Relationships among productive characters of Merino sheep in north-western Queensland 1. Estimates of phenotypic parameters

Abstract

Estimates of repeatability and phenotypic relationships among 10 fleece characters were obtained from a flock of Merino sheep at the Toorak Field Station, Julia Creek. The repeatability of all characters was high, ranging from 0.45 to 0.80.
Phenotypic correlations were generally comparable with published data for similar strains. The principal antagonistic relationship is that between clean wool weight and crimp frequency (r = -0.45).