The Karakul breed of sheep is one of the most ancient in the world. Its homeland is considered to be the environs of modern Uzbekistan. Records of which breeds became its progenitors have not been preserved anywhere, but scientists tend to believe that the genes of Arabian long-fat-tailed and fat-tailed sheep were taken as the basis. To date, both meat with milk and wool, and even astrakhan intestines are widely used. But the most valuable product is smushka, the skin of newborn lambs.
Sheep have a strong pear-shaped body, long limbs, strong hooves. They are characterized by high tolerance to temperature changes and unpretentiousness in feed. The growth of animals reaches 78 cm, the weight of females is 40 - 50 kg, males - up to 70 kg, newborn animals - up to 4.5 kg. Most often, only rams wear horns, while the uterus is absolutely hornless. The tail of Karakul sheep is double-curved in the shape of the letter S, therefore it reaches the hocks. If there is no curvature, the tail is lowered even lower. The ears of adults are large, often hanging over an oblong hook-nosed head.
Sheep are covered with wool up to 20 cm long. By its nature, it is heterogeneous and tough. The head and limbs are black in color and short haired. With the onset of a year and a half, the coat gradually begins to lose its pigmentation and becomes gray. The peak of depigmentation is usually associated with the manifestation of the highest quality properties of the smushka. This factor is often taken into account when assessing young animals. The selection of rams occurs at the age of up to 3 days and in the third week of life. If an individual has a depigmented coat, it is not taken to the tribe.
Features of the suit of the Karakul breed
The color of the breed is of the following types:
- black (about 60% of the breed);
- gray (up to 25%);
- sur (no more than 10%);
- other colors: white, brown, pink (up to 5%).
The sur color type was actively developed by breeders. Depending on the distribution of color along the length of the coat, he received an additional three subspecies:
Breed productivity
Sheep breeders use 40% of the lambs born for the skin. The uterus after weaning newborns is able to give up to 30 kg of milk during the lactation period. Its fat content is 5 - 7%. Milking is required not only for the sake of obtaining a product, but also in order to prevent diseases of the mammary glands. During her life, one queen is able to bring a farmer up to 150 lambs.
Sheep are sheared twice a year. Depending on the season of collection, it can be:
- spring (taken in spring);
- autumn (taken in autumn);
- poyarok (taken from young animals of six months of age).
- in a year, a farmer can cut up to 3 kg of wool from one sheep, and up to 5 kg from a ram.
Benefits of Breeding
Due to the fact that the breed developed in harsh conditions, its characteristics are superior in many respects to sheep of other breeds. The main benefits include:
- high adaptive abilities;
- unpretentiousness in nutrition and to the conditions of detention;
- strong skeleton;
- heat transfer properties allow to withstand high temperatures up to +40 degrees;
- high survival rate of young animals in extreme conditions;
- the versatility of the products obtained (not only meat, but also milk, wool, hides, abomasum);
- wool of lambs is of high value in the fur industry;
- the variety of color types also increases the value of animal skins.
Disadvantages of breeding
Despite the high productivity rates, the breed has one significant drawback. Breeding Karakul sheep in a humid climate leads to a decrease in their performance. Juicy pastures and regular rainfall lead to the reduction of livestock. This is due to the fact that the primary area of sheep breeding was in semi-desert regions with poor grazing conditions. The breed has adapted well to drought over many years of breeding in such adverse conditions.
Feeding sheep, subject to breeding in Russia
If the farmer nevertheless decided to breed astrakhan breed in the conditions of the Russian climate, not only the conditions of keeping the animal, but also its diet should be adapted. It is natural that in the summer most of the feed should be grass, and in winter - hay and straw. Of the cereals, it is best to add oats, rye, corn and wheat to the feed. They should be alternated with each other and not given all the grains together. Among the legumes, alfalfa and sainfoin will be the most acceptable herbs, as they partially resemble in taste and structure the vegetation of the arid regions in the karakul breeding area. Root crops and melons can easily fill the need for vitamins. Vegetables can also be harvested for the winter. Sheep do not disdain and tops from them.
