Fairly exotic branch of animal husbandry for Russia. Nevertheless, we simply do not have serious reasons not to engage in camel breeding. These animals are quite unpretentious in terms of keeping conditions, therefore, they equally well tolerate the climate of the southern Volga region and the Far Eastern Arctic, not to mention the western regions with a temperate climate.
Camel industry
Modern camels are represented by two types - one-humped and two-humped. One-humped camels were tamed and domesticated about 6 thousand years ago, that is, at the same time as horses. Two-humped - two thousand years later.
In those parts of the planet where camels are bred, they are important either as beasts of burden or as a source of valuable milk, meat, wool and leather. In hot countries, it is practiced to keep these animals in a semi-nomadic way, mainly on free grazing. In regions where winters are characterized by a significant (below zero) temperature drop, animals are kept loose in barns and covered pens.
Working camels are prized for their unparalleled endurance and ability to easily endure the most extreme weather conditions while performing hard physical work. As a beast of burden, a camel can travel 30-40 km per day, carrying 250-300 kg of cargo. And although it is inferior to a horse in terms of movement speed, the duration of the transitions and the amount of load carried, on the contrary, are longer.
As a source of meat, milk and wool, camels are in many ways comparable to cows. With an average weight of animals of 500-700 kg and a meat yield of 55-60%, 250-350 kg of meat can be obtained from them. Milk yields are not impressive - 1500-2000 liters per year from a dairy camel, but the fat content of camel milk is almost twice as high as that of cow's milk. Also camel milk contains three times more vitamin C and 10 times more iron.
Bactrian camels are larger, stronger and more productive, especially the Kalmyk breed. However, some hybrids of two-humped and one-humped camels are characterized by even greater size and endurance.
Camel breeding in Russia and in the world
Initially, camels adapted to living in the hot arid regions of the planet, where other large herbivores could not survive. Several thousand years have passed since the domestication of these animals, but camels are still bred almost exclusively in desert and semi-desert areas.
Today camel breeding plays an important role in animal husbandry in only a few Arab-Muslim countries with a significant area of deserts and semi-deserts. These are mainly the countries of the Near and Middle East, as well as North Africa. Here, almost exclusively one-humped camels are bred, which are more adapted to the heat. The importance of camel breeding in these countries is associated not so much with the usefulness of animals as with the need for traction power for transport and agriculture. Simply put, because of the total poverty of the population, people are forced to use camels instead of cars and tractors.
The situation is different with the countries of Central Asia that were formerly part of the USSR. Although, with the exception of richer Kazakhstan, the standard of living in them is comparable to the Arab world, camels (mainly two-humped) are bred here mainly for meat, milk and wool. But their use as beasts of burden also takes place.
Australia stands apart, where camels were brought in the century before last for the transport of goods in the desert parts of the country, and today they are used exclusively for participation in races.
In general, the world population of camels is about 14 million animals, of which about half are concentrated in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East. For this reason, 90% of the world's population is one-humped camels. Bactrian camels, adapted not only to heat, but also to frost, are in demand mainly in Central Asia, Mongolia and China.
As for Russia, our camels are bred only in some regions adjacent to the areas where these animals were once found in the wild. The most significant livestock today is recorded in the Astrakhan region (more than 4100 heads), Kalmykia (about 1000 heads), in Altai (about 500 heads) and in Transbaikalia (300 heads).
Is a camel business possible in Russia?
Saying that camel breeding is not traditional for Russia, we are somewhat sinning against the truth. Indeed, camels have never been seriously bred in the regions that now belong to the Central, Central Black Earth, Northern and North-Western economic regions. However, in the above-mentioned southern regions (the Volga region and South Siberia), camels have been bred since time immemorial. Camel breeding is very typical for these places.
The only reason why camels are bred only in the south is the fact that in other regions it is more profitable to breed other types of livestock - cows, sheep, goats, deer. Camel breeding, on the other hand, makes sense only if there are no suitable conditions for more productive animals in a given area.
As already mentioned, in the world, camels are bred mainly by residents of poor countries who need draft cattle. Since we do not have this problem, camel breeding in Russia is focused mainly on the production of meat, milk, wool and skins.
