INTERRELATION BETWEEN THE WOOL LENGTH OF GREY LAMBS OF THE KARAKUL BREED AND OTHER LAMBSKIN CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The studies have established that depending on the shade of lambskin colour, the length and fineness of the wool have differences. Lambs with a dark grey shade had
the shortest black and white wool. Light grey animals had the longest wool. Medium grey
ones occupied an intermediate position according to this characteristic. Lambs with blue and
grey colours are characterized by shortened white wool, equal to 13,45, respectively; 13,36
mm, while with milky colour – 15,25 mm. Hence, the length of the wool of both colours is
one of the factors that determines the colours of each shade. In addition, a certain trend was
noted: as the wool lengthens, its fineness decreases. If the length of white wool in lambs with
milky colour was the greatest – 15,25 mm, then the fineness was the smallest – 41,37 microns. The obtained results give reason to talk about the presence of an interrelation between
these characteristics (R + m = -0,52 + 0,02), that is, as the wool lengthens, its fineness decreases. As white wool is longer than black, within the limits of shade or colour, so it is thinner, meaning relative values. So, for example, in lambs of a medium grey shade, the predominance of wool over black colour was 15,8%, and the fineness was 11,2% less. The research
has shown that at birth, grey lambs have long, thick pipes, thin skin, shiny and silky wool, a
clear pattern and shorter wool than in the general herd. Variability in wool length is also observed among teretial curls, depending on their type. The semicircular pipe has longer black
wool in comparison with the flat and ribbed ones by 0,64-0,75 mm, respectively, and the
white – by 0,63-0,85 mm. Thus, the length of wool in grey lambs, the ratio of differences in
colour categories (excess) are important parameters that determine the shape and type of a
curl.