DIRECTED EVOLUTION OF DAIRY SHEEP BREEDING IN THE CIS-AZOV REGION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Abstract

In recent years, consumer demand for healthy nutrition has been growing. The consumption of sheep milk and products made from it has increased significantly. The directed evolution of dairy sheep farming, the analysis of the efficiency of using stud rams of various breeds of domestic and imported selection on ewes of the adapted gene pool to increase the profitability of sheep farming are becoming increasingly important. Much work has been done on the study of cow's milk. At the same time, the composition of sheep milk has been studied in small quantities, especially considering that sheep milk differs significantly from cow's milk in many parameters. A study was made of the milk productivity of crossbred ewes of F1, F2, F3 generations, which were obtained from crossing local sheep of the breeding stock of the Taurian type of the Askanian fine-wool breed with a stud ram of the East Friesian breed of foreign selection of intensive dairy productivity in the steppe conditions of the south of Russia. The evaluation of the crossbred ewes of the East Friesian breed was carried out on: mastitis resistance, chemical composition of milk and its suitability for cheese making, adaptation of animals in the conditions of the hot steppe climate of the Cis-Azov region of Russia. A group of crossbred ewes with high parameters of milk productivity was formed. The use of East Friesian sheep in the Cis-Azov region of the Russian Federation in the local livestock contributed to the increase and improvement of the productive characteristics of crossbred animals.