Breeding of the North Caucasian breed of sheep. Caucasian sheep. North Caucasian sheep but British bloodlines

The Caucasian breed of sheep and the North Caucasian were bred in the Stavropol Territory. Now these animals are bred mainly in the south of Russia or in neighboring countries with a similar climate. Breeding sheep of these breeds is a profitable undertaking due to their high productivity in both meat and wool directions.

Caucasian sheep were bred by selection in the Ipatovsky district of the Stavropol Territory. The work on their creation was carried out by breeders at once in two state farms - Ipatovsky and Bolshevik, and it began in 1924.

Three breeds of sheep with excellent characteristics were taken as a basis:

  • american rambouillet;
  • merino Novokavkazskaya;
  • Ascanian.

From their ancestors, the animals inherited a good coat of hair, evenness of the fleece, as well as a dense physique and height.

Description

Caucasian sheep are quite large: adult rams weigh about 100-115 kg, and queens - 55-65 kg. They have the following characteristics:

  • the body is proportional, the constitution is strong;
  • the head is small, erect;
  • lambs are polled, rams have horns;
  • the body is elongated, the muscles are well developed;
  • the neck is strong, folded;
  • back line is straight;
  • the sacrum is wide;
  • legs sinewy, strong;
  • wool is thick, long (7-10 cm), fleece of a closed type;
  • hairiness of the head, belly and legs is good;
  • cream fat.

Productivity

High-quality wool, meat and milk are obtained from Caucasian sheep. The average annual shearing of raw wool from a ram reaches 9 kg. Less wool can be removed from the queens - 3.5 kg, but it is assigned a quality level of 64, while a rune taken from males is given a quality level of 58-60.

Attention! The net yield of wool from Caucasian sheep exceeds 58%.

The fertility rate of females is at an average level - 130-150%. Lambing occurs once a year, and there are 1-2 lambs in the litter. During the lactation period, the ewe is able to give more than 100 liters of sheep's milk, the fat content of which varies between 5.8-8.1%.

Caucasian breed lambs already weigh 35-42 kg at 4 months. The mass of fattened seven-month-old lambs reaches 60-70 kg. At this age, the slaughter yield of meat from a carcass is 55-60%.

Pros and cons

The advantages of the breed include such qualities of sheep as adaptability to an arid climate, high milk, wool and meat productivity. The disadvantages of the Caucasian sheep are the poor uniformity of wool in density on different parts of the body and the slow weight gain in lambs.

Where are they bred?

Caucasian sheep are perfectly adapted to a moderately humid and arid climate, so they are bred mainly in the southern part of Russia - in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. There are also small herds in Siberia, in the south of the Ural region. Breeding farms and collective farms located on the territory of Georgia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan also have Caucasian sheep at their disposal.

North Caucasian breed of sheep

Breeders from the Stavropol Territory also worked on the creation of this breed. The work was started during the Great Patriotic War, in 1943, and continued for almost 25 years. In 1958, the North Caucasian breed of sheep was registered. Lincoln rams and English Romney marches were taken as the basis of the genotype. They were crossed with local fine-fleeced sheep. As a result, the mixture obtained was divided into two types:

  1. The descendants of the Romney March are type A. These animals have thinner and shorter hair (up to 9.5 cm).
  2. The descendants of the Lincolns are type B. The quality of the fleece of these sheep is lower, but the wool itself is longer.

In 1952, breeders set a goal - to improve the quality characteristics of the wool of North Caucasian sheep classified as type B, and they succeeded.

Description

Lincoln descendants are tall and large animals with well-developed muscle mass, with long and soft high-quality wool, which is used for the production of garments.

Breed characteristics:

  • sheep weight - 90-100 kg, ewes - 56-69 kg;
  • the growth of the male reaches 75 cm, the uterus - up to 70 cm;
  • elongated body;
  • the back is flat, wide;
  • the chest is well developed, protrudes slightly forward;
  • the limbs are muscular, of medium length;
  • the skull is wide, the profile is straight;
  • the head is well furred;
  • the wool is crimped, white, the fibers are long - 12-13 cm;
  • fineness quality - 56-60;
  • both rams and wombs are hornless.

Productivity

North Caucasian sheep show high productivity in two directions at once - meat and wool. The average daily weight gain of animals is 200-230 grams. By 12 months, the mass of sheep and rams reaches 85% of the mass of an adult animal. The slaughter yield of meat is 50-52%. The degree of meatiness is 77-78%. North Caucasian ewes increase their livestock by 140% per year. They mate once a year.

