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Evaluation of Dorset, Finnsheep, Romanov, Texel, and Montadale breeds of sheep: III. Wool characteristics of F₁ ewes^1,2

C. J. Lupton^*,3, B. A. Freking and K. A. Leymaster

^* Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, San Angelo 76901-9714, and and ARS, USDA, U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE 68933-0166

³ Correspondence: 7887 US Highway 87 North (phone: 325-653-4576; fax: 325-658-4364; e-mail: c-lupton{at}tamu.edu).

An experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of five sire breeds (Dorset, Finnsheep, Romanov, Texel, and Montadale), two dam breeds (Composite III [CIII] and northwestern whiteface [WF]), and three shearing seasons (December, February, and April, corresponding to August, October, and December breeding seasons) and their interactions on wool and other characteristics of F₁ ewes. Fleeces were collected and characterized from six 2-yr-old F₁ ewes representing each of the 90 sire breed x dam breed x shearing season x year (three) subclasses. Characteristics measured objectively were grease and clean fleece weights, clean yield, mean fiber diameter and SD, and mean staple length and SD. Visual assessments of fleece color were also made. Data collected on the F₁ ewes were analyzed using a mixed model analysis of variance procedure. The model included fixed effects of year of birth, sire breed, dam breed, shearing season, six two-way interactions, and the three-way interaction of sire breed x dam breed x shearing season. The random effect of individual sire within year of birth x sire breed was also fitted. Texel- and Montadale-sired ewes produced more clean wool (P < 0.05) (approximately 0.24 kg) than Dorset-, Finnsheep-, and Romanov-sired ewes. Texel-sired ewes produced the coarsest wool (28.7 µm) (P < 0.05), whereas Romanov-sired ewes produced the finest (24.9 µm) and longest (9.12 cm) fleeces (P < 0.05). Ewes from WF dams produced more and finer wool (0.15 kg and 2.7 µm) than ewes from CIII dams (P < 0.001). Ewes shorn in December produced more, coarser, and longer wool (P < 0.05) than those shorn in February and April. This trend in wool production is opposite to that in conception rate (reported previously). Romanov-sired ewes produced the lowest percentage of white fleeces (62.6%), whereas Dorset-sired ewes produced the most (P < 0.001) white fleeces (96.3%). Estimates of heritability were calculated for grease and clean fleece weights (0.36), percentage of clean yield (0.31), average fiber diameter and SD (0.86 and 0.42, respectively), and average staple length and SD (0.49 and 0.00, respectively). Although necessary for a thorough evaluation of these 10 types of crossbred ewes, it is estimated that wool income would only constitute a small portion (1 to 5%) of overall income from sheep of this type.

Key Words: Crossbred Sheep • Ram Breeds • Wool Production • Wool Characteristics

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Casas, B. A. Freking, and K. A. Leymaster Evaluation of Dorset, Finnsheep, Romanov, Texel, and Montadale breeds of sheep: V. Reproduction of F1 ewes in spring mating seasons J Anim Sci, December 1, 2005; 83(12): 2743 - 2751. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]