Sheep breed prekos: description, characteristics, breeding and features

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The Prekos sheep breed is a variety of Merino sheep, bred at the end of the nineteenth century by crossing rambouillet and Leicester breed. From France, animals were brought to Germany. Officially, the breed was recognized as new only in 1929. Now prekos sheep are bred everywhere. Consider the characteristic features of the breed.

Appearance

For prekos sheep, a strong physique is characteristic. They have a stocky body, good support in the form of a strong lower back, strong limbs. Legs set wide apart. This feature gives the impression that the animals are very massive, with a wide chest, well-developed bones.

Sheep breed prekos have a variety of colors. Most often, dark gray representatives are found in farms, somewhat less often - animals of sandy and milky color. White is considered the rarest color.

All four limbs of Prekos sheep are covered with a small amount of wool - up to the border with the hock. The head is large, the neck is thick, powerful. The tail is short. AtPurebred sheep show a small amount of wrinkling.

Sheep and rams differ in weight. Male individuals reach a height at the withers of 80-90 cm and weigh about 130 kilograms. Females grow up to 70 cm (at the withers) and weigh about 80 kilograms.

In the description of the prekos sheep breed, it is indicated that young animals are able to quickly gain weight - by six months, lambs weigh more than forty kilograms.

The breed is characterized by the absence of horns. Although sheep are considered polled, twenty percent of sheep have growths on their heads.

According to the description and characteristics, the prekos sheep breed differs from others in the following properties:

• Light, strong bones.
• Compact neat ears.
• The neck is dense, without folds, short, powerful.
• The back is wide, the muscle mass is well developed.
• The girth of a sheep's body reaches 120-130 cm.
• The tail is short, shaggy.
• Sheep are tall, up to 90 cm at the withers.

Sheep are hardy, able to move tirelessly over long distances. The breed quickly adapts to various climatic conditions. The temperament of the lambs is docile, but shy.

Productivity

As indicated in the characteristics, the Prekos sheep breed is famous for its excellent meat. In addition, subject to favorable conditions for keeping and a properly selected diet, you can get an excellent yield of fine wool. It has a spiral structure. Its length reaches ten centimeters. From a ram you cancollect about nine kilograms of wool, and five from a sheep.

To boost these showings, farmers crossbreed prekos with Australian merinos.

According to the characteristics, the prekos breed of sheep is characterized by rapid growth. Young individuals by four months already weigh about 40 kilograms. The average daily weight gain averages three hundred grams. Adults with good fattening can grow up to 120 kilograms. There are champions among the representatives of the breed, whose weight reached 160 kg.

For excellent lamb, slaughter is recommended at nine months of age.

Breed virtues

Sheep and lamb prekos are considered calm animals. They are valued not only because of the wonderful wool and delicious meat. These animals also have other advantages. As stated above, they quickly gain weight. Ewes are very prolific - there are about 150 lambs per hundred females.

The advantage of the breed is the excellent adaptability of individuals to different conditions of detention, to the climate. Sheep produce excellent wool with a density of up to 500 wools per square centimeter.

Flaws

Despite its merits, the prekos sheep breed also has its drawbacks. These include:

• Low wool yield - about 50%, due to the fact that not all parts of the body have wool.
• The cut is not uniform.
• In some parts of the body, the fibers are different in length and density.

In farms where purebred breeding of the breed is carried out, attention is paid to the culling of individuals. The ones that don't matchbreed standards, go to slaughter. These are lambs, slowly gaining weight, individuals with various defects, including underdevelopment of the genital organs, low sexual activity.

Contents

The prekos breed is not demanding in terms of care and maintenance. In the warm season, animals are constantly in the fresh air. In the mornings and evenings they graze on pastures, and at noon (during the sun) they are placed under a canopy. If climatic conditions allow, then year-round grazing can be practiced. In regions with cold winters, animals are kept in pens at a temperature not lower than +5 degrees Celsius. In barns where queens with lambs are kept, the temperature is maintained at least +15 degrees.

Sheep, like other artiodactyls, are afraid of high humidity, drafts. Such conditions adversely affect the he alth of animals. To create a microclimate suitable for the breed, a ventilation system is installed in the room. It provides fresh air and removes excess moisture.

The floors in the paddock are covered with straw or hay. The flooring is changed once a week, but more often. Be sure to carry out the processing of equipment that is used to care for animals.

In the pen, a place is being equipped where animals receive food.

Food

According to the description, keeping the Prekos sheep breed is not difficult. In summer, sheep eat green fodder obtained from pastures. This is their main diet in the warm season. From autumn the animals beginadditionally feed by introducing into the diet:

• Bran.
• Silos.
• Cereals.
• Vegetables, fruits, root crops.
• Piece.

To increase immunity include vitamins. Throughout the year, sheep should have free access to mineral supplements in the form of lick s alt, fish or bone meal. They are necessary to improve the quality of the coat, appearance.

Also, sheep must always be provided with constant access to fresh water.

Breeding

Female prekos are highly fertile. Every second queen gives two lambs.

The breed is characterized by early sexual development. Already at the age of eight months, ewes are ready to mate and bear offspring. But mating is recommended when they are one year old.

According to the observations of farmers, the most productive age for ewes is from two to five years. Then performance drops. For breeding purposes, the uterus can be used for up to nine years.

Lambs

At birth, babies weigh up to five kilograms. With low feed costs, they quickly gain weight. Already at 4 months, the young weigh about 40 kilograms, and at six months - 55 kg.

Throughout the entire period of existence of the breed, breeders are constantly working to improve its characteristics. With proper selection, the percentage of fertility increases annually by 2-4%. The main thing in this matter is to observe somerules:

• You should not cross too young individuals, as they give weak offspring.
• When mating animals from multiple pregnancies, offspring are obtained with high fertility.
• When purchasing adults, preference should be given to sheep no younger than two months old.

After birth, prekos lambs quickly rise to their feet and actively behave. They have a thick coat that becomes even denser as they develop.

Ewes do not have problems with feeding offspring, as the breed has good milk production. Lambs are weaned from the uterus when they reach a weight of 30-35 kg.

When breeding prekos sheep, it is important to provide sufficient nutrition to young animals, especially in the first months of life, since it is during this period that intensive weight gain occurs, and as they grow older, growth rates decrease.