IN winter time You can fill the need for nutrition with silage and concentrated feed. You can prepare them yourself ahead of time. For example, for the preparation of compound feed you will need:
- wheat, oats and barley - 25% of the total weight of the feed;
- cake from oilseeds - 13%;
- salt - 1%;
- dicalcium phosphate - 1%
All ingredients must be ground. If you have an extruder at home, the mixture can be turned into special granules that will prevent dust from crushed feed from entering the lungs of livestock.
What not to feed astrakhan sheep
The grasses grown in the swamps (reeds, horsetail, sedge) and acidic cereals are too hard and poorly digested by sheep. It is also not recommended to feed the livestock with beets. This can lead to diabetes in animals. Bread is contraindicated for young animals, since it contains yeast and has a bad effect on the work of the gastrointestinal tract. All vegetables and fruits must be cut before feeding, regardless of who the product is intended for - adult livestock or lambs.
Types of karakul
Broadtail is most often used for the production of outerwear and hats. Its quality depends on many parameters, including the place of production. Breeders from different countries have been working on commodity characteristics fur. Their task is to create the most similar species in terms of parameters, which can ensure the uniformity of the produced skins. In the world market, the leading positions are occupied by three types of broadtail:
Doodle quality assessment
The main quality of karakul is the degree of silkiness of wool. It determines not only the cost of the fur sold, but is also a sign of the breed. Depending on the thickness of the hair and the allocation of fat, there are:
- richly silky astrakhan;
- silky;
- not silky enough;
- rude;
- dry.
The specifics of breeding karakul livestock
Afghanistan is one of the leaders in breeding the Karakul breed. On the example of this country, we will consider the features of breeding flocks. Large farms have up to 2000 heads, medium - about 300, but there are also small farms with a flock of up to 30 individuals. Such a variety of livestock numbers does not make it possible to regulate breeding work with the breed at the state level. Each sheep breeder in the conduct of his farm is most often guided by his own accumulated experience.
Competition among producers has given rise to the peculiarities of species selection within the boundaries of each farm. The secrets of crossing breeds are kept secret and are inherited.
The number of gray sheep is 60% of the total livestock. This is due to the demand in the market for gray astrakhan fur. Breeding sheep of a rare color, although capable of bringing a lot of profit, is unpopular due to the difficulty of breeding them.
Effective use of females. With year-round content in the pasture, the uterus can live up to 10 years. During this time, she is able to bring 130 - 150 lambs to the sheep breeder. This is the main reason why most Afghan farms keep predominantly queens. Their number usually reaches 80%.
The wombs after lambing, from which the lambs were taken for furry, are subjected to another fertilization in March. Under favorable conditions, males launched into the flock are able to fertilize up to 20% of the queens. By the end of September, they bring repeated young.
Afghan farms practice obtaining fur not only from lambs, but also from old individuals culled because of the poor quality of their teeth. In the autumn, I let them into free mating, and the resulting young are slaughtered.
Breeding area
The current population of the breed is more than 30 million individuals in the world. They are bred not only in their homeland in Uzbekistan, but also in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries. In addition, the Karakul breed is relevant in Ukraine. It is bred in Poltava, Odessa and Kherson regions. Less popular, but still significant, is the breeding of livestock in the USA, Africa and Europe. In general, the high productive qualities of the breed were appreciated by farmers in 50 countries around the world.
Breeding the Karakul breed is a great idea for beginner sheep breeders. This breed is unpretentious in terms of nutrition and conditions of detention, its wool is highly valued in the market, and meat and milk can become additional products for sale. The only drawback is the fact that it is not possible to keep the breed in the conditions of the Russian climate everywhere. This is due to the peculiarities of the local climate. Wet weather and too juicy food contribute to the rebirth of individuals: they become small, lose their inherent qualities of skins. Maintaining the breed in a form that can provide a high cost of products requires an arid climate and vegetation characteristic of desert and semi-desert regions. The creation of these conditions will ensure the maximum profitability of breed breeding relative to the cost of livestock feed.
