Results of creating a new breed of fat-tailed sheep with white and light gray wool

Abstract

Relevance. The demand increase in the domestic and foreign markets for high-quality, environmentally clean lamb, as well as for coarse, clarified wool, especially in scarce white and light gray colors, fur sheepskin, determines the relevance of the scientific support of domestic fat-tailed sheep breeding. Material and methods. The article represents the results of the studies on the new breed creation of fat-tailed meat-greasy sheep in the eastern, south-eastern and western regions of Kazakhstan. Results. New breed animals successfully combine high meat quality with heterogeneous white and light gray wool, are well adapted to grazing conditions in desert, semi-desert and foothill-dry steppe zones. The average live weight of sheep producers of breeding herds, depending on the breeding farms, is 95.4–97.8 kg, sheared wool — 3.34–3.38 kg, for ewes — 66.0–66.8 and 2, respectively. 28–2.32 kg. The average live weight of ram lambs at birth varies between 4.8–5.0 kg and 37.7–38.6 kg when chopping, the average daily live weight gain during the suckling period of development is 274–280 g, for the ewe lambs these indicators are equal to 4.6–4.8 kg, 36.0–36.7 kg and 262–266 g, respectively. At the age of 4 months, the mass of carcass with fat tail of the created sheep breed is 18.49–19.03 kg, at 16 months — 33.46–33.77 kg, slaughter yield ranges from 52.3–53.1 and 52.5–52.9%, respectively, pulp yield in the carcass is 79.3–79.8 and 80.2–80,6%. These data show that in terms of slaughter and meat qualities, rams of the newly created sheep breed are not inferior to peers of such breeds as Edilbay, Saryarka, etc. The studies conducted in the wool laboratory of Sheep Breeding Research Institute named after K.U. Medeubekova, showed that the clarified sheep wool of the created breed has some physical and mechanical differences in comparison with the Kazakh fattailed coarse-haired sheep. Their wool can be attributed to a new variety sheep breed of coarse-wooled sheep in Kazakhstan. Such wool has better technological properties in comparison with the fat-tailed coarse-wooled sheep.