Description of the Romanovskaya breed of sheep

Sheep breeding has been considered a profitable enterprise for centuries, however, this lesson cannot be called simple even with a stretch. Despite the difficulties, many still choose this type of activity as a way of earning money and achieve good results. The fact is that this type of animal husbandry is distinguished by the fact that animals quickly gain weight and grow. Among the advantages can be noted and a low percentage of deaths. Sheep meat is incredibly tasty, the same goes for milk.

When starting a business on sheep, many people think about which breed will stop. Experienced breeders note such a species as the Romanovskaya breed of sheep. In the territory of Russia and the countries of the former USSR, it is the Romanovskaya breed of sheep that is in first place in the ranking of congeners. Next, we will find out what the advantages of this breed are.

History of the breed

Romanovka was obtained back in the 18th century through lengthy breeding work. The goals that faced the breeders were as follows:

• unpretentiousness;
• fecundity;
• fast weight gain.

Everything conceived was realized, because the breed is valued precisely for these qualities. It is important to mention that this achievement in the field of animal husbandry belongs to domestic livestock specialists, because all breeding work was carried out in Russia, in the Yaroslavl region. The livestock breeders liked the new breed so much that in the first years after the Romanov sheep were raised, they could be found in almost any corner of the globe, from North America to Tatarstan, Kazakhstan and Bashkiria.

Appearance of the Romanovskaya breed

Animals of this breed are usually referred to the mixed direction. This means that the sheep can give not only meat after slaughter, but also excellent high-quality wool throughout life. As already mentioned, the most important feature of this breed is that the lambs are able to take root in almost any climate. This is especially true for Russia, where the difference between the temperature in summer and winter can be more than 50 ° C.

Advantages

Speaking about the Romanov breed, I want to emphasize once again all the advantages , because of which you should opt for it:

• high-quality wool;
• tender tasty meat with a maximum yield;
• excellent adaptability to conditions environment;
• unpretentiousness in leaving and feeding.

Currently, the breed is bought not only for cultivation and breeding in its pure form, but also to improve the qualities and descriptions of other breeds when crossing with Romanovka, to prevent crossbreeding.

Is it profitable to keep Romanovskih sheep

As already mentioned, sheep of the Romanovskiy breed are beneficial for breeding and keeping. Romanov rams are equally popular. Animals gain weight rapidly even with the most meager diets. So, if the lamb’s food consists of half a kilogram of grain and only 1 kilogram of hay, after 6 months it will weigh more than 50. When slaughtered at this age, the waste part of the carcass is no more than 50%. Sheep is recommended to be slaughtered exactly at the moment when they weigh 50 kg, usually this happens at the age of about 8 months.

The content of the Romanovsk sheep

Despite the fact that sheep and sheep are bred for meat, do not forget that there are other animal products that can be get her. In addition to meat, wool, milk, and skin can be sold. On average, about 3 kg of excellent rune is obtained from one Romanovskaya sheep, which is a worthy indicator among other breeds.

How many times do you need to cut a sheep? Grooming of these animals should occur at least 3 times a year, and this must be done strictly before the molting period begins.Many livestock farmers try to develop their business further and begin to manufacture products from sheepskin and wool on their own, this brings additional income, allows you to quickly complete a business plan.

Features of purebred Romanovs

Romanovsky sheep and Romanovsky sheep differ not only in performance characteristics, but also in external features. This variety is quite large, such lambs have a short tail and gray shade. Cromost does not belong to the characteristics of the breed, horns can be present on the head of both the male and the female.

It is customary to divide animals on the basis of the developmental line of the bone:

• strong;
• rough;
• tender.

The first group of animals with a strong skeleton combines sheep and rams, symmetrically folded, having a well-built skeleton, suggesting the presence wide chest. Such animals have a dense coat, soft to the touch. There is a difference in the color of the coat: this subgroup has a dark graphite color. Many confuse such Romanovka with the Altai or Stavropol sheep.

Romanovki with a rough skeleton are characterized by rough wool to the touch. Males differ from their counterparts in that their mane is thicker and has several shades. Despite this, according to the quality criterion of wool, this group is inferior to the previous one, which cannot but affect the price of the product.If we compare the productivity indicators, they will have something in common with those that belong to the North Caucasian sheep breed.

The third group of sheep with a delicate skeleton is the most unclaimed, the flaws can be seen even with the naked eye. Such animals have a narrow skull shape, a narrowed chest and an underdeveloped sacrum. The wool of such a sheep looks different: it is painted in a snow-white color, this is the first thing that catches your eye when viewing a photo or video. It is worth saying that this subspecies is in the least demand due to the fact that the quality of the fleece and meat is significantly deteriorating.

General description

To describe the breed of the Romanovsk sheep completely, you should dwell on the features of the exterior. The characteristic of the Romanovsk sheep breed is as follows:

• animal mass: female – up to 50 kg, male – up to 85 kg;
• fertility indicators: at one time the farm increases by 4-5 individuals .

In addition, there are so-called breed standards, keeping and breeding Romanovsk sheep at home will not be possible without this knowledge obtained with the help of the scientist Pavel Kuleshov:

• the growth of the sheep should be medium, bends at the withers or sacrum are not allowed;
• the chest should look powerful, the limbs are symmetrical;
• the coat is tight, the undercuts should protrude slightly;
• coat color – from dark (black) to cream;
• fluff and wool in a quality fleece should correlated in a ratio of 1 to 5;
• a different color of coat is allowed when it comes to young animals.