Karakul sheep considered one of the oldest Central Asian breeds. For a long time there have been disputes about the origin of this breed. Professor Kushelov believes that it took more than one millennium to develop it. Excavations in Turkmenistan have shown that sheep, very similar to Karakul sheep, lived on that land several thousand years before our era.Some researchers believe that sheep were brought to the Central Asian lands by Arab conquerors. Local residents paid attention to the valuable fur of animals, and directed their efforts to careful selection and fattening of sheep. And so it appeared Karakul breed. The theory is supported by the fact that the locals call Karakul sheep"Arab". There are a lot of opinions and hypotheses about the origin of the breed.
There are also more prosaic versions: for example, that the Karakul breed was bred on the territory of Uzbekistan, by crossing the fat-tailed with the Arab. Even about the name of the breed "karakul" there are disputes: some believe that the name is associated with Lake Karakul, located in the Pamirs, others explain the name of the breed as a translation from Assyrian, which means "black goat".
Whatever the origin of this breed, its contemporaries are bred in many countries: Russia, America, Ukraine, but mainly in Central Asia-Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Arab countries and even Africa. Karakul sheep are perfectly adapted to hot and arid climates.
The main reason why this breed has gained such fame and widespread breeding is the great value of the skins of lambs - astrakhan. Fur manufacturers call this product - astrakhan fur. Smushki is obtained by killing lambs in the first days of their life. Skins are in great demand and directly depend on the age of the offspring. Smushki come in a wide variety of colors - from light gray to milky, steel, pearl and even black, which makes them even more valuable.
Karakul sheep have a lean body with a strong constitution, are very hardy and unpretentious. Able to eat, more than half of the plant species growing in their pastures. Sheep milk is obtained from queens whose lambs have been selected for the production of smushkas. Individuals that are not suitable for high-quality smushka (at the age of 7-8 months) are left for the sale of meat products.
Karakul breed belongs to the long-tailed sheep, it has a tail curved with the English letter “S”, it mainly grows to the hock.
2 times a year, in spring and autumn. Their coat is long, can reach 20 cm, coarse, not always uniform (in adult representatives of the breed). On average, the queens range from 2.5 to 3.5. kg per year, subject to good feeding. Sheep give up to 5 kg of wool.
Live weight karakul rams from 60-70 kg, queens 40-50 kg. Criteria such as weight, constitution, coat and even fertility are very dependent on the conditions of maintenance, care and feed. All figures are subject to change. The breed is considered to be quite high-milk, on average, the uterus can produce up to 30 liters of milk, the fat content ranges from 7 to 8%. The Karakul breed is distinguished by good heredity; when crossed, it transmits best qualities of its breed, for which it is so valued all over the world.
Among the shortcomings, experts distinguish that when keeping sheep in a damp climate, with a lot of rainfall and saturated pastures, the sheep become smaller. Dry climates are best suited for keeping them.
This breed of sheep gives the best smack in the world. There is a great demand for karakul astrakhan astrakhan in commodity science (in the fur industry and trade) in all countries, therefore the karakul breed has become widespread and is bred in more than fifty countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and America. The number of karakul sheep and crossbreeds in their type in the world is more than 30 million heads, and the production of karakul sheep reaches 9-10 million pieces.
As for the origin of Karakul sheep, this question remains open to this day.
The point of view of P.N. Kuleshov, who noted that “only two cultural breeds of prehistoric importance have the right to be considered as such: on the one hand, merino and, on the other, karakul.
I consider the Karakul sheep to be the oldest breed, the breeding of which took thousands of years of factory work.
Jokingly, I would suggest to the most outstanding zootechnicians and geneticists to create these two breeds for the second time - merino and astrakhan. I think that not only the Nobel, but also the huge Beckwell Prize could be given to someone who would approach the solution of this issue without using Merino blood or astrakhan ... I am sure this Nobel Prize will remain completely unused for many centuries.