The main issue that worries entrepreneurs considering camel farming as a possible business direction is the prospects for product sales. Since the vast majority of Russians have never tasted either camel meat or camel milk, there seems to be no demand for these products. However, the volume of production of these products on a national scale is so insignificant that there is no de facto competition either. Thus, you can find sales channels if you correctly build a marketing strategy and present your products as a rare exotic that is worth trying.
To understand which sales market is potentially available, one statistical indicator should be cited: the city of Moscow alone eats more than 2.5 thousand tons of meat PER DAY! With such a scale of consumption, finding a niche for the sale of 100-200 kg of camel meat per day is not a problem at all. The main thing is to be able to correctly position your products.
Where to start breeding camels?
Of course, before you start investing in starting a business, you first need to carefully calculate everything. Moreover, in the case of camels, maintaining conditions and purchasing young animals is by no means the main problem that needs to be dealt with. Since there is no tradition of consuming camel meat and camel milk in Russia, you will first have to work out sales channels, having obtained at least preliminary agreements with several wholesale buyers (restaurants, shops, sausage shops).
It is quite possible that you will only be able to find a sale for your products in another region, several hundred or even thousands of kilometers from the farm itself. Thus, it is necessary to study the issues of logistics and calculate whether it would be generally advisable to transport meat and milk over such a distance, and, if so, how to minimize transport costs.
Camel farm registration
Building a camel farm in general is not much different from building a regular cattle farm with cows. After making sure that the enterprise will be profitable, you need to register with the local tax office as a peasant farm (PFH). You can also limit yourself to the status of an individual entrepreneur, but this will not give any significant advantages, since taxation under the simplified system is also available for peasant farms.
The KFH format also has clear advantages over LLCs, since the state is more actively helping small farms through incentives and subsidies. Basically, if you plan to start very small, for example, half a dozen animals, then you can follow the path of registering a personal subsidiary farm that does not pay taxes at all.
In addition to registering with the tax office, you also need to coordinate your activities with the veterinary service. Obtaining a veterinary certificate can be challenging as there are many different standards and requirements for the quality of milk and meat. Moreover, the requirements are not only federal, but also local, which only complicates the task of the entrepreneur. You will spend much less money, time and effort if you turn to a competent specialized lawyer for help in this matter from the very beginning.
In the best case, all bureaucratic issues will take you two or three months and 20-30 thousand rubles. But this is in the most optimistic version.
Place to place the farm
The advantage of camels is that they can eat the worst and roughest grass that other animals would never eat. To create a camel farm, neither rich flood meadows nor steppe grasses are needed. In view of this, it is possible for relatively little money to rent or buy land culled by other farmers - poor sandy areas, salt marshes, etc.
By the way, it would be a good idea to open a small camel farm at a large livestock or crop farm. In this case, the camels can be fed with practically free food - discarded feed or even crop waste that is not suitable for feeding cows and sheep.
If you plan to open a farm in a sparsely populated region with huge no-man's-land steppes and semi-deserts, then you can completely limit yourself to buying / renting one or two hectares to build the necessary outbuildings on them. In this case, most of the year, when the land is not covered with snow, animals can be kept free-range, that is, free feed.
It is rather difficult to calculate even approximately the amount of funds required for the construction of corrals, sheds, a slaughterhouse and other outbuildings. Too much depends on the size and format of the enterprise. But in any case, you need to proceed from the fact that at the very beginning you will have to invest several million rubles.
Where to get animals?
If young cattle can be bought in any region of the country, then for camels you will have to go to one of the few camel breeding farms located in the Volga region or southern Siberia. There, for one camel they will take about 70 thousand rubles, for an adult it is even more expensive. However, it makes no sense to buy adult animals, since they will not pay for themselves. If you wish, you can buy livestock abroad - in Kazakhstan or other countries of Central Asia.
You should buy young animals only after consulting a specialized specialist who will tell you the optimal age and the quantitative ratio of purchased males and females. However, if the farm will work in relative proximity (no more than fifty kilometers) from another farm where there are males, then it is possible to do with camels alone. In this case, the male can be brought to them for insemination every few months. While you will have to pay for insemination services, this approach may be more beneficial in terms of balancing costs.
