Over the 8-thousand-year history of the development of sheep breeding, a huge number of different breeds were bred. They are able to satisfy any requests that are associated with these animals: milk, cheese, wool and meat. Today we will consider the most productive sheep breeds that have become widespread in Russia.
Characteristic
In the Soviet Union, such a livestock industry as sheep breeding was focused on meat and wool products. Today in the Russian Federation, meat is a priority. Such breeds are especially widespread in the following territories:
- North Caucasus.
- Ural.
- Cis Ural.
- Lower Volga.
- East and West Siberian regions.
Benefits
The advantages of animals in this area primarily include high rates of lard and meat. Sheep can live in open grazing throughout the year. They adapt well to different climatic conditions: to cold winters and hot summers. Unpretentious to feed. Even if animals are on a meager diet, their body is able to form a fat reserve.
Signs
All animal meat breeds of sheep have characteristic features:
- large sizes;
- high percentage of meat yield;
- strong fleshy body;
- high muscle mass;
- early maturity and fertility (the Romanov sheep is the highest);
- endurance;
- good immunity to diseases and helminths;
- vitality;
- fast growth;
- excellent lactation;
- strong healthy young growth.
Now let's get down to the core. What breeds of sheep are the best? We will tell you about where and when they were bred and their distinguishing features.
Romanovskaya
One of the most popular and sought after is the Romanov sheep. The breed was bred in the XIII century in the Yaroslavl province. A distinctive feature of Romanov is multiplicity. The uterus can bear and give birth to five or more lambs without damage to health.
Description
The very first characteristic of the Romanovskaya breed was introduced in 1908. At present, an individual must meet the following parameters:
- strong physique;
- average height;
- strong skeleton;
- strong, straight legs;
- wide withers;
- deep and wide chest;
- slightly saggy sacrum;
- flat back;
- developed muscles.
Sheep and sheep of this breed can be horned, but, according to the standard, breeding animals should not have horns.
Pure-bred lambs are born in the light of black color, only on the head and legs, closer to the hooves, white marks are allowed. After a couple of weeks, light fluff begins to appear in the rams and yarns , and by the age of 5 months. lambs acquire a color characteristic of adult individuals of this breed, and are ready for the first haircut. It is believed that it is at this age that the best sheepskin is formed.
Productivity Characteristic
For a year, Romanovsk sheep are trimmed three times: in the spring, summer and autumn. About one kilogram of wool is obtained from one sheep for one haircut, and one and a half kilograms less from a sheep.
In addition to the unique fur coat products obtained from this breed of sheep, it is economically profitable to grow it for meat. The weight of a mature sheep is 70, and sometimes reaches 100 kilograms. The ewe weighs about fifty kilograms, lambs at the age of 3 months have a weight of about 17, and at nine months - about 40 kilograms.
One of the distinctive characteristics of Romanovsk sheep is considered to be that they are ready for breeding not only in a certain period, but throughout the year. All this makes it possible to receive several offspring per year from one uterus, which allows planning lambing for a more favorable time. According to estimates, one uterus can produce 100 kg of mutton and 2-3 high-grade runes per year (for slaughter of lambs at the age of eight months). All of these qualities make it possible to widely use the breed for an intensive method of growing.
Advantages and disadvantages
Like most animals, this breed of sheep (see photo of representatives above) has its advantages and disadvantages. Of the advantages, the following properties can be distinguished:
- polyesteriness (ability to year-round insemination);
- multiplicity;
- high lactation (200 l of milk);
- precocity.
In this case, the first products in the form of wool or sheepskin can be removed already from lambs of five to six months of age, and at 7-9 months receive the first meat.
Of the shortcomings, one should note a tendency to pulmonary diseases, timidity. Romanovskys are especially sensitive to sudden changes in temperature, drafts and humidity.
Gorkovskaya
The breed was bred in the Soviet period, in the thirties of the XX century. When breeding, breeding hampshires and native sheep were crossed. Breeders managed to breed Gorky meat breed with short coarse wool, which has high productivity. Sheep has a light skeleton, rapid muscle growth. The Gorky sheep is unpretentious, hardy, with high immunity, and therefore has become widespread. Adult rams gain 110 kg of weight, and the uterus - up to 80 kg.