B. N. Vasin, who worked with Karakul sheep for many years, believes that “the modern Karakul sheep occurred as a result of mixing two (or several) groups of sheep, of which one was fat-tailed with coarse wool, while the other belonged to semi-coarse-haired breeds surrounding their homeland Karakul sheep (Afghan, Kurdish). This mixing led to the appearance of such a structure of the coat, which made it possible to show the qualities of astrakhan, so pronounced that they could be picked up by artificial selection, which determined the creation of the modern astrakhan sheep.
... the crossing of these groups of sheep, which gave rise to the Karakul breed, apparently, was recent, since the first indications of the existence of Bukhara kurpeks are found only in the second half of the 17th century.”
Convincing evidence that the formation of the Karakul breed from two noticeably different breeds occurred recently is the very large variability of this breed in terms of body type, tail shape, coat pattern, and qualitative characteristics of the Karakul.
M. F. Ivanov, based on the results of crossing different breeds of sheep, carried out at Askania-Nova, came to the following conclusion.
The following considerations speak for the hybrid origin of the Karakul sheep that have come down to us. Our experiments at Askania-Nova proved that the karakul tail shape (fat tail with a more or less skinny S-shaped end) is obtained by crossing fat-tailed sheep with long-skinny-tailed or fat-tailed sheep. If hybrids with a karakul tail shape are crossed again with a fat-tailed one, then part of the offspring is obtained with a fat tail, which has a shape similar to the tail of some Caucasian breeds. These experiments indicate that the karakul tail shape is a later form compared to the fat-tailed and fat-tailed ones, and also point to the formation of the karakul tail shape.
Different authors explain the origin of the term "karakul" in different ways. According to some, the word "karakul" is derived from the Assyrian "karatul", which means "black rose"; There are authors who see a connection between this term and the name of Lake Kara-Kul, located in the Pamirs.
Some consider the word "karakul" to be derived from the word "karakul" - black lake - in the sense that a black smushka with wavy curls, as it were, resembles a black lake with waves on it. A quite plausible, in our opinion, explanation of the origin of this word is given by those authors who believe that astrakhan fur is lamb skins from sheep bred in the area around the town of Karakul, located in the Bukhara region. This region is considered the birthplace of Karakul sheep.
The Karakul breed of sheep is characterized by the following exterior features: the head is narrow and elongated with a slight hook-nosedness, the ears are long drooping, reaching 3/4 of the length of the head, but there are animals with short ears. The front part of the head and ears are covered with shiny covering hair.
Rams have powerful spiral horns, but there are also polled ones. The uterus is usually hornless.
Neck of medium length. The body is pear-shaped. The chest is deep but narrow. The legs are strong, high, thin and covered with wavy rune hair up to the hock joint. The tail is long, fat with a curved end resembling the letter S. Before the bend, the tail is a wide fat pad, the curved end of the tail is lean, without fatty deposits. The underside of the fat part of the tail is not covered with hair, and the skinny end is covered with a circle of rune hair.
The length and shape of the tail of Karakul sheep vary greatly. The tails vary in length: short, not reaching the hock, and long, descending to various lengths below the hock.
In addition to the S-shape, the tails are in the form of a triangle, and fat is deposited on them along the entire length.
The skinny tip of the tail may be covered with white hair, which is not a fault if the white hair does not go over to the fat part of the tail.
The coat is coarse, braided. The length of the braids reaches 15-18 cm.
According to the type of coloring, Karakul sheep are divided into black (arabi), gray (shirazi), brown (kambar), pink (guligaz) and sur. With age, the fleece wool of Karakul sheep turns gray.
The graying process is most intensive in colored sheep (brown, pink, sur). In these types of sheep, by the age of one year, the pigmented hairs lighten, and by the age of 1.5 years, the wool becomes almost white.
The graying process of black Karakul sheep is slower. By the age of one year, the wool of black sheep acquires a brown or red hue with the presence of individual gray hairs only in some animals. By the age of 1.5 years, the degree of graying increases, and by 2-2.5 years, the wool of most sheep becomes gray.
