The White Majorcan Ovine Breed is not a Typical Mediterranean CarpetWool Breed

Abstract

To-date, no complete ethnological study of the White Majorcan ovine breed, a local indigenous breed restricted to the Balearic Islands, has been published. In order to contribute to the knowledge of this breed, in particular of its wool, fleece samples from 20 different adult animals were studied. Each sample was analyzed for wool yield, fibre diameter (fineness), fibre curvature, medullation (%), kemp (%), F30 (percentage of fibres with a diameter<30 μ), length and proportion of short and long fibres, and crimp. For the wool yield, enlarged samples of 69 adult animals were studied (average 42.2 ± 8.6 kg). The mean fibre diameter was 32.1 μm, with the values ranging from 4 to 149, presenting a clear skewed-to coarse distribution. Mean curvature was 57.6. Percentages of medullation were very low (4.1%), as were those of kemp (0.008%). F30 showed a value of 52.6%. Short fibres were more abundant than long ones (1:1.3). The total wool weight ranged from one to two kg (4.4% of the body weight). All these fleece and wool characteristics of White Majorcan, that can be classified as a 'medium-wool breed', would indicate that this breed can be clearly differentiated from the rest of the Mediterranean group, which presents a coarse, mixed-wool fleece with a long, straight outer coat and short undercoat.