Abstract

Six Romney rams were selected, three for "Bright" and three for "Yellow" wool, using estimates of breeding values for base wool colour. Six hundred Perendale ewes were randomly allocated to these rams in a single sire groups and joined for one mating cycle. Female progeny (n=280) were identified and grazed in one mob until weaning then split into two, one on Invermay and the other on Woodlands. Shoulder wool strip samples were collected at 3, 9, 12 months of age, two-tooth and as 2 year old ewes. The wool characteristics of yield, fibre diameter, resistance to compression and tristimulus colours were measured. No significant sire effect was found for tristimulus Y values at any sampling interval. A significant (P<0.05) tristimulus Y-Z difference was found for two tooth fleeces in progeny of Yellow sires compared with Bright (5.3 vs. 4.4 SED 0.4). Belly and back site wool was significantly (P<0.05) more yellow (Y-Z 7.8 and 6.1) than other body sites, belly wool was also lower (P<0.05) for brightness (Y 47.9) than other sites. The most significant source of variation in tristimulus Y and Y-Z values was contributed by body regions of fleece, emphasising the importance of effective skirting of fleeces.

T, Wuliji, KG Dodds, RN Andrews, PR Turner, and R Wheeler

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 58, , 294-297, 1998