Covering hair on the muzzle, ears and legs retains the color that they had at birth. The color of the covering hair on these parts of the body is the main indicator of the color of an adult Karakul sheep.
The average live weight of Karakul queens is 40-45 kg; breeding sheep - 65-80 kg, and individual animals - 60-70 kg. Newborn lambs weigh 4.0-4.5 kg.
The fecundity of Karakul sheep is low - 105-110%. The main product of karakul sheep is karakul skins. Along with this, milk, meat, wool, sheepskins, abomasums are obtained from Karakul sheep. With the rational use of the milk productivity of the queens, the offspring of which is used to produce astrakhan, it is possible to significantly increase the profitability of the industry, and most importantly, increase the production of milk, butter, feta cheese, and hard cheeses.
Meat products are obtained from the slaughter of queens and rams culled by age with poor quality astrakhan, grown up to 8-9 months. The wool of karakul sheep is coarse, used for the production of felt, carpets, coarse cloth.
Abomasums are valuable additional products. High-quality abomasums are obtained from lambs fed on mother's colostrum for 1-2 days.
The specificity of the Karakul breed is that the shape, size, density, pattern, elegance of the curls of wool on fur coats are preserved for a very short time. Therefore, Karakul lambs are killed for astray in the first 1-3 days after birth. After this time, as a result of the rapid regrowth of wool fibers, the curls become loose, the original crimp and beauty of astrakhan fur are lost. Adult animals lack those characteristic features of the coat that they had at a very early age. Nevertheless, the existence of a certain relationship between the quality of the lamb smushka and the type of physique and the nature of the coat of an adult animal has been established. Based on this, a wool-constitutional classification of adult Karakul sheep was developed, according to which three types of constitution are distinguished: strong, tender, rough.
Sheep of a strong type - "guzama" in terms of productivity and adaptability to the conditions of the breeding zone are the best in the breed. They have a well-developed, but not coarse skeleton, thin and dense skin. Adult sheep are mostly grey. Wool of medium length - 8-12 cm, quite thick, elastic, collected in braids, falling apart in the upper part. The silkiness and fatness of the coat is good. The bulk of the wool is made up of transitional fibers and an awn of medium thickness. The shearing of wool is higher than from soft type sheep and amounts to 2.5-3.0 kg for both shearings. Animals are mobile, use pasture well, easily endure winter grazing, quickly feed on desert pastures and retain good fatness. From sheep of a strong type, relatively more lambs are obtained, the skins of which are attributed to the most valuable jacket group, which is distinguished by a good sheen, silkiness and a beautiful curl. Rams of this type are used on the uterus of their own and other types of constitution.
Sheep of a tender type - "nazyk", the extreme degree of overdevelopment - "kryk" - are the smallest. The skeleton is thin and light, the head with a straight profile, somewhat elongated. The skin is thin (dense or loose). Wool with a high content of fluff, little awn and it is very thin. The wool is short, collected in small, highly crimped braids, with a high density it takes on a staple character. According to the harvesting standard, wool belongs to the first class. Sheep of delicate constitution are extremely mobile, fatten up quickly and at the same time quickly lose fatness at the slightest change in the normal conditions of keeping and feeding.
In terms of endurance and adaptability to winter grazing, these animals are inferior to sheep of a strong and rough type. Nazyk lambs often have a small curl, thin and insufficiently dense skin.
Sheep type "kryk" are characterized by overdevelopment of the constitution. Their body is narrow and shallow, the skin is thin and not strong enough. The coat is very short with overdeveloped crimp, often dry. Down and transitional fibers predominate in the coat. They are sheared once a year in the spring, because before the onset of winter, the wool does not have time to grow to the required length. In terms of productivity, sheep of this type are the least desirable. Lambs often have insufficiently dense thin skin, highly crimped flaccid hair, small curls with various deformations.
