Environmental Factors Affecting Fleece Traits in Raeini Cashmere Goat

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate some environmental factors (sex, age and management system) on fibrecharacteristics of Raeini Cashmere goats in Baft stations (BS) and of Raeini Cashmere goats raised in nomadic conditions (NC) as commercial flocks. Fiber samples including cashmere and hair were taken from 150 and 120 Raeini Cashmere goats (aged 1-8 years old) from BS and NC, respectively. The Fleece traits measured included staple length (SL), percentage of cashmere in fleece (C), percentage of guard hair in fleece (H), cashmere's mean fiber diameter (CMFD) and the coefficient of variation of cashmere's fiber diameter (CVFD). Mean SL, C, H, CMFD and CVFD in BS were 6.35 ±0.1 cm, 66.51± 0.72 %, 33.5 ± 0.72 %, 20.19 ±0.11 micron and 19.57± 0.21% and thosein NC were 5.62 ± 0.1 cm, 69.06 ± 0.74 %, 30.94 ±0.74 %, 19.53±0.15 micron and 17.88 ± 0.19 %, respectively. There were significant differences (P<0.05) between the two production management systems for all traits investigated. The value for C was significantly higher in males than females (P<0.05). The results showed that the fleece traits were affected by age. However, the effect of age on these traits was not the same. Significant phenotypic correlations were found between SL and CMFD (0.16) and between SL and CVFD (0.13). The results of this study indicated that the fixed effects of age, sex and management systems as well as the relationship between fleece traits should  be considered in the Raeini Cashmere goat breeding programs.