Search for personnel and other organizational issues.
Camels are considered more moody (in terms of character) than cows. But this is true only if you use them as beasts of burden. It is much easier to care for an ordinary meat and dairy herd. In fact, one or two herders will be enough to handle several dozen animals. Since no educational institution trains camel care specialists in Russia, these positions will have to hire just experienced herders who know how to handle cattle.
A camel is a large mammal that belongs to the placental infraclass, superorder Laurasiatheria, artiodactyl order, callus suborder, camelid family, camel genus ( Camelus).
In a number of foreign languages, the word “camel” sounds similar to its Latin name: in English, a camel is called camel, the French call it chameau, the Germans call it Kamel, and the Spaniards call it camello.
The origin of the Russian-language name of the animal has two versions. According to one of them, the camel was called “ulbandus” in the Gothic language, but, interestingly, this name referred to an elephant. And the confusion arose from the fact that people who named such a large animal never saw either camels or camels. Then the Slavs took over the word, and “ulbandus” turned into “camel”. A more plausible version identifies the name of the animal with its Kalmyk name "burgud". But no one doubts the fact that the camel is a real ship of the desert, covering hundreds of kilometers across the endless sandy expanses.
Camel - description, characteristics, structure
A camel is an animal that is rather large: the average height at the withers of an adult is about 210-230 cm, and the weight of a camel reaches 300-700 kg. Particularly large individuals weigh over a ton. The body length is 250-360 cm in two-humped camels, 230-340 cm in single-humped camels. Males are always larger than females.
The anatomy and physiology of these mammals is a clear indicator of their adaptability to life in harsh and arid conditions. The camel has a strong, dense constitution, a long U-shaped curved neck and a rather narrow, elongated skull. The ears of the animal are small and rounded, sometimes almost completely buried in thick fur.
The big eyes of a camel are reliably protected from sand, sun and wind by thick, long eyelashes. The blinking membrane, the third eyelid, protects the animal's eyes from sand and wind.
The nostrils are shaped like narrow slits that can close tightly, preventing moisture loss and protecting during sandstorms.
Taken from the site: ephemeralimpressions.blogspot.ru
34 teeth grow in the camel's mouth. The lips of animals are coarse and fleshy, adapted for plucking prickly and tough vegetation.
The upper lip is bifurcated.
Large calluses are located on the chest, wrists, elbows and knees of domestic individuals, allowing the mammal to painlessly lower and lie on the hot ground. Wild specimens have no calluses on their elbows or knees.
Each leg of a camel ends in a forked foot with a kind of claw located on a calloused pillow. Two-toed feet are ideal for walking in rocky and sandy terrain.
The tail of a camel in relation to the body is rather short and is about 50-58 cm.
At the end of the tail, a tassel grows, formed by a tuft of long hair.
Camels have a thick and dense coat that prevents moisture from evaporating in heat and warms on cold nights. The camel's coat is slightly curly, and its color can be very diverse: from light to dark brown and almost black.
On the nape of the animals there are paired glands that secrete a special odorous secret, with which camels mark their territory, bending their necks and rubbing themselves on stones and soil.
Contrary to popular belief, the hump of a camel does not contain water, but fat. For example, the hump of a bactrian camel contains up to 150 kg of fat. The hump protects the animal's back from overheating and is a reservoir for energy reserves. There are 2 closely related species of camels: one-humped and two-humped, having, respectively, 1 or 2 humps, laid down by evolutionary development, as well as some differences associated with living conditions.
Camels retain fluid in the scar tissue of the stomach, so they can easily tolerate prolonged dehydration. The structure of the blood cells of camels is such that with prolonged dehydration, when another mammal would have died long ago, their blood does not thicken. Camels can do without water for a couple of weeks, and without food they can live for about a month. The erythrocytes of these animals are not round, but oval, which is a rare exception among mammals. Without access to water for a long time, a camel can lose up to 40% of its weight. If the animal loses weight by 100 kg in a week, then having received water, it will quench its thirst for 10 minutes. In total, the camel will drink more than 100 liters of water at a time and will replenish the lost 100 kg of weight, recovering literally before our eyes.