Sheep of a rough type - "ak-gul" are distinguished by a coarser skeleton, thick, dense or loose skin. The overgrowth of the head, belly and limbs with rune hair is often insufficient. The coat is coarse, with a high content of thick, long awns and a small amount of short and very fine down, collected in large, slightly crimped braids, with little or no fat, turns gray early and strongly. Sheep are immobile. Lambs from queens of the coarse type are the largest in size. The skeleton is rough massive, the skin is thick (dense or loose). The size of the curls on the hide is usually large. The overgrowth of the head and legs is weak.
The coat of Karakul sheep is very diverse in color (color): black (arabi) - about 60%, gray (shirazi) - 25%, sur - 10% and others (5%) - white, pink (guligaz), brown (kambar ).
The gray coloring of astrakhan fur is a mixture of white and black wool fibers. Depending on the ratio of these fibers, the color changes. The most valuable is the blue and silver colors of gray fur.
With a uniform selection of gray Karakul sheep, due to the absence of homozygous forms in the offspring, on average, 3/4 gray and 1/4 black lambs are obtained. A third of the total number of gray lambs usually die within the first 6-8 months. their lives. Dying lambs are homozygous for the lethal Shirazi gene. Such lambs usually lack pigmentation of the mucous membrane of the oral cavity, lips, nasal mirror, conjunctiva of the eyes, therefore they are called albinoids. In order to prevent the death of albinoids, N. S. Gigineishvili proposed to carry out an early determination of the viability (EW) of gray Karakul lambs obtained with a uniform selection of parents in color. The essence of this method lies in the fact that the mucous membranes of the tongue, hard palate, lips, nasal mirror and conjunctiva of the eyes are examined in a graded gray lamb. In viable lambs, the mucous membranes are gray and black, while in albinoids, they are pink. The identified albinoids are used to obtain astrakhan fur. The reliability of the ROZH method in the pure breeding of gray sheep by experienced specialists is high.
To exclude the production of albinoids, B.N. Vasin developed a scheme for heterogeneous breeding in a closed herd. Its essence lies in the use of gray rams on black wombs, and black rams on gray wombs. In these cases, gray and black lambs are approximately equally obtained, but all lambs are viable. Diverse in color selection has become widespread.
Three breed types of sur-colored sheep have been created in the breed - Bukhara, Karakalpak and Surkhandarya.
Severity is determined by heterochromia - an uneven color of the hair along its length: light - the upper tier and darker - the lower one. The Bukhara sur is characterized by a black or dark brown base and a silvery or light golden outer layer. It is obtained on the basis of black coloring. Depending on the ratio and contrast of differently colored hair zones in the Bukhara sur, a number of varieties are distinguished - silver, golden, lilac and diamond sur.
A feature of the Surkhandarya sura is a brown or coffee-colored lower tier and a highly lightened upper tier. This sur is obtained on the basis of brown coloration. In the Surkhandarya sura, the following main colors are distinguished: bronze, platinum, amber, anthracite, sand.
It should be noted that when mating sheep of the Bukhara and Surkhandarya sura, an anhilation (disappearance) of severity occurs. Therefore, sheep of these colors are recommended to be bred clean.
The colors of the Karakalpak sura have the following characteristics: steel - the base of the hair is black, and the upper light part is steel; fiery - the base of the hair is black, the top is white; apricot - the base of the hair is dark brown, the middle is beige, the top is white or orange.
Karakul sheep are bred all over the globe. You can get acquainted with the features of the smushkovo-milk direction and the content of the breed in our article.
The history of the birth of the breed
Some scientists believe that the Arabs brought sheep with original fur to the lands of Asia. Asians, in turn, took up the selection, fattening and breeding of valuable specimens. Sometimes sheep are called "Arab" - this is one of the arguments in favor of the first theory of the origin of the species.
It is believed that the withdrawal of the Karakul breed occurred in the territory where the lands of Uzbekistan are now located, by crossing fat-tailed and Arabian sheep.
A number of scientific representatives claim that the sheep got its name from Lake Karakul on Palmyra, on the banks of which sheep with curly fur grazed. Others are sure that this is a direct translation from the Assyrian language and means "black goat".
