Eco Clothing

[iandusud]

I've heard some rather unpleasant things about Merino sheep treatment, "mulesing", is it called?

Do you know if:

1. It's as cruel as it is portrayed.

2. There is any mulesing-free merino cycle clothing available.

Yes and yes. https://uk.dilling.com/Sustainability/

[mikeymo]

I've heard some rather unpleasant things about Merino sheep treatment, "mulesing", is it called?

Do you know if:

1. It's as cruel as it is portrayed.

2. There is any mulesing-free merino cycle clothing available.

Yes and yes. https://uk.dilling.com/Sustainability/

Great, thanks very much for that. I'll bookmark that.

And silly me, I forgot that they'd used me for that photoshoot

https://uk.dilling.com/Men/Men-s-ribbed-merino-wool-boxer-shorts-dark-grey.html

[Paulatic]

I started making the move, with similar concerns, to merino a few years ago.

I may be wrong, but I've got the idea that you are in the sheep business, in some way, yes? As my father was, in fact, for a while.

I've heard some rather unpleasant things about Merino sheep treatment, "mulesing", is it called?

Do you know if:

1. It's as cruel as it is portrayed.

2. There is any mulesing-free merino cycle clothing available.

I was a shepherd all my working life. Never with Merino or any wool important breed. Wool was always a by product and eventually a b****y expensive nuisance.
There are a lot of mulesing free products available. I only buy mulesing free but nothing I’ve bought is cycling specific.
It is seen as a cruel practice especially by, I suspect, those who haven’t seen the suffering caused by maggots on sheep. I think whoever thought of it originally was at their wits end and saddened to see the suffering caused. All those shepherds doing it would not want to inflict pain on an animal without good cause.
Having been shown the error of their ways and given incentives they’ve embraced alternative methods probably enabled by modern day products and the practice will, I believe, disappear anyway.
Husbandry moves on and educated young people are usually keen to practice it. Education is the key. I can think of few things since I was a child you thankfully no longer see. Dehorning without anaesthetic, Castrating older animals without anaesthetic, cracking of lambs outer skull to stop Gid.

[mikeymo]

I started making the move, with similar concerns, to merino a few years ago.

I may be wrong, but I've got the idea that you are in the sheep business, in some way, yes? As my father was, in fact, for a while.

I've heard some rather unpleasant things about Merino sheep treatment, "mulesing", is it called?

Do you know if:

1. It's as cruel as it is portrayed.

2. There is any mulesing-free merino cycle clothing available.

I was a shepherd all my working life. Never with Merino or any wool important breed. Wool was always a by product and eventually a b****y expensive nuisance.
There are a lot of mulesing free products available. I only buy mulesing free but nothing I’ve bought is cycling specific.
It is seen as a cruel practice especially by, I suspect, those who haven’t seen the suffering caused by maggots on sheep. I think whoever thought of it originally was at their wits end and saddened to see the suffering caused. All those shepherds doing it would not want to inflict pain on an animal without good cause.
Having been shown the error of their ways and given incentives they’ve embraced alternative methods probably enabled by modern day products and the practice will, I believe, disappear anyway.
Husbandry moves on and educated young people are usually keen to practice it. Education is the key. I can think of few things since I was a child you thankfully no longer see. Dehorning without anaesthetic, Castrating older animals without anaesthetic, cracking of lambs outer skull to stop Gid.

Thanks for that input.

On my brother's birth certificate it says "Occupation of father - Shepherd". By the time I arrived that had changed to "Farm Manager". And shortly afterwards we moved down to England where my father took a job as an agricultural lecturer. One of those changes of direction that life consists of, I still wonder what it would have been like growing up on the banks of Loch Lomond.

I agree, I'm sure that farmers generally don't want to see unnecessary cruelty to animals, within the constraints of a business. I remember mum saying how sad it was to say goodbye to milk cattle that they might have had for a long time.

Yes, I can't see any cycling specific mulesing free clothing. Although with my cycling "style" a lot of the ordinary stuff would actually fulfill the same purpose. Base layers, comfortable knickers (I don't seem to need padded shorts), etc.

[Jdsk]

... cracking of lambs outer skull to stop Gid.

What's that about, please?

Thanks

Jonathan

[Paulatic]

... cracking of lambs outer skull to stop Gid.

What's that about, please?

