Finnwool

Finn wool is generally described as fine, white, soft, and lustrous. Throughout the quarantine breeding program heavy emphasis was placed on improving wool qualities, particularly in the area of micron count.

The AWEX Breed Code for Australian Finnsheep  describes it as:

Fine Crossbred – Wool is even, soft and lustrous. White wool with good even staple length and lock.

Fibre Diameter: 24 -31 micron          Fibre Length: 80-100mm

Finnsheep provide an excellent wool fibre across the micron ranges.  With the emphasis on the use of finns  — as maternal sires for the first Cross ewe in prime lamb production, and in the production of composite rams for use as terminal sires in prime lamb production — maintaining heavier weight well boned and conformed animals has also helped maintain the higher micron levels consistently as well.  There still remains a variation in the micron counts between the various sirelines in the purebred Finn, as a consequence.

Micron counts:

Pure Finn typically 20-31

Finn-Merino typically 20-23 (Victoria)

Finn-Border Leicester typically 25-28

Wool Classers are consistently commenting on the softness and high lustre of finn and finn cross fleeces across all micron ranges.

Australian Finnsheep & Merino cross lambswool. (Average 20.5 micron for the whole flock clip)

Australian Finnsheep & Corriedale cross fleece

Wool counts of SA research trials for several similar aged finn rams: