Kazakh Fine-Wooled Sheep

a breed of sheep raised for meat and wool. The breed was developed between 1931 and 1946 at the experimental center of the Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Animal Husbandry by crossing Kazakh Fat-tailed ewes with Precoce rams. Crossbreeds of the first and second generations with uniform fine and semifine wool were interbred. Kazakh Fine-wooled sheep are large, with strong constitutions. The ewes are hornless, and the rams may or may not have horns. The wool is uniform, of the Merino type, and no coarser than grade 60; it is 7–8 cm long (sometimes growing to 13 cm) and curly. Wool clip from rams is 7–9 kg, although as much as 14 kg have been obtained from the better ones; ewes produce 4–4.5 kg, with the better ones giving up to 8 kg. The yield of pure wool is about 50 percent.

Kazakh Fine-wooled rams have an average weight of 90–100 kg, and the largest may weigh up to 140 kg. Ewes weigh 60–65 kg, with the largest attaining 100 kg. The fertility rate is 130–140 lambs per 100 ewes bred. They are early maturing animals and fatten well. In 18 months young rams attain 70 percent of their adult weight, and young ewes 85 percent. Slaughter yield is 53–57 percent. Kazakh Fine-wooled sheep are adapted to year-round range conditions and to winter grazing. In the regions of Kazakhstan where transhumance is practiced these sheep are used to improve other strains.