Fact Friday: Wool

We know we missed our last couple of Fact Fridays! With us so busy shearing our sheep residents last Friday and the heat of the previous Friday (our hottest day of the year so far) we needed to rest our brains! We’re back this week and inspired by shearing day, we thought we’d tell you a little about our woolly friends.

So, why do we shear sheep? Firstly, this is a need that we Humans have created! Like other domestic animals, we have bred sheep for different traits to develop the breeds we have today - it is believed that selective breeding for woolly sheep began around 6000 BCE. Ancient sheep bear little resemblance to today’s wool sheep, selectively bred for thousands of years for their woolly fleeces after we discovered the many uses that we can put their wool to, everything from clothing ourselves to making sails for ships. The Romans even started to breed them for specific colour traits.

Wild sheep naturally shed their coarse winter coats, scratching their bodies against trees, and rubbing away their extra fluff as the weather warms up - you may have seen our Soays looking a little worse for wear in the spring; these are an ancient breed and naturally shed, unlike our other rescued sheep which are all wool breeds and cannot regulate their excess fleece on their own.

Soay Sheep

So why do we need to take those fleeces off if we’re not keeping them for their wool? The answer is simply for their welfare! Wool is nature’s best insulator, protecting sheep from the extreme cold in the winter months. However, continuing to wear this thick, heavy fleece during the summer can be uncomfortable and stressful, increasing the risk of overheating, parasite infestation such as flystrike, and becoming ‘rigged’ (stuck on their back due to the added weight of their fleece) – yes, there’s truth to this tale you have all heard, sheep can get stuck on their back and as we discussed in our earlier Bloat Fact, this can kill them if not turned over!

Very early sheep farmers tried many different methods of removing wool and sadly some were (and in some places, still are) more painful for the sheep than others, such as stone scraping tools knapped from flint, or ‘rooing’ which involves simply plucking out the wool. We have sheep to thank for the invention of scissors and archaeologists have even discovered beautifully crafted shears in Ancient Egyptian tombs!

Here at the sanctuary, we work with a skilled shearer (using modern painless techniques) who’s known our residents for several years and treats our sheep respectfully and as individuals – he’s even learned some of their names. Our animal care team are also there throughout the process to reassure them and assist when needed.

Our beautiful woolies!

Shearing Larry

Shearing Evangeline

Ivy & Evie - Before & After

Archie after his trim!

One of their enormous fleeces.

Rachel learning to fleece roll

But not to worry! Just like your hair, sheep wool continues to grow after it has been trimmed and will start to grow back ready for those colder months, growing about six millimetres per month (this varies with breed, nutrition, and environment), and so our sheep need to be sheared annually – some woollier breeds are even shorn twice a year!

We have so many more woolly facts to share with Ewe, but we’ll save those for another Friday. If you have any burning questions you’d like us to answer, we’d love to feature a fact of yours – please send them our way.

Cotwall End Spring BioBlitz

A few weeks ago, we spent some time at Cotwall End Nature Reserve surveying the many different kinds of wildlife that take sanctuary there. Over just the two days we managed to survey over 200 flora and fauna, and we have so far found over 100 species!

View our iNaturalist Project page to see what we found.

Thank you to everyone that took part in the Bioblitz to help us explore Cotwall End and its wide range of habitats. We definitely learnt more about what signs of wildlife to look out for during Spring, and found some species that we haven’t heard of before! Please go ahead and upload your observations to iNaturalist if you haven’t already.

It’s not too late to take part, there are some observations in our project that haven’t been identified yet! If you think you know the species of any of the flora and fauna found during the BioBlitz, you can suggest or comment an identification under the observation.

You will need to create an iNaturalist account using this link: https://www.inaturalist.org/signup and all the observations can be found under our project in the link above.

Please note: You must be 13 or over to create an account and must otherwise have your parent’s or guardian’s permission.

Dates for your Diary!

We will be hosting another BioBlitz in the Summer on the 13th and 14th of August. More details of this event will be shared nearer the time, but you are welcome to join the new iNaturalist project here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/cotwall-end-summer-bioblitz-2022

Don't forget that you can log your sightings here at the sanctuary all your round, we have so far recorded 107 species here and would love your help to record and identify the many more we share our site with during your visits.

Fact Friday: Chicken Vision - Colour

Not only do chickens see in colour, but in many ways, these wonderful little birds have better vision than us humans! We have three different cone types (colour sensing cells) in our eyes, which means we can perceive red, green, and blue colours. Whereas chickens have an additional two cone types and can also distinguish violet and ultraviolet light. This means they can differentiate between and see far more colours and shades than humans can!

The UV cones help them to find the shiny insects, seeds, berries, and fruits they like to eat easily among non-UV reflecting grass and soil - and most importantly the safe foods for them to eat. Colour is so important when working out the difference between something potentially toxic or safe.

A mother hen may also use her UV cones to sense which chicks are healthiest, as growing feathers reflect UV light. She can then determine the chicks who are growing fastest and strongest and devote more of her energy to them to ensure they survive.

This also means that roosters can see the sunrise and will begin to crow about an hour before you can see the sun. Throughout history, before mechanical alarm clocks were invented, roosters served as alarms waking us up at dawn – and rooster’s crows are particularly loud, reaching between 50 and 60 dB!

Sadly, therefore thousands of roosters are abandoned every year and this is why you will see so many rooster residents here at Brockswood. Aside from the fact that male chickens are unable to produce eggs and so do not serve the purpose that many backyard keepers want them for, they can also be very noisy and cause complaints from neighbours who don’t appreciate their crowing so early in the morning. We are so grateful to our neighbours who so kindly accept our rooster family here.

Henry, one of our rescued roosters.

Speaking of roosters, the spectrums of colours that we can’t visibly see are visible to chickens as distinctive marks on their face and feathers. Roosters will display vibrant and fluorescent colours on their combs (the fleshy part of their head) and plumage to attract potential mates. These differences also help them to tell each other apart, like you and I can easily tell the difference between one another!

Chickens see a rich and colourful world. Doesn't that make it all the worse for those poor chickens locked in tiny cages and barns, unable to put this amazing sense to use and see the beautiful world around them, with the many colours and shades of nature that we can only dream of?

Thank you for helping to colour the world for our chicken residents!