Sampling fleeces to estimate yield of clean wool

Abstract

Clean fleece weight is of primary importance in a programme of sheep selection which uses fleece measurement as an adjunct to visual appraisal. Various techniques have been reported for estimating the clean scoured yield of whole fleeces from small samples. In the present study, unskirted Merino fleeces were divided into regions and scoured. Fleeces from 85 Merino ewes and wethers were skirted, separated into 12 portions according to position, and scoured. Yield of clean wool decreased from shoulder to rump, and the yields along the back were slightly higher than those on the sides. The yield of all regions was highly correlated with that of the whole fleece and that of the skirted fleece, but the midside region is the most convenient sampling site.