As someone who spins wool the answer is yes, but not all that much. The
finest quality fleece is the first one (taken at a year old) after that it
does decline, but if the sheep is a wool breed the fleece can still be good
quality when the animal is older. I have a 7 year old shetland sheep whose
fleece is still good.
I suspect the nutritional plane of the animal is important in wool quality
as well i.e. poor diet = poor fleece. The fleece of breeding ewes (and
rams) is less good than those of non-breeding sheep, which is why flocks of
wethers (castrated males) were kept specifically for wool in the Medieval
period
Just a few thoughts, I'd love to hear what others think!
Cluny
On Apr 14 2008, Ian L. Baxter wrote:
> Does anyone know if the quality of sheep wool declines with the age of
> the animal?
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>Ian L. Baxter
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