Sheep are animals that produce a large number of products, including meat, fat, skin, lard. Distinguish fine-grained, semi-fine-grained and coarse-haired breeds of animals. Among them, a separate group stands out merino, the wool of which has special qualities.
It is believed that the merino type of livestock of this direction appeared in the Near East in the 2nd – 3rd century BC , from where its spread to the West began. At the beginning of the 20th century, the breed began to spread actively in Australia, before that, merino, whose wool allows the production of the finest materials, was successfully bred in Europe. In the USSR, breeds that were most suitable for use in various regions of the country were created on the basis of local and imported samples.
In total, Soviet experts bred about a dozen different breeds, among which the most famous are Salskaya, Stavropol, Askanian, Soviet Merino, Caucasian, Altai, etc. All animals are united by a genetically predisposed to an additional supply of skin on the neck (in the form of several hanging folds).
The wool of a merino sheep is characterized by the smallest cross-section (fineness) of the hair, which, according to the classification, should not exceed 25 micrometers. In each of the above breeds, this indicator is different. For example, Soviet merino gives fineness mainly 20-23 microns (less often 18-20 microns), and Salsk breed - usually 20-25 microns. In addition, when assessing the quality of wool raw materials, they look at what strength, crimp, elasticity, extensibility, what luster, color and what moisture it has. The color of the greasepot is also evaluated.
Merino wool, reviews of which we indirectly compose for ourselves, buying, for example, high-quality knitwear, is also distinguished by its enviable length. For example, from a Salsk breed sheep, during shearing, they get the main fleece about 8 cm long, from rams about 9 cm. Note that males almost always get longer wool and a greater meat yield (live weight before slaughter can reach 100 and more kilograms).
How often are merinos cut? Wool of rocks of this direction is collected once, in April-May, when the air warmed up enough for the animals to go “without a fur coat”. It is erroneous to believe that all raw materials have the above unique qualities. The best coat is obtained only from the back, neck, sides and thighs of each animal. It is manually sorted from raw materials obtained from the chest, legs, head, and subjected to further processing. The average yield of pure wool from merino breeds is about 42-50 percent.
Where in Russia today are mainly grown merino? The wool of these animals is obtained in the Middle and Lower Volga region, in the steppe territories of the Caucasus, in Southern Siberia. In the countries of the former USSR, merino sheep husbandry is developed in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and some regions of Transcaucasia. The leaders in the total number of sheep of various directions today are China, Australia and India.