Sheep & Wool Development/Mode of shearing

Sheep breeders of Chamba, Kangra and Kullu Districts are doing three shearing per annum i.e. First during February – March, Second during June – July, and third during October – November where as in other district two shearing are being practiced i.e. during February – April and September to November.

Shearing is being done with the help of locally made hand sheep shearer. As stated earlier sheep are shorn twice even thrice in most of the areas, but October clip is the best but lacking in staple length due to out dated shearing practices. The professional breeders are themselves trained in handling and shearing of sheep. No extra hand or class exists as such which do the job of shearing. Many sheep breeders who own large flock do engage outside shearers and generally give them fleece of one sheep on shearing 10-12 sheep. Sheep of Himachal Pradesh produce very lustrous wool of medium quality. It is good in combing and can be easily spun to make uniform thread other characteristics in general are –

Staple length 13-14 cm
Fiber diameter 28-34 microns
Modulation 20-25 %

The annual greasy wool production of an adult indigenous sheep is .7 – 1.0 kg in female and .9 – 1.1 kg in male sheep, whereas annual wool production of exotic Rambouillet / Russian Merino breeds is 2.5-3.0 Kg. A major part of wool from indigenous sheep is consumed in traditional village industry to make Kambals. HP Wool Fed. is providing training to sheep breeders in Machine shearing. Sheep breeders are also being provided facility of machine shearing under various projects being run by the Wool Fed.