All camels have excellent eyesight: they are able to notice a person from a kilometer, and a moving car from 3-5 km. Animals have a well-developed instinct: they feel the source of water at a distance of 40-60 km, they easily anticipate the approach of a thunderstorm and go where there will be showers.
Despite the fact that the majority of these mammals have never seen large bodies of water, camels can swim well, slightly tilting their bodies to the side. The camel runs amble, while the speed of the camel can reach 23.5 km / h. Some individuals of wild haptagai are capable of accelerating up to 65 km / h.
Enemies of the camel in nature
The main natural enemies of the camel are. Earlier, when camels were found in their habitats, they also attacked both wild and domestic individuals.
Camel lifespan
On average, a camel lives for about 40-50 years. This applies to both one-humped and two-humped species. Life expectancy in captivity ranges from 20 to 40 years.
What does a camel eat?
Camels are able to digest very coarse and non-nutritious food. Bactrian camels eat various shrub and semi-shrub vegetation in the desert: saltwort, camel thorns, barnyard, green leaf, sand acacia, bitter wormwood, onion, ephedra, young branches of saxaul. With the onset of cold weather in rare oases, animals feed on reeds and poplar leaves. In the absence of main food sources, Bactrians do not disdain the skins and bones of dead animals, as well as any products made from these materials. The one humped camel eats any plant food, including coarse, hard and salty foods.
Eating succulent grass, a camel can live without water for up to 10 days, getting the necessary moisture from the vegetation. Desert animals visit the springs every few days, while the camel drinks a lot at a time. For example, a two-humped camel can drink 130-135 liters of water at a time. A remarkable feature of the haptagai (wild bactrian camels) is their ability to drink brackish water without harming the body, while domestic camels do not drink it.
All camels tolerate prolonged hunger, and it has been scientifically proven that overfeeding has a much worse effect on the health of these animals. By autumn, in abundant years for food, camels noticeably grow fat, but in winter they suffer much more than other animals: due to the absence of real hooves, they are not able to dig out snowdrifts in search of suitable food.
Domestic camels are extremely indiscriminate in their food and are almost omnivorous. In captivity or in a zoo, animals are happy to eat fresh grass and silage, any compound feed, vegetables, fruits, grain, branches and foliage of trees and shrubs. Also, in the diet of domestic camels, salt bars must be present that satisfy the body's need for salt.
The three-chambered stomach helps the animal digest food. The mammal swallows food without first chewing, then regurgitates partially digested food, gum, and chews it.
Camel species, photos and names
The genus of camels includes 2 types:
- bactrian camel.
Below is a more detailed description of them.
One-humped camel (dromedar, dromedary, arabian) ( Camelus dromedarius)
The dromedary, or one-humped camel, has survived to this day exclusively in its domestic form, not counting the second feral individuals. “Dromedary” is translated from Greek as “running”, and the animal was nicknamed “Arabian” in honor of Arabia, where these camels were tamed. The dromedaries, like the Bactrians, have very long calloused legs, but a slender build. Compared to two-humped camels, one-humped camels are much smaller: the body length of adults is 2.3-3.4 m, and the height at the withers reaches 1.8-2.1 m. The weight of a one-humped camel ranges from 300 to 700 kg.
The head of a dromedar has elongated facial bones, a convex forehead, a hump-nosed profile, and the lips are not compressed as in cattle or cattle. The cheeks are enlarged, the lower lip is often pendulous. The neck of a one-humped camel has developed muscles. A small mane grows along the upper edge of the neck, and in the lower part there is a short beard that reaches the middle of the neck. The forearms have no edge. In the area of the scapula there is an edge in the form of "epaulets", which consists of long curly hairs and is absent in bactrian camels.
Also, a one-humped camel differs from a two-humped camel in that the former does not tolerate frost at all, while the latter is adapted to exist at extremely low temperatures. The coat of dromedaries is dense, but not particularly thick and long, such fur does not warm, but only prevents an intense loss of fluid. On cold nights, the body temperature of a one-humped camel drops significantly, in the sun the body warms up extremely slowly, and the camel sweats only when the temperature exceeds 40 degrees.
