An Assessment of Omani Native Sheep FiberProduction and Quality Characteristics

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 amountof 200 g general ruminant concentrate (crude protein 16.5% dm). animals were shorn once a year and samples were taken from the leftmid-­side site to determine fleece and fiber characteristics. the scanning electron microscope (sem) was used to study the fine appearanceof the wool fibers. a skin sample was used to study the histological arrangement and number of secondary and primary follicles. the greasyfleece 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 bwranged 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 of76.4 ± 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 polygonaland elongated scales. this study indicated a wide variation in the wool characteristics of omani native sheep fleece, which suggested thatselection may be employed to improve wool production and quality in these sheep.