Description and characteristics of Edilbaevskaya sheep breed, breeding rules
Sheep breeders value edelbay sheep for lack of capricious care, endurance, meat, greasy and milk productivity. The Edilbaevskaya breed of sheep was bred specifically for the arid and scarce vegetation of the steppe regions. Unpretentious fat-tailed animals are adapted to many-day transitions between pastures, frosty winters and dry summers, gaining weight on stunted pasture.
History of the breed
The Edilbaev breed was received by breeders in the 19th century by crossing a fat-tailed Kazakh sheep with an Astrakhan ram. In the process of selection, experts selected the most powerful and hardy offspring, characterized by high adaptability to both drought and severe frost, capable of traveling long distances without losing weight, feeding on stunted steppe grass.
Representatives of the Edelbay breed are distinguished by their fertility, they give not only meat, but also valuable fat tail fat. The breed was to the liking of the shepherds who roam the steppes and semi-deserts of Kazakhstan. The fat accumulating in the fat tail allows the sheep body not to lose meat and dairy productivity in the unfavorable climate of the steppe zone.
For several decades, the Edilbaev breed was bred by Kazakh sheep breeders. By the 1950s, the unpretentious and productive breed had become popular in other union republics. Today Edilbaev's sheep are raised by Kazakh, Uzbek, Ukrainian livestock breeders.
Appearance and characteristics
Edilbaevskie sheep belong to the fat-tailed type. In the sacral region, they accumulate fatty mass, which forms a fat tail, which grows as the animal ages.
The external signs and characteristic features of the Edilbaevskaya breed are given in the table.
| Height at the withers | 80-85 cm |
| chest girth | up to 1 m |
| weight | ram - 110-120 kg, sheep - 65-70 kg |
| color | black (traditional), brown (dark and light), red |
| horns | absent |
| torso | strong, well-knit, with smooth outlines and a developed skeleton, the spine is strong and flexible, the back of the body looks more massive than the front |
| head | medium-sized, narrowed, with an elongated muzzle and a humped nasal bridge, strong and thick teeth, adapted to eat coarse plant foods |
| limbs | strong, sinewy, slender, well-muscled |
| wool | dense, dense, has a heat-insulating property, the length of the hairs is 10-15 cm, half of the wool mass is down |
Lambs are actively gaining weight from the first day of life. A newborn male cub weighs on average 6 kg, a female - 5.2-5.5 kg.The average daily weight gain of a lamb up to 3 months of age is 200-250 g, and males develop more slowly than females.
A young individual of 4 months of age weighs up to 25 kg, and the weight of a fat tail reaches 3 kg. Edilbaev sheep, which have reached 5-7 months, are suitable for slaughter, weigh up to 40 kg, and half of the weight is slaughter, and 4 kg is fatty mass. The productivity of Edilbaev sheep depends on color. Black animals are more productive in terms of the amount of meat and wool.
Advantages and disadvantages of Edelbaev sheep
Requirements for maintenance and care
Despite the endurance and high adaptability, the Edelbaev sheep need good living conditions. The barn must be clean and the bedding must be dry. High air humidity is unacceptable, it negatively affects the immune system and livestock productivity. The temperature in the barn must not be allowed to drop below +8 ° C; in the winter months, the heating must be turned on in the room.
A sedentary lifestyle negatively affects the muscle mass and general well-being of the Edilbaev sheep. Therefore, the herd must be walked daily.
Shearing Edilbaev's sheep is supposed to be done once every 10 months. But some sheep breeders do it more often - once every 6 months to prevent dermatological and parasitic diseases.
What to feed animals
The basis of the sheep's diet is fresh pasture grass, which animals eat for at least 200 days throughout the year. Moreover, sheep are able to find grass even under the snow, if its layer is low.
Edilbaev's sheep are used as roughage as a last resort: when a snowy winter does not allow to continue pasture maintenance, or when precipitation falls, the vegetation on the pasture is damp.
The daily portion of feed for one individual is 2 kg of hay, 1 kg of grain concentrates. In winter, Edilbaevsk sheep are given bran, cake, silage, and root crops for an intensive set of muscle mass and replenishment of vitamin deficiencies. Of the mineral supplements, the best option is a salt stone, which you can buy at a pet store. Animals must have clean water in constant access.
