The influence of copper deficiency on the fleeces of British breeds of sheep

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Abstract
The fleeces of Border Leicester, Romney Marsh, Lincoln and Dorset Horn ewes which were confined for 3 years to copper-deficient pastures at Robe, in South Australia, have been studied.As the copper status of the untreated ewes fell, their fleeces revealed abnormalities identical with those encountered in similarly copper-deficient Merino and Merino crossbred sheep.The crimp characteristic of each breed was lost and straight, ‘steely’ fibres were produced. The capacity for crimp formation returned immediately when the copper status was restored.Ewes which received regular copper supplements grew normal wool throughout the experiment. Supporting analytical data are presented.The absence of this specific lesion from the fleeces of copper-deficient British breeds of sheep elsewhere is discussed.

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