From an adult lamb, it is possible to obtain up to 12 kilograms of wool annually, from the uterus - half as much. The fleece is distinguished by uniformity, evenness and density. It has a staple-braid structure. The fibers are crimped along their entire length. The fineness quality is 56-60 levels.

Attention! The net yield of washed wool from North Caucasian sheep exceeds 55%.

Pros and cons

The advantages of the breed include:

  • high quality fleece and good wool shearing;
  • fertility of the breeding stock;
  • output of meat from the carcass after slaughter.

Farmers note that when breeding North Caucasian sheep, some lines of descendants show low fertility, while others are born with sparse wool.

Where are they bred?

The North Caucasian breed of sheep is adapted to the steppe arid climate, so the main areas for its breeding are:

  • Armenia;
  • North Caucasus;
  • Ukraine;
  • Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories.

The breeds of sheep we have considered are the fruit of the labor of breeders from the Stavropol Territory. Thanks to their work, high productivity rates of sheep were achieved in two directions - meat and wool. Although these breeds have minor flaws, they are still popular in different regions of Russia, Ukraine and the CIS countries.

This semi-fine-fleece long-haired breed of sheep was bred in Soviet times on the basis of the Vostok breeding farm in the Stavropol Territory. The chief livestock specialist of the enterprise, Sergei Ivanovich Gaidashov, said that when breeding the breed, the employees of the breeding farm set themselves the task of creating animals with tender meat without a strong odor and with good wool.

North Caucasian sheep but British bloodlines

Fine-fleeced queens crossed with rams of English breeds romney march and lincoln. Over the course of 16 years, careful work was carried out, experts compared the results and came to the conclusion that half-breeds of Lincoln rams have more rounded shapes, large sizes, a long body and excellent wool quality. It was with them that further work was carried out.

In April 1960, the North Caucasian meat and wool breed of sheep was finally approved. Its main characteristics are: high rates of meat and wool productivity, large growth, strong skeleton, regular rounded shapes. North Caucasians do not grow horns.

The torso, head to the line of the eyes and legs to the carpal and hock joints are overgrown with hair. From rams, on average, 9-13 kg of wool is sheared, from sheep - 5.8-6.5 kg. Adult rams reach a weight of 105-128 kg, lactating females - 139 kg, the average weight of ewes is 65-70 kg. By the age of 4 months, lambs weigh 30-33 kg. At the same time, the slaughter yield of meat is quite large - it exceeds 50%.

Summer: features of keeping the North Caucasian breed of sheep

The North Caucasian breed of sheep is unpretentious, has good health and is in great demand. In the warm season, the main diet of animals is green grass.

from pastures. Caring for them is quite simple: it is important to provide the sheep with a shaded area to rest during the hot season and to drink fresh, clean water on time. At any time of the year, it is imperative to provide animals with the necessary amount of minerals. To do this, in a separate feeder you need to put table salt and chalk, it will be useful to periodically add bone meal.

Winter chores

In winter, a dry shelter without drafts is important, and the herd should also be watered in time with fresh, not too cold water. In severe frosts, the water can be warmed up a little.

The winter menu should include dry and succulent food. On average, the diet for one animal per day is 1.5-2 kg of hay and straw, 2-3 kg of silage, haylage or other succulent feed (available vegetables), 0.8-1 kg of feed.

At the same time, lactating females and adults require a little more food, and young lambs and young lambs need less.

When choosing dry food, preference should be given to coarse alfalfa and sainfoin hay (it is advisable to harvest these grasses during the flowering period). Sheep also eat chopped pea, millet, oat or barley straw well. Periodically, it can be mixed in half with concentrates to save expensive feed.

Clean!

To avoid the formation of foot rot, you need to regularly inspect the hooves of sheep. With this disease, the legs of the animal swell, lameness appears, you can notice a strong-smelling mucus. The cause of the disease can be damp deep bedding in the barn. Therefore, it is important to keep the barn clean and avoid drafts.

We cut according to the schedule

The North Caucasian breed of sheep is not subject to seasonal molting, but this does not mean that they can be sheared at any time. At the end of winter and beginning of spring, the wool of semi-fine-fleeced sheep becomes dry and stiff. This is due to the lack of grease in the rune. In addition, the fatness of sheep is of great importance - the better they are fattened, the smoother and denser the skin, the better fat is produced.

The optimal time for shearing adult semi-fine-wooled sheep is spring. And it is best to wait a few weeks after the animals are released to pasture.

During this period, the fleece will be cleared of the bedding material on which the sheep stood in the cold season, a sufficient amount of grease will be produced so as not to damage the skin and wool during shearing. Spring lambing lambs are sheared for the first time in the spring of the following year. With winter lambing (in January or February), young animals can be cut for the first time in the year of birth from mid to late August.

