Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:24:47.899Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Development, structure and seasonal change in the fleeces of unimproved Scottish Blackface sheep from the Hebrides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. L. Ryder
M. L. Ryder
Affiliation:
A.R.C., Animal Breeding Research Organization, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Details are given of the fleece and other characteristics of three rams and three ewes of a strain that has lived feral on the island of Boreray in the St Kilda group since 1930.

The animals are horned and short-tailed, the rams are about 60 cm high at the withers and weigh about 45 kg at maturity, while the ewes weigh between 25 and 30 kg and are 55 cm high. The ewes reached their maximum weight after 1 year, but the rams increased in weight during the 3 years under observation.

The fleeces were shorter and finer than those of the modern Blackface, tending to have kemps rather than hairy heterotype fibres. The fleece weight was 1·25 kg, staple length ranged from 75 to 150 mm and mean fibre diameters ranged from 23 to 32 μm.

Variable fleece casting occurred although no more than about 80% of both the primary and secondary follicles became inactive during the winter. Unlike other primitive breeds studied there was a relatively narrow peak of follicle inactivity in midwinter, although in the ewes this tended to occur later in the winter, as observed in improved breeds.

There was a subsidiary small peak of follicle inactivity in August corresponding to the primitive shedding of the summer coat. Maximum fibre medullation occurred in June, and there was a second smaller peak in September.

As in other primitive breeds a relatively high proportion of follicles lacked fibres at birth, but this retardation of development was no longer evident by 14 days when the usual peak in medullation occurred. More fibre shedding was observed at 56 days than in the modern Blackface. The fibre type arrays were of Plateau P1 type.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 85 , Issue 1 , August 1975 , pp. 85 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bigham, M. L.Effect of shearing interval on fleece weight and wool growth on a delineated midside patch. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 17, 407–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doney, J. M. & Smith, W. F. (1966). Fleece characteristics of three strains of Scottish Blackface sheep. Animal Production 8, 313–20.Google Scholar
Dry, F. W. (1965). Lamb fibre types. Biology of Skin and Hair Growth (ed. Lyne, A. G. and Short, B. F.), pp. 89–104. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.Google Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1968). The evolution of Scottish breeds of sheep. Scottish Studies 12, 127–67.Google Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1969 a). Changes in the fleece of sheep following domestication (with a note on the coat of cattle). The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals (ed. Ucko, P. J. and Dimbleby, G. W.), pp. 495–521. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1969 b). Development, structure and seasonal change in the coat of Wiltshire sheep. Animal Production 11, 467–77.Google Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1970). Post-natal fleece development in some primitive sheep and crosses. Zeitschrift für Tierzüchtung und Züchtungsbiologie 86, 371–91.Google Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1971 a). Wool growth cycles in Soay sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 76, 183–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1971b). Cycles of wool follicle activity in some Shetland sheep. Animal Production 13, 511–20.Google Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1974 a). Post-natal follicle development and fleece changes in two selection lines of Scottish Blackface sheep. Animal Production 18, 169–77.Google Scholar
Ryder, M. L. (1974 b). Seasonal fleece changes in some Cheviot sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 83, 93–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryder, M. L. & Kay, R. N. B. (1973). Structure and seasonal change in the coat of Red deer (Cervus elaphus). Journal of Zoology, London 170, 69–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryder, M. L. & Stephenson, S. K. (1968). Wool Growth. Academic Press.Google Scholar
Steel, T. (1965). The Life and Death of St Kilda. Edinburgh.Google Scholar