Performance of hair breeds and prolific wool breeds of sheep in southern Illinois: wool production and fleece quality.

The objective of this study was to compare weight and quality of fleeces of different F1 ewe types produced from breeds with a broad range of fleece types. Weights of 629 fleeces produced during 1988 through 1991 from F1 ewes that were daughters of Suffolk and Targhee dams and Finnsheep, Combo-6, Booroola Merino, St. Croix, and Barbados sires were recorded. Staple length was measured on the mid-side of each ewe present in 1991. Fleeces shorn in 1991 were sent to a wool marketing organization, and staple length, wool grade, and clean fleece yield were subjectively estimated (n = 220). Mid-side fleece samples were collected from no more than two randomly selected ewes from each subclass (breed of dam-breed of sire-age of ewe) in 1991 (n = 78) and sent to a wool laboratory where fiber diameter, yield, and percentage of colored, med, and kemp fibers were objectively determined. Ewes from Targhee dams produced fleeces with greater weight, greater fiber length, smaller fiber diameter, lower yield, and fewer colored fibers than ewes from Suffolk dams (all differences significant, P < .01). Booroola Merino-sired ewes produced heavier (P < .01) fleeces than did Finnsheep- and Combo-6-sired ewes (4.13 and 3.09 kg, respectively), and in turn, Finnsheep- and Combo-6-sired ewes produced heavier (P < .01) fleeces than did ewes sired by hair breed rams (3.09 and 1.70 kg, respectively). Among hair breed-sired ewes, St. Croixsired ewes produced heavier (P < .01) fleeces than did Barbados-sired ewes (1.88 and 1.52 kg, respectively). Fleeces produced by Booroola Merino-sired ewes had smaller (P < .01) fiber diameter than all sire breed groups except Combo-6-sired ewes, and fleeces produced by St. Croix-sired ewes had greater (P < .01) fiber diameter than all other sire breed groups. Lab scoured yield was greater (P < .01) for fleeces from ewes from hair breed than for fleeces from ewes from wool breed sires (74.2 vs 66.1%). Proportions of undesirable fibers (med, kemp, and colored) were 20 to 600 times greater (P < .01) in fleeces of ewes from hair breed sires than in fleeces of ewes from wool breed sires. In general, F1 ewes from Booroola Merino sires produced the heaviest, highest quality fleeces, and ewes from the hair breed sires of St. Croix and Barbados produced the lightest, lowest quality fleeces. Ewes from Finnsheep and Combo-6 sires produced fleeces that were more similar to the fleeces of ewes from Booroola Merino sires than to the fleeces of ewes from the hair breed sires.