What do merino sheep give? Wool and more

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

Sheep are animals that provide a large number of products, including meat, fat, skin, lard. There are fine-fleeced, semi-fine-fleeced and coarse-haired breeds of animals. Among them, merino wool stands out as a separate group, the wool of which has special qualities.

It is believed that the merino type of cattle of this direction appeared in the 2-3rd century BC in Western Asia, from where it spread to the West. At the beginning of the 20th century, the breed began to actively spread in Australia, before that, merinos, whose wool allows you to produce the finest materials, were successfully bred in Europe. In the USSR, on the basis of local and imported samples, breeds were created that were most suitable for exploitation in various regions of the country.

In total, Soviet specialists bred about a dozen different breeds, among which the most famous are the Salskaya, Stavropol, Askanian, Soviet Merino, Caucasian, Altai, and others. All animals are united by a genetically inherent predisposition to an additional supply of skin on the neck (in the form of severalhanging folds).

Merino wool has the smallest cross section (fineness) of the hair, which, according to the classification, should not be more than 25 micrometers. For each of the above breeds, this indicator is different. For example, the Soviet merino gives a fineness of mainly 20-23 microns (less often 18-20 microns), and the sal breed usually gives 20-25 microns. Additionally, when assessing the quality of woolen raw materials, they look at what strength, crimp, elasticity, extensibility, what shine, color and moisture it has. The color of the lard is also judged.

Merino wool, reviews of which we indirectly compile for ourselves by buying, for example, high-quality knitwear, is also distinguished by its enviable length. For example, a main fleece about 8 cm long is obtained from a sheep of the Sal breed during shearing, from rams - about 9 cm. 100 or more kilograms).

How often do merinos get their hair cut? The wool of the breeds of this direction is collected once, in April-May, when the air is warm enough for the animals to walk “without a fur coat”. It is erroneous to believe that all raw materials have the above unique qualities. The best wool 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. Average yield of pure wool from merinobreeds is about 42-50 percent.

Where in Russia are merinos predominantly grown today? The wool of these animals is obtained in the Middle and Lower Volga regions, in the steppe territories of the Caucasus, in Southern Siberia. In the countries of the former USSR, merino sheep breeding is developed in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and some regions of the Transcaucasus. The leaders in the total number of sheep in various directions today are China, Australia and India.