Phenotypic Correlation between Guard Hair and Down Hair in Chinese Alashan Left Banner White Cashmere Goat: A Preliminary Study

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The cashmere goat’s double coat is characterized by long and coarse guard hair, which provides mechanical protection, and short and fine down hair, the luxury cashmere fiber, which provides thermal protection to the animal. The main commercial attributes of cashmere fiber are its length and fineness and the coarse guard hair is usually discarded by the textile industry. The aim of this study was to describe the phenotypic correlation between the characteristics of the coarse guard hair and the other fiber. ABSTRACT: In cashmere production studies, few trials have considered the guard hair features and their correlation with down fiber attributes. In this preliminary work, early observations on 158 one year old Chinese Alashan Left Banner White Cashmere goats were carried out. The aim was to describe the phenotypic correlation between the guard hair length and other fiber traits. The guard hair length was positively correlated with guard hair diameter and the down fiber length. Negative correlations were found between guard hair length and the coefficient of variation of guard hair diameter, between the guard hair diameter and its coefficient of variation, and between the down fiber diameter and the coefficient of variation of down fiber diameter. The body weight at first combing was not correlated with any of the other traits.