Glossary of Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ear mark / tag | Distinguishing mark of an owner clipped out of a sheep?s ear; identification disc placed in the sheep's ear. |
| Elasticity |
Valuable property found in wool - being able to return to its original length after stretching or compression.
|
| Evenness |
Relates to the uniformity of the fleece principally in terms of quality number and length.
|
| Ewe |
A female sheep.
|
| Exotic |
Not occurring in Australia.
|
| Exotic Breeds |
The term applied to breeds of sheep introduced to Australia, including Awassi, Damara, Dorper and Karakul. They are characterised by a fleece that seasonally sheds dark and/or medullated fibres, and as such have been given a high AWEX Breed Risk Rating of 5. Contact between exotic breeds and the Merino sheep increases the risk of dark and/or medullated fibre contamination of Merino wool.
|
| Expert |
The person in large shearing contracting teams responsible for the maintenance of the shearing equipment.
|
| External | On the outside (skin) of the animal's body. Usually refers to parasites, such as ticks, lice and blowfly. Related term: Ectoparasite - external parasite |