ABSTRACT: Wool shedding data were measured on 2762
Romane females and after an experimental design aiming to
introgress wool-shedding genes from the Martinik Hair into
the Romane breed through 4 successive backcrossing generations.
Ability to shed varied from 42.7 % to 52.8% according
to age but only 1.2% of adult Romane ewes showed
total wool shedding. Estimated heritability of wool shedding
was high (0.69) and wool shedding in lambs was
strongly genetically correlated (0.86) to wool shedding in
adults. After the introgression process, a large increase of
the ability to shed (+75.3%) and shedding extent (+145.7%)
was observed. This introgressed breeding stock (n=120
ewes) was then selected using EBV. A high genetic gain
(+1 σg) was observed after 2 generations of selection indicating
that a rapid progress can be achieved through introgression
of wool-shedding genes and then selection in the
Romane breed