# White flakes in fleece?



## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

Our sheep are 1-yr old, and we sheared them for the first time Friday. I couldn't wait to see how it would spin, so yesterday I cold-water washed a little from each of the three. 

Tonight I carded a few rolags, and there's white flakes in some of the locks. Do sheep get dandruff? I looked at the sheep, and it seems like there's a few small spots that look dry & flaky, but how can that be with all that lanolin? (2 are black shetland x BFL; 1 white border leicester x BFL - I've seen it in both black fleeces, but haven't looked closely at the white one yet).

Do the flakes wash out? Is there something we should be doing with the sheep to prevent it? 

I love spinning in the grease, and was going to try suint fermentation after I collect some rainwater. But now I'm wondering if I should wash it in hot water and detergent?  

Lots of questions I know - I've learned so much from all of you - I really appreciate all of your knowledge here! I hope I can contribute more here once school is over!


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

haha WIHH - you know a lot!!! I don't post often, but I do try to keep up here at Fiber Arts, and it sounds like you have come a long way! Congratulations on your wheel & your piles of fleecy wonderfulness! Isn't it FUN???

Someone from our spinning guild recommended to wash in cold water so the lanolin isn't removed, then placeg the rolags next to the woodstove, or on a hot pad to soften the lanolin for spinning. It works wonderfully! My first store-bought roving seemed so dry and when I tried that method on some raw fleece I had, I loved it! 

I have today off yet, so I'm going to try hot-water washing some of my fleece to see what happens. Temps over 140 (I think?) melt the lanolin and remove it, so I hope it's just that...


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

NOOOOOO! I just went out to hot-water wash some fleece, and there's little buggies at the top of the wool!!!!! Creeped me out soooo bad, I closed it up right away. Then the science teacher in me kicked in, so I got the magnifying glass, captured a few, and after researching, they are sheep lice. UGH!!! 

I just read goatladies quandry too, so I'm off to the feed store (AFTER I shower in very hot water) to treat my little sheepies. We have 3 alpacas too, and I've seen them scratching, so I have to find out if they are susceptible too. The info says sheep lice are very species specific, although goats do get them too...

I just want to cry - I've been waiting for a year for these luxurious fleeces... and now... boo hoo


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## goatladie (Oct 1, 2005)

I just read your other reply on my post , Farmwannabe - heart breaking isnt it? Now i am confused b/c the ivomec specifies one type of lice, but I am not sure which I have? Little thin brown/red long ones.... I HATE Bugs!


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

goatladie - did you look at the bugs under a magnifying glass? I was able to see them very clearly, and when I googled sheep lice images, it was exactly what I saw. They do have somewhat brownish/reddish heads, but their abdomens are long and slender with small brown stipes on it. Frazzle said in another post that the goat lice are the reddish spider-looking ones. 

I went to the feed store, and got "Goat Lice Remover/Barn & Premise Spray." It's for sheep & goats, and we're going to use in on the cows too, since they've all been together. There were several different choices - this one is not the strongest, not the weakest, but right in the middle, and it's concentrated so the price was better. It does say to treat again in 2 weeks. 

Good luck to you! Let me know if you find any tips for cleaning your fleece - I'm really hoping it'll clean up ok...


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## Mrs. Homesteader (May 10, 2002)

Are the white flakes different and separate from the bugs? I have never seen anything like that in my fleeces. Sorry, I am no help.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Just one last time: sheep lice are gross and disgusting, but they won't hurt you and don't cary zoonotic diseases so far as I know.  So no need to totally disinfect everything that came in contact with sheep lice!

Back to the first question - I suspect the white stuff is yolk.

It's lanolin and bits of skin, so yeah, like dandruff.  No biggie - it will wash out, although not always on the first go.

I just rooed my ram (_new term_: rooing is what you do when you tug the fleece and it comes off, which is ONLY done on sheep like Icelandics who have a natural wool break - basically, they shed, and you help by gently tugging the wool locks off) this weekend. There are little bits of lanolin/yolk at the base of all the locks, and lots of it. Very common with rooed wool.

Some comes out in carding, most of it I just spin around it and a bunch falls off and the odd piece sticks (I'm making fairly bulky yarn for weaving), then it comes out in plying/washing. Anything still left will come out in weaving/fulling of the cloth when I'm done. 

Not a show stopper - just wash/card it until it's clean enough to work with (which may vary depending on what you're trying to accomplish) and wash your wool really well once it's spun! I like how wool turns out if it's had a good hard bath *after* spinning. The 'test skein' I did from the Icelandic's wool this weekend I actually boiled on the stove for about half an hour. Came out quite nice, and there are only a few little flakes that I could see still left in the yarn - and they pick out easily so if I was knitting with it I'd just pick 'em off then.

YMMV of course, but that's how it is at my house!


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

Wind in Her Hair said:


> this has to be the "Best News" post of the day!!!!


:dance: I agree!

Thanks frazzle (and everybody else who has calmed me down)  DH and both DDs have been driving me crazy with their jokes and comments haha! I do feel much better about it, and I'm anxious to get it washed and try spinning again. It's beautiful fleece, and it's just so exciting to have your own little sheepies' wool to spin 

Thanks again everybody, for dealing with my rantings and bringing me back to earth! You are a wonderful bunch! :grouphug:


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

So now is the right time for me to mention that when I was out shearing a few weeks back and my son said "hang on there's a red spider thing on your butt, lemme get it" that I squealed like a girl, and did the "ewww ewww ewww sheep lice ewwww" thing, eh? 

I sound all brave in my posts, but I hate those little beasties just as much as the next girl!


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