What types of products are obtained from sheep breeding and what is the most valuable
Mankind domesticated sheep as one of the first farm animals, because they gave almost everything that people needed to survive in difficult conditions. They received meat, milk, fat tail fat for food, wool and sheepskin for making warm clothes and blankets. And today, the products of sheep breeding are highly valued because they continue to be important for humans.
Wool
People began to domesticate and breed sheep, first of all, because of their high-quality wool. She gave a chance to use not just primitive skins to create clothes, but thin, durable and very warm products. We can say that the wool of sheep and other domestic animals gave rise to fashion, because the first fabrics made in antiquity were woolen, and only much later were materials from plant fibers mastered.
Centuries of breeding and careful selection have led to the fact that wool obtained from different breeds of sheep has different characteristics. It can be rough, tough and very durable. But there is also an extremely thin, delicate and soft, used to create expensive exclusive products.
By thickness, which professionals call fineness, wool is divided into more than a dozen classes, starting with "very coarse" and ending with "extra fine". This makes it possible to use sheep wool extremely widely - from creating elegant knitwear to thick outerwear, as well as for making durable felted materials - felt and felt.
The main characteristics of sheep wool:
- Hygroscopicity - the ability to absorb and retain moisture. Sheep wool can absorb up to 30% moisture, while cotton fibers will retain no more than 8%.
- Heat retention. In sheep's wool, this quality is associated with waviness, which forms air pockets that trap heat and make the materials from it ideal for the cold season.
- The ability to form a thread, that is, to spin. The wavy structure of the fiber straightens when stretched and combed, then twists with other elements, twisting and forming a strong thread.
- The ability to fall off, forming a dense, but flexible enough and very durable material. It is achieved due to the presence of flakes on the surface of the wool fibers, which adhere to each other during spinning and form a single fabric.
A variety of sheep breeds, yielding wool of different qualities, provide the textile industry with a wide range of fibers.
Sheep milk
All peoples, historically for a long time breeding sheep and goats, as well as other dairy cattle, have learned not only to get high-quality milk, but also to prepare healthy products with excellent taste from it. In this regard, sheep's milk stands out against the general background. It has excellent technical characteristics, high fat content, up to 9%, as well as a composition rich in vitamins and minerals. From it in countries with centuries-old sheep breeding, original cheeses are made - feta cheese, feta, ricotta, pecorino, as well as expensive and appreciated by gourmets blue cheese - Roquefort.
The widespread distribution of sheep milk products is hampered by numerous factors: geographical, climatic, economic. Sheep give a small amount of milk - within 1.2 liters per milk yield from a lactating female. There are also a number of peculiarities associated with the difficulties of milking animals, organizing food, using pastures, and so on. Nevertheless, the beneficial qualities of sheep milk and the high taste characteristics of cheeses made from it indicate the need for the development of dairy sheep breeding.
Sheepskin
The skin removed from slaughtered sheep over six months of age is called sheepskin. This valuable product is obtained from sheep of the following breeds:
- Fine-wooled.
- Semi-fine wool.
- Semi-coarse-haired.
The first two varieties of breeds are distinguished by a large amount of fluff. Semi-coarse breeds have less down than guard and transitional hair. Sheepskins are also divided according to the height of the wool cover into low-haired, semi-wool and woolen.
By grades, sheepskin are divided into 4 varieties and 3 categories of product types:
- Fur coats, used to make sheepskin coats, fur coats and sheepskin coats.
- Leather, from sheepskin with rare wool, not suitable for fur coats and other outerwear. But they are used to create different types of leather, including kid, as well as suede and chevro.
- Sheepskin fur used for making collars, hats or coats. The following varieties are included in this category:
- moire;
- steppe lambs (from fat-tailed lambs);
- Russian lambs (from lambs not fat-tailed, coarse-wooled breeds);
- shlenka or strap;
- sak-sak or shaking.
The grade is determined by the number and depth of defects in the sheepskin (scuffs, cuts, holes, keratinization, and so on).
Smushki
From lambs of the Karakul sheep breed under the age of 3 months, valuable skins with an unusual wool pattern in the form of curls are obtained. The cost and quality of a smushka is determined by a variety of characteristics, including the following:
- Size, shape and color of the skin.
- Curl pattern and elasticity.
- Silky feel.
- The thickness of the flesh.
- Thickness of the coat and much more.
According to color characteristics, smushki are divided into the following varieties:
- Arabi are black.
- Shirazi are gray.
- Kombar are brown.
- Sur - golden.
- Guligaz is pink.
All skins of karakul sheep, especially smushka, are of high value and are used for the manufacture of outerwear, hats, collars and decorative items.
It is impossible to talk about sheep and not to mention dietary meat, which does not contain adrenaline released during the slaughter of cattle, and fat tail fat, without which it is impossible to imagine most Central Asian dishes. Lamb has an original taste and high nutritional value, and fat tail fat does not freeze at room temperature. The sheep is a real living factory that supplies people with food and clothing of excellent quality.