Prekos
It was created in France in the middle of the XIX century. Its ancestors were fine-fleeced local sheep and animals of the English meat breed Leister. Subsequently, early-maturing sheep obtained as a result of crossing were brought to Germany, and there a new breed of sheep, Merino Fleisch, was created on their basis. Thus, a certain number of types of prekos were formed, which are most close to merino on the exterior and fineness of the wool.
Sheep has a proportional physique, a strong constitution. Due to the fact that the sheep have a too broad back, lower back and thighs, their figure is barrel-shaped. Head to the very line of the eyes is covered with thick hair. Most often animals are hornless, but their presence is not a vice. Adult fatten sheep weigh 110-130 kg, sheep 58-67 kg. The yield of finished pure wool varies from 40 to 48%. The weight of lambs at birth usually ranges from 3.8 to 4 kilograms, and after 120 days it reaches 34 kg. With proper nutrition from one ewe, you can get up to 55 kg of mutton per year.
West Siberian
It was obtained by crossing local coarse-haired sheep of meat type and sheep of the Kulunda breed. A distinctive feature is the high polyesterity of sheep, which allows lambs to be obtained at that time of the year, which is unacceptable for other breeds. The offspring of the West Siberian sheep can be sold for meat as early as 7 months of age. The mass of adult sheep and sheep is 102 and 63 kg, respectively.
Edilbaevskaya
Coarse-edilbaevskoy breed of sheep belongs to the meat-greasy direction. It appeared thanks to folk selection at the end of the 19th century. Bred in Western Kazakhstan as a result of crossing Astrakhan coarse-haired sheep and Kazakh fat tail sheep. Thanks to the work of breeders, they got strong, hardy animals adapted to the conditions of nomadic sheep breeding.
Description
The Edilbaevskaya sheep is distinguished by a strong constitution, has the right physique, she has a well-developed fat tail. By the way, the older the animal, the more he has fat tail with fat. More rounded shapes indicate that the animal has good fatness. Representatives of this breed are hornless. Sheep of the Edilbaev breed tolerate summer drought and winter cold equally well. Easily make long-distance crossings and have the ability to cash in on a meager pasture. This feature is historically determined: nomadic sheep farming is practiced in Kazakhstan.
The live weight of one adult ram is 110-120 kg, particularly outstanding specimens reach a weight of 150-160 kg, sheep average 65-70 kg and 90-100 respectively. A distinctive feature of this breed is early maturity and high growth energy. At birth, the mass of lamb on average is about 6 kg, larvae weigh up to 5.3 kg, at the age of one and a half years - 80 and 65 kg, respectively. The weight of the carcass of an adult fattened bobbin is 40-45 kg, and he has 14 kg of tail fat. On average, the yield of wool from one ram is up to 3.5 kg, the largest figure is 5 kg; 2.3-2.6 kg of wool is usually cut from a sheep. The fertility of the uterus of this breed is low, they bring no more than one lamb per lamb, which happens no more than twice during the year. Milk is obtained on average 150-155 liters per lactation period. These indications can vary from 124.8 to 184.3 liters.
Tien Shan and North Caucasian breeds
These sheep breeds have similar characteristics. The animals have a wide back, withers, sacrum and lower back, a rather short and fleshy neck, round thighs and hips. Coat of medium density, with pronounced tortuosity, homogeneous. The peculiarity of the representatives of these sheep breeds is excellent meat productivity (above average), a large yield of wool and high vitality. The weight of adult individuals of the Tien Shan breed is up to 110 kg for a ram and about 65 for queens, lambs in 4 months weigh 33 kg on average. From one ram they cut up to 9 kg of wool, from the uterus - up to 4.2 kg. When breeding the North Caucasian meat and wool breed, the Ronnie-march sheep, Lincoln and the uterus of the Stavropol breed were involved. The live weight of queens is 55-60 kg, and the amount of wool removed from one sheep reaches 6.4 kg.
Zwartbles
This is a breed of Dutch breeding sheep. The meat in animals is tender, non-greasy, with sweet shades of taste and a pleasant aroma. The coat is good, thick and thick. It is because of this and the special endurance of the zwartbles sheep that are popular all over the world. The breeding ewes of this breed are distinguished by high fecundity. The average weight of lambs at birth ranges from two and a half to five and a half kg, and by 120 days of age this figure reaches 45 kg. An adult ram has a live body weight of 130 kg, the uterus is slightly lighter - its weight does not exceed 100 kilograms.
