Many sheep on the Island are raised primarily for meat but that doesn’t mean that their fleeces don’t have value! Healthy sheep produce good wool. The Vancouver Island Fibreshed Shearing Support Program assists farmers, helping to improve their revenue streams and keep more good wool in local textiles.
Shearing day is a very busy day for the farmer. Most farmers take the opportunity of having the sheep assembled in the barn for shearing to also assess sheep condition and health, give various vaccinations or medications, and trim hooves. Getting the fleeces off the sheep and prepared for storage or sale rightfully takes second place behind such husbandry activities, even when the fleece is the marketable commodity! Our shearing support team helps get the wool taken care of promptly.
“The energy that you wool folks bring to shearing day is infectious! It’s great to see local wool, going to local people, to create beautiful products.” Local shearer, Garrett Jolicoeur
The team receives fleeces as the shearer finishes with each animal. We skirt the fleeces, removing the obviously dirty bits around the edges of the fleece. We pull out damaged or felted wool from the middle of the back and neck (some sheep really like to rub on fence posts!) and remove fleece that’s full of vegetation. We test for fleece strength with a ping test, estimate fleece length and crimp, and weigh the skirted fleece before bagging the fleece for storage/sale. We take notes on these characteristics, colour, and possible use, and often take photos of each fleece. These are provided to the farmer afterwards for their use in marketing their fleeces.
Most of the farms we helped at didn’t know much about what makes a good fleece for the hand-crafting market. We helped one farmer who was new to having sheep and also new to spinning! We showed her what characteristics to look for – strong locks, minimal vegetation (VM), good staple length – and identified a couple of her fleeces as possible fleeces for hand spinning and let her know about the possibility of having wool pellets made with her remaining fleeces.
At Willow Row Farm (Parksville), we assisted at both the spring and fall shearings this year. Angela has been working towards a flock of beautiful Icelandic x BFL ewes and improving her fleeces every year. She also raises Charollais cross sheep, blending the genetics of the differing breeds to achieve strong, healthy animals for both meat and wool. We’ve loved getting to know Angela and her sheep.
We did also help at a couple of farms who raise fibre flocks – that is, the sheep are specifically raised for their fibre. At both of those farms, the sheep hadn’t been bred for the last couple of years, which helped contribute to some glorious healthy fleeces. These purebred Romney and Icelandic fleeces were gorgeous!
One goal of this program is to help farmers. Another is to bridge the gap between farmers and fibre-curious folks. Many of our volunteers had never been on a sheep farm before being trained to skirt this year. Some volunteers were new to spinning or felting and many were new to working with raw fleece. Every volunteer has gained a new appreciation for what it takes to produce wool – and every volunteer has purchased at least one fleece from a farmer! It’s definitely not required… but knowing the farmer and meeting the sheep that grew your wool makes that fibre so much more meaningful!
Statistics for 2025:
We assisted at 12 shearing events, from Duncan to the Comox Valley and on Gabriola Island, at 9 different farms. Ten of the events were at smaller farms and teams of 3 to 5 volunteers handled 7 to 25 fleeces on those days, totaling 130 fleeces. Members of the Gabriola Fibreshed pod assisted at Somerset Farm twice, with approximately 100 fleeces per day being sorted into three categories: hand-spinner fleeces, custom processing (yarn and roving), and wool pellets.
Breeds included both purebred and mixed breed sheep, including Icelandic, Blue Faced Leicester, Ile de France, East Friesian, Romney, Hampshire, Dorset, Babydoll Southdown, Charollais, Texel, North Country Cheviot, Dorset, and Suffolk.
“Collaboration with the Vancouver Island Fibreshed has been such a great bonus. Big thanks to everyone that came out and shared their skills, time, and passion for sheep and wool.” Angela Clarke, Willow Row Farm