The Karakul breed has become very widespread in all climatic zones: arid or hot climate, cool high-altitude mountain air - animals adapt quickly and easily. Regions that have large populations of the breed: Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, America, Africa, Arab countries. The breed belongs to high-milk.
Description and characteristics
In the livestock environment, the Karakul sheep is among the unpretentious and very hardy breeds that provide valuable and high-quality products.
The homeland of this sheep was deserts and semi-deserts, where they learned to survive and adapt. The behavior of individuals of the Karakul breed was calm.
The Karakul breed has excellent heredity; when crossed with other representatives, it transmits its best qualities.
External distinguishing features of the breed:
- long and slightly sagging neck;
- elongated head with a small humpbacked profile;
- males have developed horns, polled uterus;
- body of medium size;
- legs shortened, sinewy, muscular;
- the tail is curved, thinned towards the end, S-shaped;
- the color is often black, with age the sheep turn gray;
- the weight of an adult uterus reaches 50 kg;
- sheep weight - about 70 kg;
- the weight of a newborn lamb is up to 4.5 kg.
Production characteristics of the breed:
- Wool with a spring haircut - up to two and a half kilograms; in autumn - up to one and a half kilograms. Only spring wool has a runic appearance.
Sheared wool from adult sheep is used to make carpets and coarse woolen fabrics.
- Skins from lambs of the first days of life.
- Milk from the queens, from whom the lambs were taken for assimilation.
- Meat and lard from sheep about 8 months old, which were not suitable for giving away smushkas, and from old individuals.
The quality of the skins depends on the constitution of the constitution and the age of the lambs.
The wool of sheep of the Karakul breed is dense, somewhat coarse. The hair has a non-uniform thickness and length, the average is up to 10 centimeters. A huge number of dense curls are formed on a thin mezdra.
The constitution, fertility and production indicators are directly dependent on climate, weather, feeding and maintenance.
Constitutional types of Karakul sheep:
| Moderate or strong build, massive bones, thin and dense skin. High level of endurance, adapted to constant grazing in deserts or semi-deserts. Lamb skins are the most expensive. |
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| Powerful skeletal frame, large head, thickened skin, with a loose structure. Adapt to different conditions more slowly. Lamb skins are less valuable. |
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| Normal build, strong bones, the body is harmoniously developed, the skin is dense and thin. Wool transitional type of hair, a large amount of fluff. |
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| hypertrophied gentle | Narrow chest, thin bones, sagging back and rear. Low stamina. Mass is gaining slowly, its quality is low. The coat is dry, short and crimped. The price is low. |
Livestock breeders prefer to leave in the herd the main backbone of sheep of a strong constitution.
According to the color of the skin of the Karakul sheep, they are black (90% of the total livestock), gray or brown. Colors are extremely rare and highly valued: white, milky, pink, blue and other variations.
The skins of Karakul sheep are called "smushki". Fur manufacturers call their products "karakul".
Smushki are obtained by killing lambs. The price of the skin also depends on the age of the offspring.
Herd nutrition
Herds of the Karakul breed are unpretentious not only to weather and climatic conditions, but also to feed. A sheep eats up to 800 kg of coarse dry mass of feed per year, for this it travels about 25 kilometers a day. During the day, each drink about 6 liters of moisture.
On pastures, sheep eat up to half of the growing plants. With good fattening, production indicators increase significantly:
- wool from queens is sheared up to 3.5 kg, from rams - up to 5 kg;
- uterine milk can give up to 30 liters, its fat content is about 8%.
The disadvantage noted by livestock breeders is that the herd becomes smaller when pastures saturated with lush grass, rainy weather and a humid climate. Dry climate is ideal for Karakul sheep. They calmly endure air temperatures from +42 to -47 degrees.
