Description and characteristics of sheep of the Romanov breed, breeding and feeding

Sheep of the Romanov breed are coarse-wooled cattle of the fur coat direction of productivity. The name of the breed comes from its origin - the sheep were bred in the Romanov-Borisoglebsk district of the Yaroslavl province. Hornless breeds of local cattle were used for breeding. Romanov rams have a lot of advantages, which is why many farmers prefer to breed them.

The origin of the Romanov breed

For the first time in historical facts about the breed was mentioned in 1802, this indicates the appearance of Romanov cattle in the 18th century. The peasants were engaged in selection on their own, trying to breed a breed that would be unpretentious to climatic conditions, omnivorous (could exist and actively reproduce on hay and grass breeds), would be distinguished by good indicators of meat and wool output.

Despite the fact that it was not scientists who were engaged in raising sheep, the Romanov breed is considered practically the best among the other Russian varieties.

The appearance and characteristics of sheep

The generally accepted characteristics have remained unchanged today, although they were approved in 1908:

• strong, powerfully developed skeleton;
• hornless, dry head with a humped nose, oblong skull shape;
• erect ears;
• straight lines of the spine and withers;
• the body is barrel-shaped, with round ribs;
• straight strong legs;
• tails - in sheep - 7-10 centimeters, in rams - up to 13 centimeters;
• height - about 70 centimeters;
• the average weight of rams is 65-70 kilograms, bright - 45-55 kilograms.

The wool contains a lot of fluff, forming braids with curls in the upper part, the wool is thick, 2600-2800 fibers per square centimeter of skin area. Newborn lambs have black hair, after a month it begins to brighten, reaching complete depigmentation by five months. There are white markings on the head and ears. Sheep are sheared three times a year, wool is used in felting production.

Main positive and negative aspects

On the scale of animal husbandry in Russia, Romanov sheep do not account for a huge part of the livestock, although the breed has many advantages:

• simple care - Romanov sheep were bred as an unpretentious peasant breed that does not require special conditions for keeping. These rams are unassuming and almost omnivorous.For them, expensive forage crops and special conditions of detention are not important, and care is not difficult;
• saving on feed - most of the year livestock are advised to graze on pastures. In winter, sheep require a regular menu of silage and hay. In order to avoid the development of vitamin deficiency, it is worth adding a small amount of expensive high-quality vitamin feed;
• high quality sheepskin - many sources claim that the sheepskin of the Romanov breed is the highest quality in the world and is estimated accordingly;
• fertility - the number of Romanov sheep can increase 2.5 times in just a year due to the ability of ewes to give birth to several lambs at once;
• good meat yield - with a weight of a young lamb (7-8 months) of 40 kilograms, the slaughter yield will have at least 20 kilograms of pure meat mass.

Romanov and other sheep breeds have common disadvantages - they are fearfulness, dependence on weather conditions, in particular, drafts, intolerance to dampness, adherence to parasitosis. The Romanov breed could rightfully become widely known if the sheep gave more wool. The output of a sheepskin from one head per year is about 3.5 kilograms. For comparison, merino rams bring 7-8 kilograms of wool in the same 12 months.

Another disadvantage of the breed is the tendency to colds and bronchopulmonary diseases.

Because of the weak light sheep, many farmers opt for other breeds, because they are afraid to keep the livestock on the pasture until the cold weather, and are forced to spend money on building spacious, warm sheepfolds.

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Subtleties of maintenance and care

People who first decided to go into sheep breeding are interested in how to properly maintain and care for Romanov cattle. As already mentioned, sheep of this type are unassuming, do not require special conditions. They do not freeze in extreme cold, because sheep have a thick skin, a thick cover of hair. It is best to use clean straw or hay bedding, sawdust and peat bedding should not be used.

The Romanov breed often has health problems, parasites start, the quality of the sheepskin deteriorates, and fertility decreases with the same content in the stall. Therefore, the Romanov breed is recommended to be grazed until the onset of frost, limiting their stay in the sheepfolds only during cold winter periods.

Even in winter, the sheep should be taken outside for a short time so that they can get some air. This will prevent bronchopulmonary diseases and strengthen the immune system.

It is recommended to graze even on impoverished pastures, the main thing is to avoid flooded and forest meadows, places with swampy soil. Due to the increased moisture content of such pastures, diseases of the digestive system can develop in the livestock. You can make artificial ones, having previously planted them with cereals and legumes of perennial flowering.

Breed feeding

Representatives of the Romanov variety are unpretentious in food. They can be fed with both food waste and herbs, root crops. In the summer months, sheep confidently gain fat reserves on pastures, but they must be additionally fed with mineral supplements and a small amount of concentrated feed. It must be fresh, which has a positive effect on the quality of sheepskin and cattle meat.

In winter, it is imperative to provide sheep with succulent feed in the form of silage and root crops, but the diet consists of hay (preferably alfalfa) and roughage (straw and tree twigs, which are an additional source of vitamins). The grass of clover, legumes and cereals is useful to Romanov sheep. Steam the straw before feeding it.

Feeding the queens should include concentrated feed, and the brooding rams should include food additives to improve the functions of the reproductive system.

This is important for healthy offspring. Flour with other types of feed is not preferable in feeding Romanov cattle, since the sheepskin obtained is the main source of sheep production, the livestock can greatly stain the fleece.

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How to breed

The Romanovskys are brightly prolific:

• 6-8% of queens bring one lamb;
• two - 39-40%;
• three - 45-46%;
• four to eight - 9-10%.

Vivid reaches sexual maturity around the age of one year. Farmers engaged in the breeding of Romanov sheep believe that it is possible to mate bright sheep that have reached 70-75% of the body weight of an adult sheep (at least 41-42 kilograms).

If lambing occurs three times in two years, compacted lambing is recommended according to the following scheme:

• the first mating - from July 15 to September 1, lambing - from December 15 to February 1;
• second mating - from March 5 to May 1, lambing - from August 15 to October 1;
• the third mating - from November 15 to February 1, lambing - from April 14 to June 1.

Immediately after birth, lambs need warmth - it is important to dry and warm them under lamps that are 70-80 centimeters from the flooring. The optimum temperature regime is 20 ° C, humidity is 70%. After the lamb is weaned from the bright ones, it no longer needs special laborious care. Early weaning involves switching to milk replacers at the age of 1-3 days after birth, after 45 days the lambs are given dry and vegetable feed.

Common diseases

Romanov sheep have an anatomical feature - the passage of a rather narrow bronchus from the trachea into the right apical part of the lung. Due to abdominal breathing, this type of cattle has reduced lung ventilation, therefore Romanov rams are sensitive to dampness, drafts, sudden temperature changes, especially in conditions of unbalanced feeding and reduced immunity. Livestock often suffer from bronchial and lung diseases.

Other diseases of the Romanov sheep are similar to other breeds:

• pathologies of the digestive system, such as dyspepsia, gastroenteritis, tympania (bloating);
• damage by parasites (helminths, gadfly larvae, fleas);
• epidemiological diseases (smallpox, plague).

For the prevention of epidemics, routine vaccination is carried out, contributing to the conservation of livestock. Processing of the skin from damage by insect pests, fungal and bacterial pathogens should be carried out regularly.

The Romanov breed of sheep can rightfully be considered the pride of domestic breeding, although, despite the beneficial advantages of this type of cattle, not a large number of foreign sheep breeders pay attention to it. Novice sheep breeders are advised to gain experience precisely on breeding Romanov sheep, due to their fertility, excellent quality of sheepskin and good indicators of obtaining meat products.