How does a sheep deal with its coat if not cut by man?

If not shaved by humans, how will sheep handle their own hair? I suddenly remembered the case of a sheep that was rescued with a huge coat that would die if not saved and from here I learned more about whether sheep molt or not or are forced to have humans cut their hair.

Saturday, June 17, 2023

The story is that in December 2015 in Canberra, Australia, a sheep named Chris got lost and when it was discovered by a climber, it had huge fur covering its eyes. Chris was quickly trimmed and a feather weighing up to 40 kg was obtained. It takes up to 45 minutes to remove the coat from Chris, while a normal haircut takes only about 30 seconds. So why does Chris the sheep not shed but have to "suffer" with such huge fur.

Chris is a Merino, which is a wool breed and Merino wool is known for its softness. Merino is a breed of sheep with high economic value, so it is widely raised in Europe and Australia.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, Spanish shepherds crossed native sheep with English breeds and the result was Merino - a breed of sheep unfit to live in the wild. Because this breed cannot shed its own coat every year - an important survival trait for sheep in the wild, Merino sheep cannot live without humans. They need human hair cutting, each can give from 4.5 - 20 kg of feathers per year.

The thick, untrimmed coat makes a Merino sheep like Chris

It was because he was a Merino sheep that he had a problem: he was lost in the wild for 5 years and his coat was constantly growing. This is exactly what every sheep farmer wants but is a disaster for the sheep themselves. The thick, untrimmed coat causes a Merino sheep like Chris to die from the risk of infection or even not be able to go to the bathroom.

The story of Merino sheep getting lost in the wild is not uncommon, in 2004 a sheep named Shrek was also found living alone in a cave in New Zealand for 6 years. Shrek carries a feather weighing 27 kg.

So the sheep that we see with funny fur turned out to be Merino sheep - a breed of sheep specializing in wool and a hybrid product created by humans. Maybe the silly sheep in Shaun the Sheep are also of the Merino breed.

So what about other sheep, do they molt on their own or do they need to be cut by humans?

Sheep were domesticated by humans around 11,000 - 9,000 BC

Sheep were domesticated by humans around 11,000 - 9,000 BC, starting with the wild Mouflon sheep in Mesopotamia - an area of western Asia that now includes, Iraq, Kuwait, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey United States and the region along the lower border of Turkey - Syria, Iran - Iraq. Sheep were also one of the first animals to be domesticated by humans. The Persians raised sheep for meat, milk and skin, and by about 6,000 BC sheep were raised for wool. Humans began to take wool for survival purposes, which helped keep people warm so they could weather the harsh winters. Vegetable fibers are not warm and waterproof, and animal skins are not soft nor are they a good insulator. Wool from sheep became part of Persian culture and was a typical commercial product. From there sheep's wool was exported to Africa and Europe, now becoming a very important fiber for humans, it's natural, reusable, compostable.

And before there were modern machines to trim hair like now, in the old days with primitive sheep breeds, people got their hair by "pulling" by hand or harvested in the field when the sheep's wool fell naturally. Since then, humans have bred many breeds of sheep to serve many purposes such as fur, meat, and milk.

Fur breeds are mostly only suitable for the farm environment because they have been bred to have a coat that grows all year round - in other words, they cannot live without human hands. Each breed of sheep has different coat characteristics and to make different types of wool. Besides Merino, there are many breeds that specialize in wool such as Romney, Lincoln with the longest and heaviest wool for spinning and weaving (above), Teeswater sheep with long wool, large diameter, Leicester sheep. long-haired, Corriedale sheep cross between Merino and Lincoln ...

Only a few primitive breeds of sheep have retained their natural molting properties and are still being raised. Typically, there are semi-wild sheep breeds of Scottish origin such as Boreray sheep, mainly for meat, molting naturally, or Soay sheep with a characteristic dark coat, self-molting (pictured above).

In addition, many breeds of sheep are bred for meat and milk only, so their coats are not as developed as the Merino's. For example, Katahdin shorthair sheep native to Maine, USA, Dorper sheep from South Africa, Blackbelly sheep related to the wild mountain sheep found in the Mediterranean basin, Croix lambs, common Persian blackheads variable in Africa and many other African sheep breeds with short, soft hair to adapt to the environment such as West African Dwarf sheep, Maasai red sheep, ...

In short, sheep have lived close to humans for a long time and with sheep who raise their wool, please don't get lost, if you don't have people to cut the hair, you won't poop. Chris the sheep with a fur of up to 40 kg has set the world record for "Heaviest fleece cut from a sheep". Sadly Chris died last October, he is almost 10 years old. People remember Chris as a resilient sheep because he lived alone among the kangaroos with fur weighing almost twice his body weight for 5 consecutive years.