Dr Jim Watts

PO Box 2604, Bowral, NSW
Ph: +612 4862 2050
Fax: +612 4862 2290
Mob: 0409 364 864
Email: srs@hinet.net.au

Jim is a veterinarian who has developed a new way of breeding fleece-coated animals.

The breeding system, called the Soft Rolling Skin® or SRS® system, is based on improving the density and length of fibres grown by the animal, and has been applied to Merino sheep flocks and Angora goat herds in Australia since 1988 and more recently to Huacaya and Suri alpaca herds in Australia, New Zealand, North America and the United Kingdom. By selecting fleece-coated animals specifically for high levels of fibre density and length and low primary fibre diameter, rapid improvements in fleece weight and fibre quality (fineness, alignment, tensile strength, surface smoothness, elasticity and dye affinity) are achieved.

The Merino sheep that is bred using these methods is plain-bodied and does not need to be mulesed. It is also easier to shear, has more lambs and rears more lambs. The carcase value of the sheep increases with the lambs growing quickly and returning excellent red meat yield.

Jim has developed measurement systems for fibre density and length as well as accurate subjective methods, based on fleece structure, of assessing density and length. He has shown that animals with measurably high levels of fibre density and length produce fleeces consisting of long and thin staples of high crimp amplitude and low crimp frequency. A key concept is that the 'fibre bundle', representing the fibres produced by the skin follicle group, is the basic unit of fleece structure.

These scientific discoveries impact directly on the design and implementation of fleece breeding programs as well as conventional methods of animal and fleece judging.