Abstract
Evaluation and grading of wool based on sex and age can help to improve economic value of wool. This study was conducted to investigate the wool production and fleece characteristics of Arabi sheep in Khuzestan province The right mid-side wool samples were taken from 90 Arabi sheep (1 - 4 years; 16 male and 74 female) by hand shearing. The staple length of shoulder, flank and rump were 13.18 ± 0.27, 13.31 ± 0.22 and 14.27 ± 0.25 cm, respectively. The greasy fleece weight, wool wax, vegetable matter, yield percentage, fiber diameter and its coefficient variation measures were 1.72 ± 0.06 Kg; 2.77% ± 0.12%; 0.54% ± 0.07%; 73.36% ± 0.68%; 30 ± 0.41 μm; 30.23% ± 0.3% respectively. Correspondingly, the medulated fibers, true wool fiber and Kemp fibers were 21.6% ± 1.9%, 76.1% ± 2.04% and 2.5% ± 0.57% respectively. Age and sex had a significant influence on staple lengths. Fleece weight (P < 0.01) and wool wax were (P < 0.05) affected by sex. There was no significant interaction between age and sex groups for fiber characteristics, but it was important for staple between body location (P < 0.05). There were a low considerable kemp and CV of wool diameter percentage on Arabi sheep in comparison with the other Iranian native sheep. The wide variation in fleece weight (0.8 - 3.9 kg); mean staple lengths (8.8 - 19.2 cm); medulated and kemp (0 - 84.04 and 0% - 30.22%); fiber diameter (24.9 - 37.43 μm) suggest potential for improvement of economical traits.
Highlights
IntroductionAbout 30% of them are Arabi breed where are distributed in Iran-Iraq border such as: shadegan; dast-e abbas; sosangerd; bostan; ahwaz and khoramshahr
The sheep population in Khuzestan province is around4 million heads
The result showed the average fleece weight of Arabi sheep was 1.72 kg (Table 1), that is more than some Iranian sheep breeds [5,6] and less than the others [7,8,9,10,11,12]
Summary
About 30% of them are Arabi breed where are distributed in Iran-Iraq border such as: shadegan; dast-e abbas; sosangerd; bostan; ahwaz and khoramshahr. The Arabi breed characterised as white, cream, black and dark/bright brown colour horned rams and polled ewes. Lambs are fed milk for about 4 months. Milk production yield is 150 - 550 kg that is used only for lamb growth. They were usually migrated about 40 - 50 km for winter-feeding. Wool production is considered as its second importance in Arabi sheep performance. Wool is distributed all parts of body, except legs. Wool is used for felt and other traditional related products [1]
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