Askanian breed of sheep: description and characteristics, rules of keeping

Flock in the subsidiary farm is wool, meat, milk. Animals are unpretentious, quickly gaining weight. That is why they have existed for centuries next to man. People breed new breeds, try to make animals large, resistant to diseases, easy to keep. All these criteria are met by Ascanian sheep, which are kept on small private farmsteads and large farms.

History of the breed

Work on the breeding of Askanian fine-fleeced sheep has been carried out since 1925 in the Ukrainian reserve Askania-Nova. It was decided to cross the local Merino with American Rambouillet sheep.As a result, it was planned to get large animals with high-quality wool. By 1935, a new wool-meat breed appeared, perfectly adapted to keeping in local conditions. The Ascanian breed is common in the southern regions of Russia, throughout Ukraine.

Description and characteristics of the Askanian sheep

The animals are large, with white or yellowish hair, pronounced fleshiness. There are 1-2 folds on the neck. Giropot can be white, yellowish or painted in beige shades. It protects wool from pollution and the increased humidity.

Sheep of the Askani breed belong to the meat-wool type of animals. They have the following characteristics:

• developed muscle mass;
• strong bones;
• sheep weighing up to 60-65 kilograms, rams - up to 110-115 kilograms;
• height at the withers up to 65-70 centimeters in sheep and 80-85 centimeters in rams;
• lack of horns in sheep and their presence in rams;
• the presence of white dense wool up to 10-11 centimeters in males and 8-9 centimeters in ewes.

Sheep of the Askani breed can produce up to 20 kg of wool per year. It covers not only the back and sides, but also the stomach and legs of animals. Wool sheared from ewes is of better quality, but it is smaller, up to 8 kilograms. Animals grow quickly, sheep have high fertility, they bring 2 lambs per lamb. The first lamb is characterized by the appearance of 1 lamb.

Representatives of this breed perfectly convey their own hereditary qualities when crossing. That is why there are so many intra-breed types of Askanian sheep.

Good and bad sides

The breed has been around for over 80 years and still remains popular. Sheep are kept in small farms, and are also grown on an industrial scale. The advantages of the breed are:

1. Size. These are the largest merinos.
2. The amount and taste of the resulting meat. Some individuals reach a weight of 150 kilograms, meat without a peculiar smell with a small amount of fat.
3. The ability to transmit hereditary traits of the breed. Its representatives are used to improve livestock.
4. Quality and volume of wool obtained.
5. Good ewes fertility and fast growth of lambs. Yarka gains the weight of an adult sheep in 18 months.

Lamb meat is tender, odorless and dietary. Wool is used in textile production. There are few shortcomings in the breed:

• lard is slightly allocated;
• wool gets heavily soiled on the back;
• wool length varies from area to area.

Since there are much more advantages, the breed is kept in Russia and Ukraine, often used to improve the characteristics of the existing livestock. The meat is suitable for the nutrition of the elderly and debilitated people, it has an excellent taste.

Rules of maintenance and care

Animals are unpretentious in food. In the summer they are pastured, for the time of cold weather it is necessary to equip a sheepfold. The floors in it are made even, the litter is periodically changed. Lighting is provided in the sheepfold. Drafts and crowding are harmful to animals; a temperature of 6-8 ° C should be provided in the sheepfold. Fresh water required.

Feed 3-4 times a day. Water after feeding. Be sure to give s alt, it is placed next to the drinker. It normalizes digestion. It is necessary to inspect the livestock, check the condition of wool and hooves.Hooves should be trimmed periodically to prevent hoof rot. Shear the flock in the spring, when the temperature rises to 18-22 ° C. Cut with sharp scissors or electric clippers. Shearing should be done carefully so as not to injure the animal. Wounds and scratches after a haircut are disinfected.

What to feed

In the summer, the main source of nutrition for the herd is succulent feed. Before pasture, the pasture should be inspected, it should not have henbane, dope, celandine, milkweed.

Important: sheep are not driven out to pasture in dew or after rain, eating wet grass is dangerous for animals.

The young twigs of trees are useful for them. They give apple, pear, willow, alder poplar branches. In winter, animals are fed with hay, silage, root crops. Breeding rams are provided with hay, mixed fodder, vitamins.

Askanian sheep breeding

After 1935, work to improve the breed continued, the task was to improve the quality of wool and cut from each head. From 1959 to 2000, several intrabreed types were bred with crossbred wool, which is used for the production of fabrics and knitwear. For example, Tauride merino, Ascanian black-headed sheep, Dnepropetrovsk meat and wool sheep. Today in Ukraine there are several breeding farms specializing in breeding Askanian sheep.

Frequent diseases

They are conditionally divided into 3 groups: non-infectious, helminthic invasions, infectious diseases. With improper feeding, rumen flatulence occurs in sheep. Animals can be poisoned by poisonous plants in the pasture. Pneumonia develops when kept in a cold and damp room, untimely haircut.Animals must be dewormed. They do it quarterly.

Infectious diseases include: listeriosis, smallpox, bradzot, foot and mouth disease. To treat animals, you need to call a veterinarian, a sick sheep is separated from the flock. Most infectious diseases require quarantine.

Sheep breeding is a profitable business. Thoroughbred animals on the farm allow you to quickly recoup the costs and begin to receive the long-awaited profit, one of the most popular is the Askanian breed.

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