Vendee
This breed of sheep is considered one of the oldest in Europe. It was bred by French breeders. A feature of the Vendian breed is lean lean meat with thin, evenly distributed streaks of fat and a delicious, delicate aroma. Very hardy and unpretentious animals are owners of dense coat and due to this they adapt well in difficult climatic conditions, gain weight well in pasture conditions. Fertility rates are quite high. A newborn lamb weighs about 6 kg, after 4 months its weight is already 60 kg, with a daily gain of up to 450 g. The weight of an adult uterus reaches 110 kg, and sheep of this breed are even larger - up to 150 kg.
Gissar
Sheep of this breed are one of the largest in the world. The average growth of a sheep is 130-140 kg, and some individuals reach 190 kg. The uterus is slightly smaller, but also characterized by a high mass of live weight - 70-80 kg, and taking into account muscle mass and fat - 100-120 kilograms. By the way, lamb and lamb at birth weigh about 7 kg and are characterized by early maturity. When lambs are beaten from the mother, their weight averages 45 kg, which, of course, is an excellent indicator. From one adult sheep, you can get 15-20 kg of tail fat, and in some cases more - up to 35-40 kg. The Hissar breed of sheep is coarse-haired, the coat is rather coarse, with a large amount of thick spine and dead, dry hair in it. The yield of wool in these animals is not too high: in sheep, this figure is 1.3-1.6 kg, in queens - 1-1.4 kg. Haircuts are made twice a year - in spring and autumn.
Texel
This is one of the most popular sheep bred by Dutch breeders. Texel - a representative of the oldest breed, began breeding in the XVIII century. The main advantages of representatives of this breed are marbling, delicious taste and the fact that it does not have an unpleasant odor and a pronounced aftertaste of fat. Lamb and lamb are born quite large, their birth weight is 7 kg, at 6 months, this figure is 60 kg, and at 9 reaches 102 kg. An adult texel ram weighs 130 kg, a sheep a little less - about 125 kg. Most often, these indicators depend on the conditions of fattening. Texel sheep are unpretentious to the conditions of detention, endurance, excellent immunity. For grazing animals, it is preferable to use an open pasture.
Dorper
The birthplace of this breed of sheep is considered to be Africa. In 1930, local breeders combined the best qualities of sheep dorset horn and fat tail sheep and got strong and hardy dorpers. The breed belongs to the meat, is considered one of the best in this direction. Dorperov is called hairless, in the spring they are not sheared, because they lose their hair during shedding. Purebred individuals have a white color, a black head and neck. Animals are very thermophilic, therefore in our country they are suitable for breeding in the middle and southern strip.
Characteristic
Let us dwell on the description of the breed of sheep (photo of representatives presented below). Purebred dorpers usually reach a weight of up to 140 kg (rams), sheep - 95 kg.
Young animals at the age of one year have such a mass: rams - 107 kg, brightness - 65 kg. The weight of a lamb, just born, is 5 kg, at the age of one month - already 25 kg, and at six months - 40-70 kg. Dorpers are leaders among other sheep breeds in daily gain under favorable conditions and good nutrition. Animals have very tender meat, adipose tissue is evenly distributed among the muscle. Due to the fact that the breed is hairless, the specific smell of mutton is practically not observed. The average meat yield during slaughter is 59%, which is an excellent indicator. The smooth and even skin of sheep is widely used to create a variety of leather products.
The total fertility is 150-225 lambs per 100 ewes, the average litter is from 1 to 4 lambs. Sheep become sexually mature by the age of six months, luminaries are allowed to mating from 10 months. Thanks to the good maternal instinct inherent in sheep of this breed, mortality of young animals is extremely rare. The structural features of the skeleton allow lambs to quickly be born, so lambing pass safely. Dorper sheep can be bred twice a year, with an interval of 8 months. But veterinarians do not recommend this, since frequent childbirth depletes the body of the sheep. In the event that animals are allowed into mating all year round, it is recommended to keep one ram-producer for 15-20 sheep. It is undesirable to give a large load on it, as this can adversely affect the genetic health of future offspring.