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Story [ | ]

Bred in 1921-1936 in the breeding farms "Bolshevik" and "Ipatovsky" Ipatovsky district, Stavropol Territory. The herd of the state farm "Bolshevik" was originally completed in 1921-1922 with merino sheep that belonged to local kulaks and landowners. In terms of breed, the sheep represented the Novokavkazsky and Mazaev merinos, different in quality and productivity. Sheep-producers had a live weight of 64-74 kg, uterus 35-40 kg.

Sheep in the mass had long, strong, well-balanced fine wool of 64-70 quality, but rare and very fat with a pure fiber yield of 1.5-1.6 kg. In the exterior of the sheep, shortcomings were observed: a narrow chest, a sharp withers, a drooping rump, and proximity of the legs in the hocks.

Work on the creation of the Caucasian breed of sheep is characterized by three periods.

In the first period (from 1921 to 1926), the breeding and improvement of the Merino sheep of the New Caucasian type were carried out. In 1926, the herd of fine-fleeced sheep of the state farm occupied the first place in terms of productivity among other state farms that bred Merino sheep of this type.

In the second period (from 1926 to 1930), American rambouillet rams imported from the USA were used on the state farm. By “blood rush” of American rambouliers, the task was to improve the exterior of local merinos, increase their live weight, coat density and belly hairiness while maintaining good wool qualities of New Caucasian merinos.

In the third period (1931-1936), the work on the creation of the Caucasian breed was completed, which was carried out at the Bolshevik state farm under the leadership of Konstantin Dmitrievich Filyansky and Nadezhda M. Ternovenko. Work was carried out on the Ipatovsky state farm using the same methods. This period is the most significant. It is characterized by the use of more advanced methods of selection and selection of animals, the improvement of the conditions for their maintenance and the improvement of the general culture of sheep breeding on the farm. In 1936, by the decision of the livestock section of the All-Union Agricultural Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the order of the NKZ of the USSR, the herd of sheep of the Bolshevik state farm was assigned to the Caucasian breed, and in 1940 - the herd of the Ipatovsky state farm.

In the post-war period (1943-1952), breeding work in the herd was carried out under the guidance of the livestock breeder Plemovtseglavka of the Ministry of Agriculture of the USSR S. F. Pastukhov

In the 80s, they began to use the world-famous Australian merinos. As a result, in 1990, a new type of Caucasian breed was recognized - the South Caucasian merino. The wool of these animals was of high quality, had a moderate white fat, the uterus weighed 60-70 kilograms on average, the rams - 130, but reached 180

The Caucasian breed of sheep was bred on the eve of the Second World War in Bolshevik and Ipatovsky (the largest breeding plants in the Soviet Union at that time). Breeding work on the creation of a new breed can be divided into several successive stages. At the first stage, Ipatovsky breeders carried out purebred breeding of Merino sheep of the Novokavkazsky type. In 1926, these sheep were the best in terms of productivity among other breeding plants in the Stavropol Territory. At the second stage, American rambouliers were brought to the state farm, which were supposed to significantly improve the exterior, increase live weight and wool performance. The final stage took place under the supervision of Filyansky K. and Ternovenko N. in the "Bolshevik". Scientists used completely new ways of grading animals, as well as creating more favorable living conditions. Their efforts were crowned with success and in 1936, by order of the USSR People's Commissariat for Health, the Bolshevik sheep herds were classified as a newly created breed. In 1940, sheep from Ipatovsky joined them.

Body features

The Caucasian breed is the owner of a strong proportional physique with well-developed muscles. Females are polled, and most rams have horns. The body is elongated and slightly rounded. Legs in some cases incorrectly set. The live weight of males can reach 120 kg, and females - 70 kg.

Wool Features

The wool of Caucasian sheep has very high rates. It has a light creamy white hue with light cream grease (rarely white). The coat is crimped and well balanced. The length of the fibers is 10 cm in rams and 8 cm in queens. The fleece is board-shaped, closed on the outside and has a staple structure. Shearing of rams does not exceed 9.7 kg for rams and 8 kg for females, while the fineness quality is 64 with a pure wool yield of 56%.

Breeding

Females of the Caucasian breed are very prolific - up to 150% of the offspring. In addition, they are also distinguished by high productivity at the stage of lactation - 115 liters of milk in 77 days of feeding, while the fat content of milk is 6.3%.

Among the Caucasian sheep there were real champions in live weight. So, among rams, a weight of 173 kg was recorded, among ewes - 130 kg.

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