Factors Affecting Mean Fiber Diameter in Selected Pakistani Sheep Breeds/Crosses

Abstract

Mean fiber diameter (MFD) is the main characteristic of processed wool that determines its use in the textile industry. Selected Pakistani sheep breeds/crosses were investigated for analysis of MFD. Overall, the Kari breed was found to have the lowest MFD (24 ± 0.31 µm) whereas, the Balkhi-cross had the highest MFD (28 ± 0.43 µm). MFD was found to be affected by breed/cross, gender, and shearing season (P < .05). The average MFDs in wool from Kari, Balkhi and Ramghani-cross fleeces were different from the Balkhi-cross, while no significant difference was found between the MFD of wool from Kutta and Balkhi-cross sheep. In the samples tested, the average MFDs of Kari, Ramghani-cross, and Balkhi wool were found to be lower than Balkhi-cross by 1.9, 1.8, and 2.1 µm, respectively. The average MFD of male sheep was found to be 1.0 µm lower than female sheep. The wool sheared in summer was on average 4.3 µm coarser than that sheared in spring. However, no significant difference was found in the MFD of wool samples sheared in winter and spring. Various features affecting wool quality were explored which can be considered for a sheep-breeding program to obtain optimal wool for the textile industry.

Keywords

• mfd
• wool
• breed
• gender
• shearing season