Beltex: this breed of sheep looks simply crazy (7 photos)

Once upon a time, a farmer had a small flock of sheep and a shepherd dog with very unhealthy tendencies. People warned the farmer that this would not lead to good, but he did not listen to them. And then one day he turned out - a sheep dog, a sheep dog, the only baby sheep dog in the world!





Of course, these are just jokes. In fact, people bred sheep-dogs with their own hands! Meet one of the most terrifying breeds of small-horned cattle - Beltex.



Hey, who did you call a dog? Come on!

It all started with selection work on the Dutch Texel breed of meat sheep. By nature they were distinguished by gorgeous muscles, but people decided that this was not enough. Sheep don’t go to the gym and don’t lift dumbbells, so the muscles of the ungulates were pumped up through selective breeding.





This is not “God forgive me,” but a valuable breeding ram!

First, Belgian farmers and scientists from the University of Liege took the mutation of Dutch sheep to a new level - the lambs became twice as meaty. Further improvement was carried out in the UK: the sheep were crossed with the Suffolk meat breed. So, without SMS, training or registration, people got the perfect meat breed! True, during all the manipulations they didn’t really look at your face... But does it really matter what kind of face you have when your butt is as strong as a nut without fitness and squats?



Hey, where are you looking?

The result was Beltex - stocky ungulates 50-60 cm tall and weighing up to 90 kg. Judging only by the numbers, the dimensions of the Beltexes seem to be no different from the parent breeds. But if you look at the lambs from the inside (in the literal sense of the word), everything will immediately fall into place.



I'm on my way back from leg training. What are you doing?

Unlike other meat sheep, Beltexes are distinguished by their delicate, thin bones and minimal amount of fat. This means that out of 90 kilograms of live weight, most of it is meat. That is, sheep dogs weigh the same as other lambs, but they produce much more finished product!



A nice bonus is that you can trim some wool from the lambs. I shaved a couple of dozen, knitted a couple of socks! Your feet are warm and your stomach is full.

But if Beltexes are so super profitable, then why aren’t they introduced everywhere? Because ovets also have their drawbacks. Due to their thin bones, animals need a high-quality and balanced diet. Just walking in the meadow and picking grass is not suitable for them. In addition, Beltex suffer more from respiratory, parasitic and other diseases than other breeds. The body spends all its energy on gaining weight, not on immunity. Another catch in breeding is the breeding itself. Childbirth in ewes is difficult. Not only are the lambs large, but they are also born in a whole group - one female gives birth to 2-3 cubs.



The third reason for the low prevalence of Beltex is that farmers simply don’t want to look at IT.

Because of these problems, not every farm can afford purebred Beltex breeding. Therefore, farmers use a trick: they buy high-quality rams of this breed and cross them with their own sheep. In this situation, you can significantly improve the meat quality of the resulting offspring and not lose it to the whims of the Beltex. Profit!