Karakul breed
sheep, a breed of fat-tailed coarse-wooled sheep of the astrakhan direction. The leading astrakhan breed in the USSR. The majority of researchers classify sheep breeding as one of the most ancient and believe that it was created by the peoples of Central Asia through a long-term selection of local sheep. Most Karakul sheep have a semi-hump-nosed head, a deep body, a tail with a large deposition of fat, ending in an S-shaped skinny appendage. The rams are mostly horned, the uterus is polled. Weight of rams 55≈65 kg, queens 45≈50 kg. The color at lamb age is black (in 80% of sheep), gray, brown, “agouti” (sur), etc. With age, black sheep turn gray, only the color of the head and legs remains unchanged. The coat of newborn lambs consists mainly of rolled and bean-shaped curls, creating a beautiful pattern. As the hair grows, the curls are destroyed and coarse hair is formed.
The main product of Karakul sheep is smushki. Astrakhan astrakhan is in great demand in the USSR and is an important export item (see Karakul). The wool of adult sheep is characterized by good valency and is used for the manufacture of coarse woolen fabrics and carpets. Sheared (for two haircuts) from rams 3.5≈3.8 kg, from queens 2.0≈2.2 kg. Queens released from raising lambs (in connection with slaughtering for astrakhan) are used to obtain milk (25≈30 kg per lactation).
Breeding work with the breed is aimed at improving the quality of astrakhan and expanding its range. K. p. is used to improve the qualities of other breeds. K. p. is bred in Iran, Afghanistan, Southwest Africa, and some other countries. The main breeding areas for Karakul sheep in the USSR are the republics of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, some regions of the Ukrainian SSR and the Moldavian SSR.
Lit .: Yudin V. M., Experience in breeding work with Karakul sheep in the Kara-Kum breeding farm (1936≈1943), Samarkand, 1943; Baikov M. I., Karakul breed of sheep, M., 1953; Gigineishvili N. S., Gray Karakul sheep, M., 1954; Ivanov M. F., Poln. coll. soch., vol. 3, M., 1964.
I. Ya. Averyanov.
Wikipedia
Karakul breed
USSR stamp, 1975
The main product of this breed is broadtail and broadtail. The Karakul breed gives the best smushka in the world.
The Karakul sheep breed is ancient, it is believed that the peoples of Central Asia bred it through skillful selection and selection of natural and fodder conditions favorable for raising sheep.
Smushkovo sheep breeding existed in Central Asia as early as 800 BC. e.
Karakul sheep are well adapted to the harsh climatic conditions of semi-deserts and deserts. The rams of this breed are mostly horned, and the uterus is polled. The live weight of queens is 45-50 kg, rams from 55 to 85-90 kg in the best representatives of the breed. Lambs of the Karakul breed are divided into black, gray, sur and kombar, the bulk of the livestock, up to 85% are black sheep, but with age, the sheep turn gray. The hair cut from the head is 2.2-3.8 kg. The meat and fat of Karakul sheep has a good taste. In most representatives of the breed, the head is semi-humped, the tail has a large deposition of fat, long (descends below the hock), the body is deep. Wool obtained from adult sheep is used for dressing carpets and for the manufacture of coarse woolen fabric.
There are sheep of strong, rough and tender constitutional type.
To obtain milk, weaned wombs from lambs are used, to obtain meat - culled wombs and rams with poor quality astrakhan fur, rams are slaughtered after they grow up to 10-12 kg.
When breeding sheep of this breed on abundant and juicy pastures, the quality of astrakhan is deteriorating.
Karakul sheep are bred in Iran, Afghanistan, Namibia, South Africa. On the territory of the USSR, they were grown in the republics of Central Asia, in some regions of the Moldavian and Ukrainian republics (Kherson, Odessa, Poltava, Nikolaev regions), Volgograd, Astrakhan, Orenburg regions, Krasnodar Territory, Kalmykia. Currently, the Karakul breed is bred in 50 countries of the world, the total number of livestock reaches 31 million heads. Breeding of the Karakul breed in Russia is continued in the Astrakhan region and in Kalmykia.
In the 1950s and, obviously, later, there were state tribal nurseries of federal and republican significance, tribal state farms. In Samarkand, the research institute of astrakhan breeding worked.
In Uzbekistan, the Uzbek Korakuli company is engaged in breeding the Karakul breed.
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