Lifetime Wool. 8. Progeny wool production and quality

Abstract

The perceived costs of maintaining ewe liveweights during the autumn/winter feed-gap means that ewes often lose 0.5 to 1.5 of a condition score by mid-pregnancy or lambing. Poor ewe nutrition during pregnancy and lactation can influence wool follicle initiation and maturation processes in the developing Merino lamb (Short 1955). These effects on the follicle population are permanent and have a direct impact on both the amount and fibre diameter of wool produced for the duration of the lamb’s life (Kelly et al. 1996), but their importance in the context of developing practical ewe feeding systems has received little attention. The ‘Lifetime Wool’ project (Thompson and Oldham 2004; these proceedings) aims to determine ewe nutrition targets that optimise ewe and progeny production and systems profitability. This paper provides preliminary data on the characteristics of hogget wool from progeny that experienced different maternal environments.