Kuibyshev Sheep

a breed of semi-fine-fleeced sheep that are raised for both meat and wool. The Kuibyshev sheep was developed in the kolkhozes of Kuibyshev Oblast by crossing coarse-fleeced Cherkass ewes with Romney Marsh rams. The breed was confirmed in 1948.

The sheep are large and of strong constitution, with a massive but not coarse bone structure. The barrel-shaped trunk is set on relatively short legs. Both the rams and ewes are hornless. Average rams weigh 105–120 kg, but the largest may be about 160 kg. Most of the ewes weigh 65 kg (maximum weight recorded, about 130 kg). The animals mature early. Young rams weigh about 65 kg at 1½ years and young ewes, about 60 kg.

Dressed yield is 55 percent. The fleece is homogeneous, with great twist. It is of staple-braid structure. The wool fibers are 12–17 cm long and are rated 50–56. A clip from an average ram weighs 6.5–7 kg, and from a better ram, more than 9 kg. From average ewes a clip weighs 3.8–4.5 kg and from better ewes, up to 8.2 kg. The yield of pure wool is 60–62 percent. Every 100 ewes produce 120–130 lambs. Kuibyshev sheep are raised in Kuibyshev and Ulianovsk oblasts in the Tatar ASSR and in other regions of the USSR.