Mechanical quality of leather in Texel lambs and their crossbreds

High quality leather of small ruminants is a valuable raw material for various industrial sectors. Sheep breeding system was significantly re-oriented and focused on meat breeds in the Czech Republic during last 15 years. Therefore, the objective of work was to evaluate effect of Texel blood share and body part on selected quality traits of sheep leather as an additional product of its breeding. A total of 10 leathers of purebred Texel lambs (T100) and 10 leathers of Merino x Texel crossbred (T50) were analysed. The basic indicators of leather quality namely leather thickness (LT, mm), yield strength (YS, μm), tensile strength (TS, MPa), and breaking point (BP, μm) were measured and evaluated in relation to selected factors. LT of cross-breds with 50% share of Texel blood was by 0.1616 (P < 0.001) mm thicker than in pure-bred Texel lambs. Body part of leather significantly (P < 0.05-0.01) affected all characteristics evaluated except BP. Hypothesis stated was confirmed and initial results documented necessity of more detailed further research focusing on leather quality of meat breeds of sheep