Breeds of fine-wool sheep: description and characteristics

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

Fine-fleeced breeds of sheep are sheep with fine, long and necessarily uniform wool. The thickness of the hair in the down cover of such animals usually does not exceed 25 microns. The structure of the wool of fine-wool sheep has a staple. Several breeds of animals of this group are bred in Russia.

General characteristics of fine wool breeds of sheep

The hair of cattle of this variety is not only thin, but also of considerable length - up to 9 cm on average. At the same time, the hair is characterized by strong sinuosity. One centimeter of hair length can have up to 6-8 waves. Typically, such sheep have a well-developed skeleton, but poorly developed muscles. Grazing of these animals is usually carried out on arid steppe pastures.

Main varieties

All breeds of fine-wool sheep can be divided into two large groups:

• meat-wool (semifine-fleece);
• woolen (fine-wool).

Some breeds of fine-fleeced sheep can be bred in almost any region of Russia,others are zoned. Very often, farmers in our country grow:

• Soviet Merino;
• Salsky breed;

• Stavropol.

Popular semi-fine wool breeds are:

• South Ural;
• Kazakh;
• prekos.

Fine-fleeced, semi-fine-fleeced breeds of sheep, like ordinary meat, are most often characterized by unpretentious care and endurance.

Soviet Merinos

Sheep of this breed are bred almost everywhere in Russia. There are two subgroups of Soviet merino - meat-wool and wool. A distinctive feature of this particular breed is a small amount of fat. Most often, in fine-fleeced sheep, its indicators are 2 times higher than in ordinary ones. Soviet merinos, on the other hand, lack it. Therefore, their wool often rolls up in tangles. Despite this small minus, the Soviet merino is considered one of the most productive fine-wool breeds.

This sheep was bred in the USSR between 1925 and 1938. Coarse-haired Stavropol (wombs) and fine-wooled Grozny (sheep) became the parent for the breed. The coat color of these sheep can be ashy, gray or white-yellow. In any case, the fleece of the breed is very thick, long and has a pronounced tortuosity. In adult rams, by the beginning of the shearing, in some cases, the eyes are not even visible.

The content of Soviet merinos is veryunpretentious. They endure the winter just fine. You can feed them at any time of the year. In November - March, they willingly eat, including very dry grass. It is believed that long pastures, even in fields with poor vegetation, are more useful for these sheep than keeping in a paddock. Shearing wool in rams of this breed can be 10-14 kg in its pure form.

Sale sheep

The breeds of fine-wool sheep are usually not driven too far. The Salian sheep is a pleasant exception to this rule. Animals of this breed were bred by crossing Rostov merino ewes with rambouillet rams.

The advantages of the Sal sheep, in addition to high productivity, include endurance and the ability to make transitions over very long distances. The weight of rams of this breed can reach up to 90-110 kg, queens - up to 56 kg. The fleece of the Sal sheep is closed, thin, long, and has a pure white color. From one uterus, you can cut up to 7 kg of wool, and from a ram - up to 17 kg. The advantages of the breed, among other things, include high fertility. These sheep are bred mainly in the Rostov region.

Stavropolskaya

Some breeds of fine-wool sheep are relatively thermophilic. Refers to such varieties, for example, the Stavropol sheep. Animals of this breed were bred at the breeding farm "Soviet Runo" in the Stavropol Territory. The breed was approved in 1950. The material for its creation was the New Caucasian merino, which had not too thick wool, but welladapted to local conditions.

Typical Stavropol sheep have two folds of skin and a fur on the neck. Their physique is very strong. The uterus of this breed can reach a weight of 56 kg. The wool sheared from them is about 6 kg.

The disadvantages of the Stavropol sheep are considered to be a drooping butt in some individuals and proximity of the limbs in the hocks.

South Ural sheep

Thus, we have found out which sheep breeds are fine-wooled. The varieties described above are very popular in their regions and give simply excellent wool. A common disadvantage of such animals is only not too much weight. Therefore, breeders have bred several breeds of semi-fine-fleeced meat sheep.

South Ural sheep was obtained in 1968 in the state farms "October" and them. K. Marx of the Orenburg region. In the selection, local coarse-wooled queens and German prekos rams were used. The purpose of the work was to breed a new semi-fine-wool breed adapted to the conditions of the Urals and the Volga region.

This sheep belongs to the group of meat and wool in terms of productivity. The mass of an adult South Ural sheep can reach 110-120 kg, the uterus - 55-60 kg. Wool in animals of this breed is long (8-9 cm) merino white. It has a pronounced twist. zhiropot at Yuzhnouralsk sheep is high-quality. Sheep of this breed can be both horned and polled. Shearing wool from one adult queenis 4.5-5 kg. You can take up to 12 kg from a ram.

In content, this breed is very unpretentious, and it has practically no shortcomings. The disadvantages of the South Ural sheep include only low fertility and the presence of dry staple tops in the fleece. It is believed that further breeding work is needed for this breed, aimed at improving the quality of wool.

Sheep prekos

This popular breed originated in France in the 19th century. The basis for it was the English Leicester uterus and the French rambouillet. Officially, the breed standard was established in 1929. In Russia, prekos, as a fairly thermophilic breed, are bred mainly only in the southern regions - in the Bryansk, Kursk regions, etc.

The coat color of these sheep can be milky cream, off-white, dark gray or sandy. The weight of rams reaches 100-130 kg, queens - 60-70 kg. These sheep are shy, but very obedient. For grazing prekosov it is better to choose a hilly area. In care, these sheep are unpretentious.

The prekos breed belongs to the meat-wool group. The fleece of these sheep is quite thick. From one ram you can cut up to 9 kg of wool, and from the uterus - up to 5.

Kazakh fine-wool breed of sheep: description

This breed was obtained by crossing prekos with fat-tailed queens. Most often, Kazakh sheep are kept by farmers in eastern Kazakhstan. Their distinctive features are a strong constitution and endurance. If necessary, they can be kept on pasture all year round. Adult weightsheep of this breed reaches 100 kg. At the same time, 3.5-7 kg of high-quality fluff can be cut from one individual.

Instead of a conclusion

Sheep breeds are fine-wooled and semi-fine-wooled, thus, are bred in many regions of our country. Some of them, as you can see, need to be improved. Other shortcomings are practically devoid of. In any case, subject to the proper keeping technologies, representatives of all the breeds described above are capable of producing a lot of high-quality wool, and breeding them can become quite profitable.