# Wool Alergy = Sheep Alergy?



## Clearwater (Jun 3, 2009)

Sorry if this are a really dumb questions...

My wife is allergic to wool - would she also be allergic to hair sheep? Assuming that she would be, would she be OK living with sheep but not actively involved with their care?

When hair sheep are butchered is there any market for their hides or do they go to waste?


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

My mum is alergic to wool and lives with several hundred milling around her house. Allergies are funny though they are by nature different for everyone. My mum does zero with the sheep so perhaps that makes the difference. None are hair sheep and having handled a few I'd have to say the Kats with wool patches did have some of the same properties as mine (greasy) I'd think if you shopped carefully you could get all hair strains that should be better.


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## glidergurl03 (Feb 28, 2005)

I've heard that the allergy to wool is generally from the chemical process it goes through when becoming processed wool we buy off the shelves. I would try taking her around some (with benedryl at the ready) before you count out wool sheep


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm allergic to wool among other things. Handling the wool sheep or hair sheep doesn't bother me one bit. I don't even think about it except when shopping for winter clothes or yarn for crochet projects.

Paul's niece is also allergic to wool and may get some hair sheep for their new farmette. I think she did have trouble when she had sheep for 4H.

I would suggest getting Katahdin ewes and rams with good hair coats rather than recent upgrades from wool crosses. Maybe try a couple of wethers at first. Some people market the hides. These would be from sheep butchered just after completing shedding and before the winter coat starts coming in.

Peg


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## sheepish (Dec 9, 2006)

Before you go further with your sheep project, you might want to check just what it is that your wife is allergic to. It might be just the processing for commercial wool. That is definitely the most common thing. It might also be only sensitivity to the texture of rough wool products.

But there are some very few people who are allergic to the lanolin, and to the meat and milk, as well as to the wool. That is so rare that hyper-allergic people (those who react to almost everything) are tried on lamb and sheep's milk products.


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## notasnowballs (Dec 28, 2010)

I would be interested to know this as well. I used to be VERY allergic to wool, my Mom and Aunt were as well. Also, lotions that contained lanolin caused skin itching and sometimes a little blister or sore. The wool would be itchy, cause red skin, and in one extreme case when I was in bootcamp with a (wool, of course) blanket, it made my eyes swell up from the extended exposure. After a day or two, the wool didn't make my eyes swell up anymore, and I guess I just got used to the itching and stopped itching. It's still not something I particularily LIKE next to my skin, but I can wear it comfortably with a liner, such as in a jacket, or on my feet, just not in sensitive skin areas, like my neck. Lanolin, also, seems to have pared down for me as I am now almost 40. I eat mutton with no ill effects. I really LOVE sheep cheese. I haven't tried sheep milk. 

I am interested in more info about this because I'm looking at getting either a sheep or goat for milk and/or fiber and meat. So far my family is doing the instant reject for goat milk. I'm still looking for fresh goat milk around here, because the stuff in the can tastes like billy goat, and the goat we had that milked, I pastuerized the milk and after that it had a strong "goaty" flavor. We loved the goat cheese we made, though. Thoughts? As far as allergies, I don't think I'm going to break out in hives or anything, I can just notice when lanolin is in a lotion I'm using and I'm not too crazy about it, so I stop using it. I wonder if there is similar processing in getting lanolin out?


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## notasnowballs (Dec 28, 2010)

Wow, I stand corrected. I just found out on Wikipedia that lanolin is used in Carmex, apparently a lot of it. I love Carmex, used it in high school and still do. No ill effects. So maybe it really is the extra chemicals involved, huh?


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