ANIMAL FIBERS WOOL AND SILK

Wool and silk are two important fibers obtained from animals. Wool is used for making winter clothing which keep us warm. Wool is obtained from the fleece of domesticated animals like sheep and goat. It is also derived in lesser quantity from camels, yaks and rabbits. Wool is a versatile, durable and elastic fiber. It is light, soft thick and wrinkle resistant. It is made up of proteins. The fleece of sheep is spun to make yarn. The yarn is then weaved to make woolen clothes.

WOOL
Wool is used for making winter clothing which keep us warm. Wool is obtained from the fleece of domesticated animals like sheep and goat. It is also derived in lesser quantity from camels, yaks and rabbits.

ANIMALS YIELDING WOOL

SHEEP There are many breeds of sheep that provide us wool differing in their fineness, shine, length, and resistance The finest wool is obtained from the Merino Sheep

Important Breeds of Sheep

Gaddi Lohi Bakharwal Bikaneri Rampur Bushir

GOAT
Wool is also obtained from goats. The important breeds of goat found in India are Kashmiri, Gaddi, Chamba and Angora. The fibre obtained from Angora Goat is called mohair

CAMEL
The hairs on the body of a camel are also used as wool. Bactrian camel of Siberia, Mongolia and China give us the best quality wool. A male camel yields on an average 12 to 15kg of wool annually and a female camel yields about 6 to 8kg of wool.

ALPACA CAMEL

LLAMA CAMEL

RABBIT
Wool is also obtained from rabbit hairs. Angora rabbit gives a very fine wool.

YAK
Wool is obtained from Yak. It is commonly found in Ladakh and Tibet

SHEARING OF WOOL
The process of removing fleece from the body of sheep is called shearing. The person who removes the wool is called shearer. The animals are given bath and dried before shearing. It is done manually with clipper or a pair of scissions.

PROCESSING OF WOOL
The sheared wool is processed further which involves the following steps. The Raw sheared wool is washed with detergent and alkali in tanks to remove grease, dust and dirt. The process of separating hairs of different textures is called sorting. It is done after scouring.

SILK
Silk is an important animal fibre. It is strong, lustrous, soft, hard wearing and is produced in long continuous strands. It is made up of proteins. The rearing and management of silk worms for obtaining the silk is called sericulture.

Silk Production
The various steps involved in the life history of silk moth are described below: Laying of Eggs The female silk moth lays many tiny eggs. The eggs are washed and incubated at 25oC for best hatching percentage.

Larvae or Caterpillars:
These eggs hatch into black worms called larvae or caterpillars. The larvae are fed on mulberry leave for 3 to 4 weeks. During the feeding each larve sheds its skin four times. The process of shedding skin is known as moulting. Larvae eat voraciously and grow fast.

COCOON
After some time larvae stop eating, climb up the twigs and start spinning the cocoons. Under ideal conditions silk worm completes cocoon formation in about a week. This stage is called a pupa stage.

SILK MOTH
If the cocoons are left to themselves, the pupae develop into moths. When the moth comes out from the cocoon, the thread gets damage. The silk is obtained form the undamaged cocoon by unraveling the cocoon.

LIFE CYCLE OF SILKWORM