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The record holder for size among sheep breeds is the Gissar sheep, which belongs to the meat-fat group. Being a relative of the Karakul sheep breed, widespread in Central Asia, it is nevertheless considered an independent breed. The Gissars were bred in an isolated mountainous region using the method of folk selection in complete isolation from the influence of other “foreign” breeds of sheep. When breeding the Gissars, local breeds that lived on the spurs of the Gissar ridge were used.
Usually, the so-called indigenous breeds of animals are much inferior in their characteristics to those specially selected by professional livestock specialists in order to improve specified qualities. But Gissar sheep turned out to be one of the few exceptions.
This breed is the largest in the world among meat and fat sheep. The average weight of ewes is 80-90 kg. Individual individuals can weigh 150 kg. For a ram, the normal weight is just 150 kg, but record holders are able to gain 190 kg. Moreover, about a third of this weight is fat. Gissars are capable of accumulating fat not only in the fat tail, but also under the skin and on internal organs. As a result, the total weight of fat tail fat can reach up to 40 kg, although the average is much more modest: 25 kg.
Today, Gissar sheep are bred throughout Central Asia as the best breed among fat-tailed meat and fat sheep. Like the earlier “aboriginal” Akhal-Teke, today the Gissar sheep is already considered a cultivated breed and is bred using scientific zootechnical techniques.
One of the best flocks of Gissars in Tajikistan today belongs to the former head of the breeding farm of Gissar sheep, previously bred on the Lenin's Path breeding farm.
The Gissar breed of sheep is perfectly adapted to the difficult conditions of the mountains with their sharp changes in temperature and altitude. The Gissar sheep is capable of covering considerable distances when moving from lower winter pastures to high mountain summer pastures.
Description of Gissar sheep
Sheep of the Gissar breed are tall animals with elegant bones, a massive body and high legs and a very short tail, not exceeding 9 cm in length.
Standard of the Gissar sheep breed
Usually this tail is hidden in the folds of the fat tail, causing irritation of the skin of the fat tail when the sheep moves.
It would seem that the combination of an elegant frame and a massive body are incompatible concepts. But the Hissars could use in their defense the favorite phrase of overweight people: “I just have a wide bone.” It is not the bones that give the Gissars their massiveness, but the accumulated fat. This “unnatural” combination of thin legs and accumulated fat under the skin is clearly visible in the photo below.
The height of Gissar ewes is 80 cm at the withers. The rams are 5 cm taller. The head is small compared to the body. Fat just doesn't accumulate in the head. There are no horns.The wool of the Hissars is not of particular value and is used by the local population of Central Asia simply “so that the goods do not go to waste.” Hissar wool contains a lot of awns and dead hair, and the fineness is of poor quality. Per year, up to 2 kg of wool can be obtained from hissar, which residents of Central Asia use to make coarse, low-quality felt.
The color of the Gissars can be brown, black, red and white. Often the color depends on the breeding area, since in the mountains, due to the topography, literally two neighboring valleys can have not only “their own” colors of livestock, but even separate breeds of animals.
The main direction of breeding hissars is to obtain meat and lard. In this regard, there are three intra-breed types in the breed:
- meat;
- meat-greasy;
- sebaceous.
These three types can be easily distinguished even by eye.
Intrabreed types of Gissar sheep
The meat type is distinguished by a very small fat tail, which is hardly noticeable and is often completely absent. Among Russian sheep farmers, this type of hissar is the most popular, from which you can get high-quality meat and not have to think about what to do with the little-demanded tail fat.
The meat-fat type has a medium-sized tail, located high on the body of the sheep. The requirement for the fat tail is not to interfere with the movement of the animal.
The greasy type has a highly developed fat tail, reminiscent of a bag dangling behind a sheep. Such a fat tail can make up almost a third of a sheep's body. And both in size and weight. From the greasy type of hissars, up to 62 kg of fat tail are sometimes obtained.
The characteristics of hissars in terms of obtaining lambs from them are low.The fertility of ewes is no more than 115%.
If lambs are weaned from ewes early, a sheep can produce 2.5 liters of milk per day for a month and a half.
Features of keeping and the relationship between living conditions and the health of hissars
Gissars are a breed adapted to nomadic life. When making the transition to a new pasture, they are able to travel up to 500 km. At the same time, their original homeland is not characterized by excess moisture and the Gissars prefer a dry climate and hard, dry soil, high air humidity and swampy meadows. If the hissars are kept in damp conditions, their famous health begins to fail, and the sheep become ill.
In the video above, the Hissar owner says that white hooves are undesirable because they are softer than black ones. It is unknown where this superstition came from: from the equestrian world to the sheep world or vice versa. Or maybe they arose independently of each other. But practice proves that if the animal is properly maintained, the white hoof horn is no weaker than the black one.
The strength of the hoof horn does not depend on color, but on heredity, good blood supply to the hoof tissue, a well-formulated diet and proper maintenance. With a lack of movement, blood circulates poorly in the limbs, not delivering the required amount of nutrients to the hooves. As a result, the hoof weakens.
When kept in damp conditions and weakened immunity, hooves of any color begin to rot to the same extent.
To maintain health, mountain sheep need long walks, dry bedding and proper nutrition.
Features of growth of Gissar lambs
Gissars are distinguished by high precocity. Lambs fed on large volumes of mother's milk gain 0.5 kg per day.In the harsh conditions of summer heat and winter cold, with constant transitions between pastures, lambs grow very quickly and are already ready for slaughter at 3-4 months. 5-month-old lambs already weigh 50 kg. Maintaining a flock of hissars is inexpensive, since the sheep are able to find food for themselves in almost any conditions. This is what determines the benefits of breeding Gissar sheep for meat.
Conclusion
In Russia, the traditions of consuming fat tail fat are not very developed and the Gissar breed of sheep would hardly find demand among indigenous Russians, but with the growing proportion of people from Central Asia among the Russian population, the demand for meat-fat sheep is also growing. And today, Russian sheep breeders are already keenly interested in sheep breeds that produce not so much wool as lard and meat. Among such breeds, the Gissar takes first place.
