Southern Kazakh Merino

a breed of fine-wooled sheep bred for wool and meat. The breed was developed between 1932 and 1965 in the Kazakh SSR by crossing Kazakh fat-tailed ewes with Merino rams (New Caucasian, Caucasian, Altai, Askania, Groznyi, Soviet Merino). The sheep are strong and compact, with one or two transverse folds on the neck. The wool, mainly of 64th grade, is 8–8.3 cm long. A clipping yields 10 kg from rams and 4.0 kg from ewes. The net yield of washed wool is about 50 percent. The rams weigh 70–100 kg, and ewes 54–56 kg. Castrated rams slaughtered at seven months yield carcasses weighing 12–13 kg; the dressed yield may reach 48 percent. One hundred ewes yield an average of 145 lambs. The breed is raised in the Kazakh SSR.