author(s)
Showkat A Ahanger, Asif H Sofi, MA Paul, Mustfa Khalil, A Hamadani, Nusrat Nabi Khan, MA Baba, MM Shah, JA Baba, BA Kuthu and Mubashir Ali Rather

abstract
Gurez sheep is a well-known breed of J&K. It is known for its adaptability, mutton production as well as its wool characteristics. A total of 581 wool samples of Gurez sheep of both sexes were collected randomly and analyzed for various wool quality traits at Fleece Testing Laboratory, Srinagar, Kashmir. These traits included clean wool yield (CWY), fibre diameter (FD), staple length (SL), crimps per inch (CPI), medullation (M) and wool colour. The overall averages for CWY (%), FD (µ), SL (cm), CPI, and M (%) were 76.10±0.13, 28.31±0.17, 4.48±0.07, 5.37±0.10 and 9.29±0.39, respectively. The variance (CV) for all the traits under study was low to high for the traits under study. Highest variance was obtained for medullation. Wool color for the samples was white, brown or black. Our results indicate that the Gurez sheep is a carpet wool breed possessing high within breed variability for the wool quality parameters which can be further analysed and manipulated for better selection decisions.