The longest hair grows on the animal's neck, back and head. The color of dromedaries is predominantly sandy, but there are one-humped camels that are dark brown, reddish-gray or white.
Bactrian camel (bactrian) ( Camelus bactrianus)
It is the largest member of the genus and the most valuable pet for most Asian peoples. The Bactrian Bactrian camel got its name thanks to Bactria - the area in Central Asia, where it was domesticated. A small number of wild bactrian camels, named haptagai, have survived to this day: several hundred individuals live in China and Mongolia, preferring the most inaccessible landscapes.
The bactrian camel is a very large and heavy animal: the body length reaches 2.5-3.6 m, and the average height of adults is 1.8-2.3 meters. The height of animals together with humps can reach 2.7 m. The length of the tail is 50-58 cm. Usually a mature camel weighs from 450 to 700 kg. Male camels of the valuable Kalmyk breed that have fed up over the summer can weigh from 800 kg to 1 ton, the weight of females ranges from 650 to 800 kg.
The bactrian camel has a dense body and long limbs. Bactrians are distinguished by a particularly long, curved neck, which first bends down and then rises again, so the head of the animal is in line with the shoulders. The humps of the camel are located at a distance of 20-40 cm from each other (meaning the distance between the bases of the humps), forming a saddle between themselves - a place where a person can stay. The distance from the saddle to the ground is about 170 cm, so before climbing on the back of the camel, the rider must order the animal to kneel or lie down on the ground. The gap between the humps is not filled with fat, even in the most well-fed individuals.
An indicator of the health and nutritional status of a two-humped camel is firm, straight humps. In emaciated animals, the humps, in whole or in part, fall to the side and dangle while walking. The bactrian camel has an extremely thick and dense coat with a developed undercoat, ideal for living in the harsh conditions of the continental climate with its sultry summers and cold, snowy winters. It is noteworthy that in the habitual biotopes of Bactrians in winter, the thermometer drops below -40 degrees, but the animals tolerate such frost painlessly.
The structure of the fur of a two-humped camel is very peculiar: the hairs are hollow inside, which significantly reduces the thermal conductivity of the coat, and each hair is surrounded by thin hairs of the undercoat, between which air accumulates and is well retained, also reducing heat loss.
The length of the hair of the Bactrian is 5-7 cm, but on the lower part of the neck and the tops of the humps, the length of the hair exceeds 25 cm. The longest hair grows in these camels in autumn, and in winter the Bactrians look the most pubescent. With the onset of spring, two-humped camels shed: the hair begins to fall out in tufts and then the Bactrians look especially unkempt and shabby, but by summer the short coat takes on a normal appearance.
The usual color of a bactrian camel is brown-sandy of varying intensity, sometimes very dark, reddish or very light. Among domestic bactrian camels, brown specimens are most common, but gray, white and almost black specimens are found.
Light-colored camels are the rarest and only 2.8% of the total population.
What is the difference between domestic and wild Bactrian camels?
There are some differences between domestic and wild bactrian camels:
- Wild camels (haptagai) are slightly smaller than domestic ones and are not as dense, but rather lean; the prints of their tracks are thinner and more elongated;
- Haptagai have a much narrower muzzle, shorter ears, their pointed humps are not as large and voluminous as those of their domestic relatives;
- The body of the haptagai is covered with reddish-brown-sandy wool. In domesticated individuals, the coat can be light, sandy yellow or dark brown;
- The wild camel haptagai runs much faster than the domestic camel;
- But the main difference between a domestic camel and a wild one: the haptagai on the chest and knees of the forelegs are completely free of calloused formations.
