Abstract
Wool production and quality measurements were carried out on 100 Omani native female sheep (body weight 38.6 ± 5.5 kg; age 993 ± 488 d). Sheep were kept in partially shaded pens and fed ad libitum Rhodes grass hay (crude protein 8.83%) plus a daily amount of 200 g general ruminant concentrate (crude protein 16.5% DM). Animals were shorn once a year and samples were taken from the left mid-side site to determine fleece and fiber characteristics. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to study the fine appearance of the wool fibers. A skin sample was used to study the histological arrangement and number of secondary and primary follicles. The greasy fleece weight (GFW) in Omani sheep ranged between 0.50- 2.65 kg (mean 1.12 ± 0.43 kg) and the GFW expressed as a percentage of BW ranged between 1.0-7.6 with a mean of 2.9 ± 1.16. Clean wool yield in Omani sheep fleece ranged between 57.1 and 88.4% with a mean of 76.4 ± 7.6. Omani sheep fleece contained various staple shapes and had a mean staple length of 22.9 ± 1.16 cm, 4.3 ± 0.8 crimps per staple; and a mean fiber diameter of 46 ± 12 µm. Electron microscopy revealed three types of fibers; wrap-around, angled type and polygonal and elongated scales. This study indicated a wide variation in the wool characteristics of Omani native sheep fleece, which suggested that selection may be employed to improve wool production and quality in these sheep.
Keywords
Publication details
- DOI
- 10.24200/jams.vol15iss0pp9-14
- Journal
- Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, 15, 9
- Publisher
- Sultan Qaboos University
- Open access
- Gold open access
- License
- CC BY 4.0
Cite this article
APA 7
Mahgoub, O., Kadim, I. T., Al-Dhahab, A., Bello, R. B., Al-Amri, I. S., Ali, A. A. A., & Khalaf, S. (2010). An Assessment of Omani Native Sheep Fiber Production and Quality Characteristics. Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, 15, 9. https://doi.org/10.24200/jams.vol15iss0pp9-14
MLA 9
Mahgoub, Osman, et al. "An Assessment of Omani Native Sheep Fiber Production and Quality Characteristics." Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, vol. 15, 2010, pp. 9. https://doi.org/10.24200/jams.vol15iss0pp9-14.
Chicago (author–date)
Mahgoub, Osman, Isam Tawfik Kadim, Ahmed Al-Dhahab, Reynaldo B. Bello, Issa Sulaiman Al-Amri, Aisha A. Ambu Ali, and Samera Khalaf. 2010. "An Assessment of Omani Native Sheep Fiber Production and Quality Characteristics." Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences 15: 9. https://doi.org/10.24200/jams.vol15iss0pp9-14.
Harvard
Mahgoub, O., Kadim, I. T., Al-Dhahab, A., Bello, R. B., Al-Amri, I. S., Ali, A. A. A. and Khalaf, S. (2010) 'An Assessment of Omani Native Sheep Fiber Production and Quality Characteristics', Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, 15, pp. 9. doi:10.24200/jams.vol15iss0pp9-14.
Vancouver
Mahgoub O, Kadim IT, Al-Dhahab A, Bello RB, Al-Amri IS, Ali AAA, et al. An Assessment of Omani Native Sheep Fiber Production and Quality Characteristics. Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences. 2010;15:9. doi:10.24200/jams.vol15iss0pp9-14
IEEE
O. Mahgoub, I. T. Kadim, A. Al-Dhahab, R. B. Bello, I. S. Al-Amri, A. A. A. Ali, and S. Khalaf, "An Assessment of Omani Native Sheep Fiber Production and Quality Characteristics," Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, vol. 15, pp. 9, 2010, doi: 10.24200/jams.vol15iss0pp9-14.