambs and second shear can generally be divided into two lines:

• The body wool
• The shorter and discoloured wools from the belly, legs and crutch and is known as the Bellies and Pieces

Sorting Lambs And Second Shear Wools

Grading Lambs and Second Shear Wools

The principal factors involved in the grading of lambs and second shear are length and colour. Usually there is no need to sort second shear and lambs wool for fineness, as they are bulk handled. However, it is very important when handling lambs wool to keep the different breed types, the very strong, hairy or lustrous fleeces and the shorter milk lamb body wool separate.

Crutchings

Crutchings fall into two main types:

• Ring or fly crutchings
  This wool is normally short and sometimes urine stained. Urine stains and dags should be separated from the good coloured wool.
• Full crutchings
  This wool is removed from around the back legs, the crutch and around and over the tail and should be sorted for length, colour and dags.

It is important that urine, shed stain and dags be kept separate from the main line. Eyeclips should be also kept separate. If the whole belly is removed at crutching time, it is preferable to keep it separate from the crutchings.

This Code of Practice was originally prepared in 1989 by a group drawn from the Classer Registration Advisory Committee of the New Zealand Wool Board.

Fourth Edition published July 1999

WoolPro,
P.O. Box 3225,
Wellington

WoolPro is a grower-funded organisation and a member of the New Zealand Wool Group. Our extension staff work directly with growers and others in the industry and are located in major sheep farming areas.

For more information and contact details, please phone 0800 4 Meat & Wool Innovation (0800 496 657).