Fiber

Author: SA Stud Merino Sheepbreeders Association Date of Publication: 2014 Publication: SA Stud Merino Sheepbreeders Association Overview: A glossary of terms used in the sheep industry. Read the rest of the article:… more »

Two experiments were conducted to examine the variation in fibre diameter profile (FDP) characteristics between staples. The mean values of all the FDP characteristics were not significantly (P > 0.05) different between staples prepared using the same and different staple preparation techniques. The residual correlation coefficient’s between staples prepared using the same staple preparation technique for all FDP characteristics ranged from r = 0.60 to 0.96. The correlation coefficients between staples prepared using different staple preparation techniques ranged from r = 0.37 to 0.97. These results indicate that it may not be sufficient to segment a single staple for estimation of certain FDP characteristics to examine differences between individual animals. One staple is sufficient to estimate the average FDP of a group of animals. FDPs generated using different staple preparation techniques can be accurately compared for most FDP characteristics. more »

Fibrous fur or fleece coats have an important role in insulating animals and aiding in the maintenance of homeothermy. Alpacas, raised for fibre production, are selected towards the finest fibre to improve the wearability of their fibre in garment form. The thermal consequences of reducing the fibre diameter on the external insulation are unknown, and may have a negative effect for the alpaca's thermal balance. We hypothesised that for a given fibre density, finer fibres would trap more air and provide lower thermal conductivity when exposed to low wind speed, but would be less robust, and so provide less insulation, when exposed to higher wind speed, than thicker fibres. We measured the thermal conductance of eight pelts of similar fibre density but with varying fibre diameter at 0, 1, 2, 4 and 6 m/s wind speeds. Thermal conductivity was similar between pelts of different fibre diameters (P = 0.58) at low wind speed. Conductance increased more in pelts with finer fibres at the high wind speed than in pelts with thicker fibres (P = 0.02). Thus at the same fibre density, finer fibres result in increased heat loss at high wind speed. Increased heat loss at higher wind speed would result in the animal requiring more energy to maintain heat balance below the lower critical temperature, which will reduce fibre production efficiency. more »

Alpaca fibre is one of the most luxurious fibres in the world. It comes in 22 officially recognised colours and every shade in between. Its most remarkable quality is its softness – alpaca fibre is inherently soft. This is due to the fact it has less scales on each individual fibre, compared to sheep's wool which has many, and more prominent scales on each individual fibre. (Suri alpaca have less scales than huacaya alpaca so their fibre is even softer.) Even at its coarsest, alpaca is inherently softer than sheep's wool and often a certain percentage of alpaca fibre is added to sheep's wool during the woollen process to enhance the handle or feel. more »

In the Huancavelica region of Peru alpacas form the main and often only means of deriving an income for 3300 poor families in 60 communities. Ninety percent of alpacas in the region are Huacaya which are grazed at altitudes 4000–4800 m. Little attention has been paid to alpacas grazed in the High Andes. We aimed to: (i) quantify the variation in alpaca mean fibre diameter (MFD), fibre diameter coefficient of variation (CVD), fibre curvature (FC) and staple length (SL) among 24 sampling sites, (ii) quantify the difference between the mid-side sampling site and other fleece components for each fleece attribute, (iii) identify the sampling site with the highest correlation to the fibre attributes of the fleece in general, and (iv) quantify the relationship between FC and MFD for alpaca. Adult female alpacas (n = 31, mean live weight 71 kg) were sampled and had their fleece weighed in 8 components. Total mean fleece weight was 3.35 kg (range 2.13–6.01). Staples were measured for length (mm) and tested on the OFDA2000 to determine MFD, CVD and FC. The effect of the site was determined using ANOVA analysis. Values for FC were log10 transformed. Correlations between sites and regression analysis between MFD and FC were performed. The mean values for the mid-side site were: MFD 26.3 μm; CVD 20.2%; FC 34.9 °/mm; SL 91 mm, which were finer and longer than other fleece components. The variation in MFD between the 24 sampling sites was 20.2–50.6 μm and between 9 sampling sites in the main fleece saddle was 24.8–31.7 μm. Fleece attributes varied significantly between all fleece components and among fleece sites (P more »