Thanks

Jonathan

In the winter a lot of lambs fattened on crops like Kale and Swedes 90% water but damned good water It’s a period when they stop being known as lambs and become hoggs.
Back in the sixties we could sometimes see a lot suffering with what we called Gid. We understood it as a pressure on the brain. At that age and on a succulent diet it was thought, amongst farmers, that the sheep were growing an extra skull and trapping fluid between them causing the pressure. When they were being handled they were given a sharp crack on the skull often with butt end of a penknife thought to let the pressure away.
I was a teenager then and I’ve no idea what science knew about the condition at that time. This however was the practice.
We now, thankfully, know a lot more about its cause and prevention. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/ve ... coenurosis

[Jdsk]

Thank you

Jonathan

[mikeymo]

... cracking of lambs outer skull to stop Gid.

What's that about, please?

Thanks

Jonathan

In the winter a lot of lambs fattened on crops like Kale and Swedes 90% water but damned good water It’s a period when they stop being known as lambs and become hoggs.
Back in the sixties we could sometimes see a lot suffering with what we called Gid. We understood it as a pressure on the brain. At that age and on a succulent diet it was thought, amongst farmers, that the sheep were growing an extra skull and trapping fluid between them causing the pressure. When they were being handled they were given a sharp crack on the skull often with butt end of a penknife thought to let the pressure away.
I was a teenager then and I’ve no idea what science knew about the condition at that time. This however was the practice.
We now, thankfully, know a lot more about its cause and prevention. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/ve ... coenurosis

I remember dad talking about having to stab sheep in the stomach to release gas from eating too much kale. Or something. Is that a thing or have I misremembered?

[Jdsk]

That's genuine. Bloat:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruminal_tympany

And an essential plot element in Far from the Madding Crowd, where it was caused by vetch.

Jonathan

[Paulatic]

[

I remember dad talking about having to stab sheep in the stomach to release gas from eating too much kale. Or something. Is that a thing or have I misremembered?

Yes as Johnathon says bloat. For serial offenders there is a device can be fitted to periodically let the gas out. I used to try a pipe down into the stomach and secondly a does of washing up liquid. If those failed then it was down to a big bore needle.
Kale although a marvellous feed can have a strange affect on them. I used to find loading hoggs on to a wagon straight off kale a hard job. It was as if they were drunk and very relaxed about life. Take them off and put them onto grass for a few days before loading and they would fly up the ramp.

[iandusud]

For anyone following this thread Dilling have a 25% off offer tomorrow and Monday https://uk.dilling.com/

[Paulatic]

I’ve got two tabs open on items I’ve been watching since you opened the thread. Just been waiting for the discount weekend. There’s usually two a year.
From experience they seem to hide some items from browsing when it’s a discount weekend. Which is why I’ve got those pages open in readiness.

[andrew_s]

My wife and I have been making efforts over the years to be more eco friendly. I'm currently thinking about our clothing, in particular cycling wear. On a day to day basis I wear natural fibres next to my skin (mainly cotton)

Cotton isn't too environmentally friendly
https://tidsskriftet.no/en/2017/10/glob ... l-disaster

[iandusud]

My wife and I have been making efforts over the years to be more eco friendly. I'm currently thinking about our clothing, in particular cycling wear. On a day to day basis I wear natural fibres next to my skin (mainly cotton)

Cotton isn't too environmentally friendly
https://tidsskriftet.no/en/2017/10/glob ... l-disaster

Andrew you are quite right about the environmental cost of cotton production. However the tee shirts that I wear on a day to day basis last me for many, many years, do not need washing as frequently as synthetics and are totally biodegradable at the end of there life (which will be after they have served as rags). Everything that we produce has an environmental impact which is why this is a bit of a minefield but some options are clearly better than others including the choice of supplier. It also highlights the need to prioritise repairing and reusing (buying second-hand/upcycling) over buying new.

Cheers, Ian

[thirdcrank]

Some years ago now I used to do quite a bit of dog walking and I bought a jacket from TKMaxx for about £30. The features surpassed every other jacket I've ever owned eg cuffs which opened wide enough to accommodate gauntlets which could then be fastened tight with velcro. It was claimed to be made from recycled material. The main disadvantage was that it claimed to be breathable and wasn't really. The make looked like MOAB, but it was in pseudo oriental letters so I'm not sure. It had a large white stylised M embroidered on the right forearm.

When my dog walking days were over, I eventually donated this jacket to the local BHF shop still in good condition

This afternoon when collecting my granddaughter from school in pouring rain, I noticed one of the dad's wearing what looked like my old coat. The main fabric of the jacket is a greenish khaki but the long tail has a reinforced black Cordura-type sitting down area so I could recognise it from behind, confirmed with the front view. I wasn't going to ask a stranger if he bought his coat from a charity shop but I'm pretty sure he must have done.