SOME PHYISICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF CASHMERE TYPE FIBERS FROM LONG HAIRED ARSI BALE GOATS

Abstract

A study was carried out to access the fleece quality parameters of long haired Arsi Bale goats which are reared at Dinsho and Agarfa District of Oromia regional state. The long haired Arsi Bale goats are raised in the cold areas of Bale zone and have very long hairs and warm undercoat. Earlier studies have indicated that the goats are raised primarily for their skin and pelt which are used as saddle cover and also for covering of furniture’s in the home. This study was carried out to access the physical and chemical quality of the fleece obtained from healthy bucks and does reared in the selected kebeles of Dinsho and Agarfa District. Proportional sampling method was used to identify the bucks and does. Based on the same 21 bucks from Dinsho district and 17 from Agarfa district and 29 does from Dinsho district and 33 from Agarfa district were selected. The age of the bucks was determined by their dentition and only adult (>1 year old) goats were selected for the fleece. The fleeces were combed from the neck region of the healthy goats and then they were packed in plastic bags before being transported to the laboratory at School of Animal and Range Science laboratory. The fleece were studied for staple length, numbers of crimps/inch, numbers of hairy, hetero and fine fibers, average diameter of the hetero, hairy and fine fibers (in micron). The chemical properties of the fleece included the percentages of ash, wax, scouring yield and burr. The numbers of fleece and their diameter was accessed using a digital microscope at 40X magnification. The data were analyzed for the effects of location and sex on the fleece quality parameters. The findings for the bucks indicated that there were differences (P<0.05) only in crimp, numbers of pure fibers and scouring yield of the bucks reared in the two locations. While among the does there were differences P<0.05 in staple length, crimp, fiber diameters (hairy, hetero and pure), in percentages of ash, scouring yield and wax of the bucks reared in the two Districts. The study also shows that there was a wide variation in the numbers of pure, hetero and hairy fleece while, differences in the fiber diameter were minimum. The study pertaining to the effects of sex further indicated that there were differences in the fiber wax parameter among the bucks and does raised at Dinsho. In Agarfa district there were differences (P<0.05) in staple length, numbers of hairy fibers, hetero and pure fibers, hetero and pure fiber diameters. The within sex differences due to location can be due to the adaptability of the goats to the locations and also due to crossings of the bucks/does with the short haired Arsi Bale goats. The differences between the sexes within locations can be ascribed due to sexual dimporphism and also the traditional breeding objectives which differ across the sexes. There was a possibility of selection within the genotypes for the parameters studied and thereafter further improving the same.