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 fleec es of different F-1 ewe types produced from breeds with a broad range of fleece types. Weights of 629 fleeces produced during 1988 through 1 991 from F-1 ewes that were daughters of Suffolk and Targhee dams and Finnsheep, Combo-6, Booroola Merino, St. Croix, and Barbados sires wer e recorded. Staple length was measured on the mid-side of each ewe pre sent in 1991. Fleeces shorn in 1991 were sent to a wool marketing orga nization, and staple length, wool grade, and clean fleece yield were s ubjectively estimated (n = 220). Mid-side fleece samples were collecte d from no more than two randomly selected ewes from each subclass (bre ed of dam-breed of sire-age of ewe) in 1991 (n = 78) and sent to a woo l laboratory where fiber diameter, yield, and percentage of colored, m ed, and kemp fibers were objectively determined. Ewes from Targhee dam s produced fleeces with greater weight, greater fiber length, smaller fiber diameter, lower yield, and fewer colored fibers than ewes from S uffolk dams (all differences significant, P < .01). Booroola Merino-si red ewes produced heavier (P < .01) fleeces than did Finnsheep- and Co mbo-6-sired ewes (4.13 and 3.09kg, respectively), and in turn, Finnshe ep- 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. Croix-shed 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) fibe r diameter than all other sire breed groups. Lab scoured yield was gre ater (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 undesi rable fibers (med, kemp, and colored) were 20 to 600 times greater (P < .01) in fleeces of ewes from hair breed dires than in fleeces of ewe s from wool breed sires. In general, F-1 ewes from Booroola Merino sir es produced the heaviest, highest quality fleeces, and ewes from the h air breed sires of St. Croix and Barbados produced the lightest, lowes t quality fleeces. Ewes from Finnsheep and Combo-6 sires produced flee ces that were more similar to the fleeces of ewes from Booroola Merino sires than to the fleeces of ewes from the hair breed sires.