Merino meat sheep

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Merino meat sheep

The merino meat sheep is a traditional breed of sheep with a combination of meat and wool . The breed is currently threatened with extinction .

Origin and attitude

The emergence of the Merino sheep meat is mainly based on the combination of German Merino sheep wool comb with representatives of French and English dual-purpose breeds . The cause of the change in merino breeding was the drop in prices for fine wool and rising sheep meat prices in Germany .

In Germany, the merino crested sheep formed the breeding basis for the bucks of merino precoce introduced between 1866 and 1871. In breeding, the Chatillonnais was first turned to. Merinos Soissonnais were later preferred because of their size and weight. The crossbreeding brought success; the merino meat sheep was born. In 1891 it was exhibited for the first time in the “Meat Sheep” group at a DLG show.

At the beginning of the 20th century, HL Thilo paired English Border Leicester rams with fine wool merino wool sheep in Pomerania . The Merino Leicester was born, also called Meleschaf . From 1921 it was called "German meat wool sheep" and produced wool in the AB-B range.

At the traveling exhibition in 1934, these meat wool sheep were combined as a breed with the merino meat sheep, which had achieved the same goal in a different way.

Development in East Germany

After the division of Germany as a result of the Second World War and the resulting changed market conditions and state requirements for sheep production, the two German states took different approaches to breeding merino meat sheep.

In the GDR, the merino meat sheep, tried and tested as a dual-purpose breed, was bred with an emphasis on wool. The breeding goal in 1954 was to achieve a substantial increase in the shearing yield as quickly as possible without giving up the dual use type (wool, meat), i.e. maintaining meat performance, fertility and early maturity and combining this with a high wool yield in the A / AB range. Further breeding measures in merino meat sheep breeding in the GDR took place in the early 1970s. They consisted in the introduction of line breeding (subdivision of the stock into six genealogically delimited lines) and the crossing of Russian fine wool sheep (Stavropol-Merino) into the breeding line 06 in the form of grafting .

Development in West Germany

In the old federal states, the breeding of merino meat sheep was primarily aimed at improving fattening performance and carcass quality. The breeding goal did not include neglecting the wool trim and wool quality. At the same time, a high rearing ability was oriented.

A large part of the stocks was concentrated in the estate sheep farms of intensive arable farming locations in Central Germany and parts of Lower Saxony ; because the merino meat sheep performs excellently under the conditions of a continental dry climate. In this context, the dense wool pile formation of the animals of this breed is recognized. As early as the 1940s it was described that the drier the climate and the more a flock of sheep has to cover dusty paths, the more important it is to have a good pile closure that is able to protect the hair.

Development after the reunification

After the unification of the two German states, among other things, the drop in wool prices, the abandonment of animal husbandry in the intensive arable farming areas and the undirected crossbreeding of other breeds led to a decline in the population.

From today's perspective, this dual-use and most fertile fine wool breed in the world can only be preserved if the wool quality - especially the wool fineness - continues to be given breeding attention; because there are still good export opportunities for breeding animals of this breed.

Breeding goal

In the present, the breeding goal requires a sheep with a medium frame and distinctive meat shapes. The chest is deep and broad. The broad body with a well-muscled back is also typical of the breed. The sheep has a wide pelvis and full inner and outer legs.

Merino meat sheep have a good constitution and resistance. These are important prerequisites for use in all forms of husbandry and for use in landscape maintenance. The breed is aseasonal in heat behavior. The possible first admission age is 8 to 12 months.

Merino meat sheep produce white fine wool in the most balanced A / AB range. It should be well stacked and curled. Skin folds are undesirable.

Wool performance and quality

  • Sweat wool
    • Breeding rams: 7.0–8.0 kg
    • Ewes: 4.0-5.0 kg
  • Wool fineness: 22-26 micrometers
  • Yield: 45-50%

Live weight, lambing results and fattening performance results of the lambs

  • Body mass
    • Breeding rams 120–140 kg
    • Ewes 70–80 kg
  • Lambing result (ewes): 140-160%
  • daily gain: 350-400 g
  • Energy demand per kg increase: 2000-2500 StU per kg
  • Slaughter yield : 50%

See also

literature

  • Andreas Fischer, W. Leucht: Investigations of wool samples from the history of merino breeding in Germany . In: Archiv Tierzucht 30, 1987, 6, ISSN  0003-9438 , pp. 539-545.
  • Andreas Fischer: Merino sheep breeding in Prussia and Saxony under the focus of wool properties . In: Communications from the Institute for Textile Technology at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen 39, 1989, 2, ISSN  0515-0582 , pp. 75–77.
  • Andreas Fischer, Thomas Kaiser: Investigations into the grazing behavior of merino meat sheep . In: ZALF Report No. 33, 1989, ISSN  0943-7266 , pp. 18-33
  • Andreas Fischer: German sheep breeds . In: Knut Strittmatter, Andreas Fischer and others: Sheep breeding . Ulmer, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8001-3192-7 , pp. 88-118.
  • Andreas Fischer (2004): Merino beef sheep a breed in decline . In: Arche Nova 2004, ZDB -ID 286062-4 , 3, p. 15.