Content Features

Does the breeding of Romanovsky sheep require the creation of special conditions? As has already been said many times before, such animals do not require any special conditions of detention, since they are unpretentious. This is largely due to the fact that the lambs have a dense coat, which does not allow them to freeze in the cold and prevents them from overheating in the heat in summer. There are cases when the Romanovsky sheep lived in Siberia, where the temperature is often at a mark below minus 15 ° C, and at the same time they felt quite comfortable. Despite such unpretentiousness, it is still recommended to create comfortable conditions for keeping and breeding Romanovskih sheep at home.

The floor in the shepherd is better to make their wood, then put on it a loose bedding made of straw or hay. Thus, the temperature regime, which will be optimal for representatives of the Romanovsk sheep, ranges from 10 to 14 ° C.

It is worth taking care not only about the conditions in the shepherd, but also arranging a place for walking. It’s about pasture. In order for everything to be done correctly, you can use the video and photo. You should not limit the grazing of sheep in the winter, on the contrary, a walk in the frosty air will only increase productivity indicators.

Regarding the choice of premises for the shepherd, one should take as a basis recommendations on planting density, for example, about 3 square meters per individual is considered the norm. spirit, that is, to establish a good ventilation system.Another important aspect of sheep husbandry as a whole is to protect the premises from dampness: Romanovka does not tolerate its presence, this can bring a lot of trouble and provoke illnesses.

Organization feeding of the representatives of this breed

It is important to take responsibility for feeding, because the health of the sheep will depend on how well the sheep eats, and, accordingly, future productivity indicators. Nutrition should be rich in vitamins and minerals, be moderately high-calorie and, of course, fresh. Feeding should be carried out strictly in accordance with the schedule.

If it is possible to establish proper feeding, the appearance of pet hair will significantly improve, and its density will also increase. It is worth mentioning that when cutting, the carcasses of those sheep that were fed correctly are in great demand, without saving costs on this item.

When drawing up the diet, you need to take into account which direction the animal relates to: meat, dairy or woolen. Also, when organizing a diet you need to consider seasonality. So, in the summer the Romanovskaya sheep should receive the maximum amount of fresh green feed, in winter it should be replaced with dry ones. Let’s talk about how seasonality affects the organization of sheep’s feeding in more detail.

Romanovka’s food in summer

Romanovsk sheep are classified as pasture. Their productivity will largely depend on what is growing in the pasture. The pasture season is the ideal time to saturate the animal’s body to the maximum with vitamins and minerals for the whole calendar year.

It is natural that grass and greens are the usual food for Romanovka, gradually, without making drastic changes. It is important to enter it carefully, interfering with the usual feed.

Feeding the sheep of the Romanovskaya breed

From March to the first frosts on the soil, you can use artificial pastures. Usually they are filled with legumes, and perennial herbs grow on them, which the sheep eat with great pleasure. When choosing a terrain for pasture, it is important to avoid excessively marshy terrain, it is better to choose those places that are at least partially in the shade. This is extremely important, because Romanovskie sheep can be on pastures for a long time, almost the entire daylight hours. In the meadow, animals should have constant access to water, for this purpose you can use the most common river or even rain water.

Organization of care for the Romanovsk sheep in winter

In cold weather time of the year (autumn and winter) it is recommended to move the Romanovsk lambs to the shepherd, where they will be protected from wind and cold. At this time, females are often engaged in feeding offspring, therefore, they will need special nutrition, which must be nutritious and balanced. In winter, you need to feed the sheep at least 2 times a day, and hay and crops should be added to the diet.

The first meal is recommended to be composed of crops that need to be provided with nutritious concentrates. It can be root tubers, silage or a variety of fruits.Later in the evening, the diet should consist of coarser components, such as straw or hay. For one adult, you will need about 5 centners of hay along with haylage for winter time, as well as at least 10 kg of concentrate. If the farm has lactating females, fat tail, you need to enrich the food with the help of mineral additives. In addition, Romanovsk sheep will need salt and flour from ground bones. These are necessary ingredients for normal life.

Features of breeding of this breed

In a relatively short time, the farm will grow by a large number of individuals. This makes keeping Romanovskih sheep profitable. How to determine whether a Romanov female is in a state of sexual hunting? This period does not last forever, usually it falls on summer time, they try to transfer mating also to this period. All this applies to this type of natural reproduction. But along with it, farmers often use an alternative method, which is called manual reproduction. It is used in order to be 100% confident in the purity of the breed. It is used quite often for breeding Romanovks.

Maturation in lambs occurs at about 5 months, but this age is still not suitable for mating, as the animal is still too young. Only those females whose weight exceeds the mark of 40 kg are suitable for fertilization.

One female can give birth about 3 times a year.The average duration of pregnancy is about 145 days. There are clearly marked precursors of childbirth, usually on the eve of this event the female begins to howl loudly and tries to take a lying position, after which she reproduces the offspring.

How are the births at Romanovka? Usually this process goes without complications. This is due to the fact that the animal has a fairly wide basin, respectively, the lamb easily and quickly passes through the birth canal. Lambs are born so independent that on the first day they can easily move around and serve themselves. However, if more than 4 lambs of the Romanovskaya breed were born at a time, it’s worthwhile to intervene: the mother may just not have enough physical strength to feed everyone.

You can get as much milk from Romanovka as 120 l This is the average of tribal representatives. The annual yield of 300 liters of milk is considered a record.