Influence of effects on quality traits and relationships between traits of the llama fleece.

摘要

Fibre samples were obtained from the wither, shoulder, rib, loin-rump and thigh regions of 143 llama fleeces. The fleece composition was heterogeneous and consisted of 20.2% unmedullated, 36.7% partially medullated, 39.4% continuously medullated and3.7% kemp fibres. Average fibre diameter was 31.6μm; diameter of coarse fibres, 40.8μm; diameter of fine fibres, 25.5μm; medullation percentage, 43.1%; average fibre length, 5.01 cm; undercoat length, 8.34 cm; guard hair length, 6.67 cm; clean fleeceyield, 82.3%; crimps per 2.54 cm, 6.1. Medullation percentage and average diameter increased (P<0.05) with the age of the animal. The fleece of 2-year-old llamas was the finest, averaging a similar diameter and medullation (25.5μm and 27.5%) to that ofmedium adult alpaca fibre. Average diameter was positively correlated with medullation percentage (0.78) and increased by 0.195μm per percentage unit increase of medullation (P<0.01). Diameter of fine unmedullated and partially medullated fibres was highly correlated with diameter of coarse continuously medullated fibres (0.60 and 0.74, respectively). Fibre lengths and crimps per 2.54 cm decreased with age (P<0.01). Females had lower fleece yields than males and had finer fibres (P<0.05); there were also sex differences in undercoat length, medullation percentage, clean fleece yields and crimps per 2.54 cm (P<0.01). Coloured fleeces were less medullated than white fleeces (36 and 47%, respectively). Of the 5 sampled regions, samples from withers andribs were more representative of the whole fleece because of their lower variation coefficients and higher degree of association with the mean of all sampled regions.