Fleece uniformity analysis (3 points)

What it tells you

• A mid-side sample describes the reference area, not the whole fleece: fineness varies across the body, and the hip is often coarser.
• Measuring three areas shows the micron difference between shoulder, mid-side and hip. The smaller it is, the more uniform the fleece.
• It helps selection, to spot breeding stock with an even fleece, and sorting, to know which parts of the fleece can go together.

What you get

A dedicated uniformity report, as a PDF downloadable from your account. It sets the 3 areas sampled on the animal side by side: shoulder, mid-side and hip.

• For each area, a table of 17 measurements: mean micron, standard deviation (SDD), coefficient of variation (CVD), coarse edge (CEM), comfort factor (CF, % of fibres ≤ 30 µm), share of fibres under 15 µm, Fine From Tip, MaxD, MinD, BaseD, SD Along, SD Across, spinning fineness, curvature and its standard deviation (SDC), staple length and number of fibres measured, plus the fineness class for the species.
• The differences in mean micron, standard deviation (SD) and comfort factor (% of fibres ≤ 30 µm) between the 3 areas.
• The diameter histograms of the 3 areas.
• The along-staple micron profiles of the 3 areas.
• If you use Fibre Herd, results land on the animal's record, matched by its FLID (Fibre Herd Livestock ID, the animal's unique and permanent identifier on Fibre Herd, linking its samples and results to its record).

Our method

• Measured on OFDA 2000 in staple mode, in-house method derived from IWTO-47, area by area.
• Herd correction factor: samples are measured greasy. One sample from your herd is washed and measured again; the difference between greasy and clean fibre (grease, dust) gives the factor applied to the whole batch.
• Trim High ON: fibres coarser than 80 µm (very coarse guard hair) are left out, as they would distort the mean and SD of the usable fleece.
• Daily instrument self-test and a reference staple with every batch. See our quality charter.

Reading your results

Compare the mean micron and SD of the three areas first: close values mean a uniform fleece. A marked difference, often at the hip, will show at sorting and spinning. To follow an animal year on year, always sample the same spots.

Taking the 3 samples

• Shoulder: on the front of the side, close to the shoulder.
• Mid-side: halfway between shoulder and hip, halfway down the body. This is the reference area.
• Hip: rear area, around the pin-bone.
• For each area, a small handful about two fingers wide, i.e. about 5 cm, cut close to the skin, fully dry. Always the same side.
• Three separate paper envelopes or bags (no sealed plastic), one per area, labelled with the animal's name and number and the area: shoulder, mid-side or hip.
• Fill in the information sheet (PDF) and send it with the samples.

Turnaround: 1 to 2 weeks after receipt, up to 1 month during shearing season.

Sample return: if you would like your samples back after analysis, tick "Return my samples after analysis (+€12 per order)" just before the Add to cart button. Only one return is charged per order, whatever the number of animals or analyses.

One area or three?

See the full analysis