Camel hybrids, photos and names
Since ancient times, the population of countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan has been practicing interspecific hybridization of camels, that is, they crossed one-humped and two-humped camels. Hybrids are of great importance in the national economy of these countries. Below is a description of the hybrids:
Nar- a hybrid of first generation camels, crossed by the Kazakh method. When crossing the female Kazakh bactrian camel with the male Turkmen one-humped camels of the Arvana breed, a viable cross is obtained. Hybrid females are called Nar-Maya (or Nar-Maya), males are called Nar-Maya. In appearance, the bunk looks like a dromedar and has one elongated hump, which is 2 humps fused together. The offspring always exceed their parents in size: the height at the shoulders of an adult bunk is from 1.8 to 2.3 m, and the weight can exceed 1 ton. The annual milk yield of a female Nara with a fat content of up to 5.14% can exceed 2000 liters, while the average milk yield of dromedaries is 1300-1400 liters per year, and for Bactrians no more than 800 liters per year. Nars, in turn, are capable of breeding, which is rare among hybrid specimens, but their young are usually weak and sickly.
Iner (iner)- it is also a hybrid of first generation camels, obtained by the Turkmen method, namely: when a female of the Turkmen one-humped camel of the Arvan breed is crossed with a male two-humped camel. The hybrid female is called iner-Maya (or iner-Maya), the male is called iner. Iner, like bunks, has 1 elongated hump, is distinguished by high rates of milk yield and wool cuttings, and also has a powerful constitution.
Zharbai, or jarbay- a rare hybrid of the second generation, obtained by crossing hybrids of camels of the first generation. Experienced camel breeders try to avoid such reproduction, since the offspring are low productive, painful, often with obvious deformities and signs of degeneration in the form of severely deformed joints of the limbs, crooked chest, and so on.
Cospak- a hybrid of a camel, obtained by crossing the absorption type of female Nar-May with a male Bactrian camel. Quite a promising hybrid in terms of increasing meat mass and high milk production. It is also recommended for breeding for further crossing in order to increase the small number of another camel hybrid, kez-nar.
Kez-nar- a group of hybrid camels, which are the result of crossing of Cospak females with Dromedary males of the Turkmen breed. As a result, individuals appear that are superior in weight to cospaks, and in terms of height at the withers, milk production and wool shearing, they are ahead of the Nar-May.
Kurt- a group of hybrid camels obtained by crossing iner-May with males of the Turkmen dromedar. Kurt is a one-humped hybrid, the forearms of the animal are poorly pubescent. Milk productivity is quite high, although the fat content of milk is not high, and in terms of the amount of shearing of wool, the kurt does not hold a record.
Kurt-nar- hybrid camels, bred by the method of crossing female hybrid Kurt and male Bactrian Kazakh breed.
- a hybrid of a one-humped camel and a llama. The resulting hybrid has no hump, the animal's fur is fluffy, very soft, up to 6 cm long. The limbs of the kama are long, very strong, with double hooves, so the hybrid can be used as a hardy pack animal capable of carrying loads weighing up to 30 kg. The kama has rather small ears and a long tail. The height at the withers varies from 125 to 140 cm, and the weight from 50 to 70 kg.
(lat.Camelus).
In the past, countless herds of wild dromedaries roamed the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, but today only domesticated animals can be found. In the modern world, dromedar is common in many regions of Asia and Africa as a pet for transporting goods or riding.
Unlike Bactrian, its wild populations have not survived in our time. Only in Australia there are secondarily feral herds of camels - distant descendants of dromedaries brought to the continents in the 19th-20th centuries.
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✪ Where is the camel? Parable.
Subtitles
Name
The name “dromedary” comes from the Greek word δρομάς, which means “runner”. The name "Arabian" comes from the word Arabia, where this type of camel was domesticated.
External signs
general description
Dromedar and man
Wild dromedary
Where exactly the wild dromedary lived and when they became extinct is not fully understood. Due to the rarity of fossil finds, as well as the possibility of crossing dromedars and bactrians, some zoologists even suggest that wild dromedaries never existed at all. However, there is some evidence of ancient wild forms of these beasts. These include rock carvings from three thousand years ago on the Arabian Peninsula, depicting hunting for apparently wild camels, as well as the lower jaw of a dromedar found in southwestern Saudi Arabia, whose age is estimated at seven thousand years, that is, before the domestication of camels began. In the Pleistocene, they probably also lived in North Africa until about 3000 BC. NS. Sometimes these are referred to as another extinct species. Camelus thomasi... The wild dromedary became completely extinct around the beginning of our era.
