Is it feasible to select humid sub-tropical Merino sheep for faecal egg counts?

•Faecal egg count (FEC) in Merinos raised in humid sub-tropic environments is a highly variable and moderately heritable trait.•FEC is negatively correlated with hogget body weight, and negligibly correlated to wool production traits, mainly wool weights and mean fibre diameter.•This indicates selection for low FEC lambs is expected to increase hogget weights and not to compromise wool production traits.