Promoting & Maintaining Shag
on your show lamb
There's a little beauty pageant in any species of show stock. Right? For sheep right now, it is SHAG. This hasn't always been the case. In the last 5-10 years club lamb genetics have shifted more toward the Hampshire breed. Show lambs have much more wool on their legs than the previous predominant breed, which was the Suffolk. This has added a dimension to preparing and fitting lambs for the show ring.
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It is true that leg wool is just fluff (literally and figuratively), but it also gives lambs eye appeal and serves to accentuate the positive market traits of your lamb. Shag accentuates a larger foot and a wider base. It draws your eye out as you look at the lamb from top to bottom.
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Some lambs naturally have more shag than others depending on their genetics. Regardless of how much leg wool/hair they have to begin with, lambs can bite at and pull their leg wool out (especially in the summer) and wool can get matted with dirt and bedding or weeds from their pens, making it much more likely that it is pulled out when it is brushed. For the best leg wool, here's a few things you can do
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Shag contains both hair and wool fibers. The colors of these fibers can range from white to black. The color and ratio of wool vs hair fibers is determined by genetics.
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Wool fibers have microscopic scales. These scales have a natural tendency to catch and lock onto each other, especially when the fibers are wet. This is actually how wool is "felted." Wool felting uses the natural tendency of fibers to stick together. We DON'T want that on our lamb's shag.
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We can prevent wool fibers from sticking together and clumping with a high velocity dryer. The forced air dries the fibers separately rather than allowing the fibers to clump. This is just one step in preserving and promoting leg shag.
Some Basics About Shag
Shag Maintenance Routine
How to Brush Shag
Here's the slicker brush (Amazon link) that I like. It comes with a metal comb and in lots of colors. It has longer pins than the traditional Weaver brand.