Seasonal parameters of the Kazakh meat-wool sheep body weight under different pasturing

In the course of animal growth and development, there are expressed both bred and special traits, and also the individual peculiarities of constitution, exterior and productivity which characterize the animal pedigree. Thus, studying growth and development contributes both to rearing and breeding technologies. The seasonal changes of body weight could be used to characterize the animal growth rate, feeding, metabolism, early maturation and health. Besides, basing on the body weight, it is possible to estimate the animal adaptation to environment. We compared the seasonal changes of body weight in Kazakh meat-wool sheep Aksenger females of different constitutional types pastured at different climatic zones of Zailiy Alatau (Kazakhstan Republic). The body weight was shown to vary considerably both under pasturing in semi-desert zone and at foothills, and to depend more on season if compared to constitutional type. It was the highest in summer and autumn, and 20-25 % lower in winter and spring. In semi-desert zone, the sheep were more influenced when fodder became worse and limited. As to practical point of view, that resulted from no measures on restoring the pasture productivity during winter and spring and also from limited reserves of coarse and concentrated fodder at the pastures where sheep are kept in winter.