Breeding nuances
Edilbaevskie sheep are distinguished by low fertility. A single lamb is born 1-2 times a year. It is very rare for a sheep to have two cubs. Females reach sexual maturity by 7 months of age. For the onset of pregnancy, the female has to be inseminated several times. Breeding males remain productive up to 5 years of age. For mating, they choose the strongest and healthiest individuals, they attach a corresponding mark to their ear.
Edilbaevskaya sheep walks pregnant for 5 months. The generic process lasts about an hour. Edelbaevskie sheep give birth on their own, no human help is required.
The owner only needs to prepare a generic stall, clean it of dirt and manure, put a fresh bedding, and cut the hair around the external genital organs of the giving birth female.
Possible complications during childbirth are the appearance of a baby in the amniotic sac or its stuck in the birth canal due to an incorrect position. In these cases, you need to urgently call a veterinarian. The owner clears mucus from the nasal passages and mouth of the newborn lamb. There is no need to wash the baby: the mother will lick it herself. The female with the lamb is kept in a separate enclosure.
Diseases of the breed and possible problems
The immunity of the Edelbaev sheep is strong, but certain diseases are found:
- Tick-borne encephalitis. The carrier is a mite that moves onto the skin of animals from pasture grass. A sick sheep has a fever; if untreated, the nervous system is affected.
- Smallpox is a fatal viral pathology.
- Listeriosis is a bacterial disease that affects the nervous system, reproductive organs, and mammary glands. In the absence of treatment, the sick animal falls into paralysis and dies.
- Melophagosis is a parasitic disease that affects the skin. The parasite is a wingless fly called a sheep's bloodsucker. The insect lays eggs in the sheep's wool. The infected animal suffers from unbearable itching and is losing weight.
- White muscle disease occurs in lambs with hypovitaminosis. In a sick animal, coordination of movements is impaired, convulsions occur, and muscle tone decreases.
- Helminthiasis - intestinal worms. Sheep swallow the larvae with pasture grass. If left untreated, there is a high likelihood of fatal hemorrhage in the digestive tract.
- Infectious mastitis in females is accompanied by the appearance of purulent ulcers on the mammary glands. In a neglected case, the animal dies.
- Flatulence - swelling of the cicatricial stomach.
- Bezoar disease of young animals - a perversion of appetite due to violations of the rules of feeding. The lamb plucks and swallows its wool, eats earth, sawdust, and rags. As a result, undigested lumps accumulate in the abomasum, which interfere with the movement of food.
Breeding prospects
Farmers receive wool, meat, fat and milk from Edilbaev's sheep. The fat tail fat, saturated with vitamins and nutrients, is used for culinary purposes, to create cosmetics. The weight of meat obtained after slaughter reaches 50-60% of the body weight of the animal. The fat tail weighs 4-5 kg, and the weight of the fat content is about 1 kg. One sheep provides a person with 4 kg of wool.
Lactation lasts 4 months. The amount of milk obtained from the Edilbaev sheep is small, but the product is fatty, suitable for the production of sour cream, cheese, cottage cheese. For dairy production to be profitable, the farm must have at least 15 milking individuals. The stiff wool of Edilbaev sheep is suitable for the production of carpets and winter wardrobe items. The inhabitants of the steppe regions of Kazakhstan use sheepskin for the production of comfortable and wearable clothing.
The most productive in terms of meat are rams of six months of age. It is unprofitable to grow the beef breed for longer, since the meat of the aging Edilbaev sheep is not in demand. Meat and lard products are exotic, popular only in the steppe regions, where local cuisine is prepared from them. This should be taken into account when drawing up a business plan for a person who has decided to breed the Edilbaevskaya breed.
Estimated cost and where you can buy
The Edilbaevskaya breed is popular. Thoroughbred sheep are sold by both large breeding enterprises and private sheep-breeding traders. It is better to go to breeding farms, where the breed qualities are more carefully controlled, individuals with genetic pathologies are rejected.
The price of an edilbaevskaya sheep is determined by the status and reputation of the farm, the health and breed qualities of animals, and the region where livestock is raised. On average, a healthy thoroughbred lamb costs $ 200.
Edilbaevskaya is a productive breed of sheep that adapts to the most severe climatic conditions. The unpretentiousness of the Kazakh breed contributed to its rapid popularization. However, the quality of meat and lard products depends on the maintenance and feeding, the regularity of pasture walking.
