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 is obtained from the fleece of domesticated animals like sheep and goat.WOOL Wool is used for making winter clothing which keep us warm. yaks and rabbits. It is also derived in lesser quantity from camels. . 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 . The fibre obtained from Angora Goat is called mohair . Gaddi. Chamba and Angora.GOAT Wool is also obtained from goats. The important breeds of goat found in India are Kashmiri. Bactrian camel of Siberia. A male camel yields on an average 12 to 15kg of wool annually and a female camel yields about 6 to 8kg of wool. . Mongolia and China give us the best quality wool.CAMEL The hairs on the body of a camel are also used as wool. ALPACA CAMEL . LLAMA CAMEL . Angora rabbit gives a very fine wool.RABBIT Wool is also obtained from rabbit hairs. . YAK Wool is obtained from Yak. It is commonly found in Ladakh and Tibet . The animals are given bath and dried before shearing. .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. It is done manually with clipper or a pair of scissions. • The process of separating hairs of different textures is called sorting. It is done after scouring. . • The Raw sheared wool is washed with detergent and alkali in tanks to remove grease.PROCESSING OF WOOL The sheared wool is processed further which involves the following steps. dust and dirt. soft. It is strong. It is made up of proteins.SILK Silk is an important animal fibre. The rearing and management of silk worms for obtaining the silk is called sericulture. lustrous. . hard wearing and is produced in long continuous strands. The eggs are washed and incubated at 25oC for best hatching percentage.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. . . During the feeding each larve sheds its skin four times.Larvae or Caterpillars: These eggs hatch into black worms called larvae or caterpillars. The process of shedding skin is known as moulting. The larvae are fed on mulberry leave for 3 to 4 weeks. Larvae eat voraciously and grow fast. . This stage is called a pupa stage. climb up the twigs and start spinning the cocoons. Under ideal conditions silk worm completes cocoon formation in about a week.COCOON After some time larvae stop eating. the pupae develop into moths. the thread gets damage. The silk is obtained form the undamaged cocoon by unraveling the cocoon. . When the moth comes out from the cocoon.SILK MOTH If the cocoons are left to themselves. LIFE CYCLE OF SILKWORM .