The relationship between wool production, live weight and liveweight
change in four specialty carpet wool breeds, Romneys and Merinos
S.C. Champion, G.E. Robards
Dept. of Wool and Animal Science, University of New South Wales,
Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1995,
55: 137-140
128 carpet wool ewes, Romneys and Merinos of between 12 and 30
months of age, were set stocked for 13 months on a property at Oberon
NSW. Live weights (LW) for Carpetmasters, Drysdales, Romneys and
Tukidales were similar with Elliottdales being slightly lighter and the
Merinos lighter again, giving rise to significant breed effects for maximum
live weight (LW MAX) and minimum live weight (LW MIN). Wool growth
(WG) of each breed was similar during winter, with significant differences
between breeds appearing during summer. Breed had a significant effect on
amplitude of live weight (LW AMP) and wool growth (WG AMP). There is
a strong positive correlation between LW MAX and LW MIN and negative
correlations between LW MIN and LW AMP, and minimum wool growth
(WG MIN) and WG AMP. Regression analysis for predicting WG from LW
and change in LW was unsuccessful with low R2(%) values especially
during winter. It appears that nutritional influence on WG during winter may
be minimal.
Keywords: NZSAPAB;
Carpetmaster, Drysdale; Elliottdale; Tukidale; Merino; Romney; wool
growth; live weight
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Last Updated 25-01-1997
