Composition of the Kyrgyz Herd

Composition of the Herd

Kyrgyz people raised horses, sheep, yaks, goats, camels, and cattle. For normal grazing in vertical herding, an average of at least one horse is needed for every six sheep (Akmoldoeva, 1983, p. 121). Overall, horse breeding was the leading branch of livestock farming, as horses were less prone to winter mortality than other animals—they could relatively easily find feed under the snow and moved more easily in the mountains. Horses were used as the main means of transportation, in various agricultural work, and during military actions. As military threats decreased and a peaceful life began, the proportion of sheep in herds increased, as well as that of cattle. The ratio of livestock types depended on wealth: large livestock owners had a higher proportion of horses, medium owners had a higher percentage of sheep, and poorer families had more cattle (Masanov, 1995, pp. 179-181).

Owning numerous herds was a sign of a person's wealth and elevated their social status. The horse played an important role in everyday life and various rituals; horse meat was considered one of the favorite national dishes, and kumys (fermented mare's milk) was made from mare's milk. Horse hides were used to make shoes and harnesses, and strong ropes called arkan were woven from horsehair. Even hooves were utilized to make special shoes called tay tuyak for walking on rocks (Potapov, 2000, pp. 31-41; Akmoldoeva, 1983; Zhapаров, Zhаксон, 2005, pp. 67-81; Zaparov, 2010; Ferret, 2009).

The proportion of sheep in the herd was the highest. Hardy and undemanding in terms of food, they possess a well-developed flocking instinct, can find forage under a shallow layer of snow, reproduce relatively quickly, and tolerate cold well. Sheep farming provides livestock breeders with meat, milk, wool, hides, and fuel. They bred fat-tailed sheep of a meat-and-fat breed with coarse wool and low milk yield, and animals of brown, red, black, and white colors were found. There were also breeds with relatively soft wool of white and gray colors. The number of sheep was a measure of a person's wealth; wealthy individuals owned flocks of up to 2-3 thousand sheep (Zhapаров, 1998, pp. 57-59).

Goats were mainly grazed with sheep in a common herd. Goats were often used as leaders of the flocks.

There were poor families whose small herds consisted only of goats. These animals could eat coarse-stemmed herbaceous plants and could graze among low shrubs growing on rocks, which served as forage for them (Lyashenko, 1955, p. 9). Goats provided milk and meat, as well as raw materials for making necessary items in the household: down for making warm clothing, wool for ropes and felt. From the hides, excellent water bags (chanach) were made, and thin rawhide was woven into nets and sieves for sifting grain (kalbyr).

Cattle provided livestock breeders with essential products such as meat, milk, and hides. Oxen, and sometimes cows, were used as draft animals in agricultural work, for transporting goods on sleds and carts, under packs, and often by the poor for riding. "Not only bulls (bulls and oxen) but often cows are used for pack and saddle; only in more prosperous households, where there are many oxen and bulls, are cows exempt from this work" (Lus, Kolesnik, 1930, p. 92). Wealthy livestock breeders raised cattle in small numbers, considering it a domain of the poor. The degree of wealth was not measured by the number of these animals; Kyrgyz people did not consider cows to be a sign of wealth (Attokurov, 2003, p. 253). Wealthy individuals owned large herds of horses and sheep, while the poor were forced to limit themselves to milking cows and goats. However, as agriculture developed, attitudes toward cattle changed: in settled and mixed agricultural-livestock areas, the breeding of this livestock began to prevail over horse breeding, yielding only to sheep farming (History of the Kyrgyz SSR, 1986, Vol. 2, p. 116).

In the high mountainous regions of the Tien Shan and Pamir-Alai, yaks were raised, which are better adapted to high-altitude conditions than other animals. The distribution area of yaks was small: in the northern part of the country, in the territories of the modern Naryn, Chuy, and Talas regions, and in the south—on the lands east of the Alai ridge. In terms of population, yaks significantly lagged behind other types of livestock: even large manaps of the Sayak and Sarybagysh had only up to 100 heads of yaks (Ploskikh, 1977, p. 218). Yaks served as transport and pack animals in high-altitude conditions. In addition, they provided high-fat milk, meat, very good wool, and hides. According to the stories of the locals, it was only thanks to yaks that regular communication with Kashgar and Pamir was maintained in winter, as these hoofed animals could create a narrow path through thick snow cover. When there were snowdrifts in the passes of the Alai and Zaalai ridges, herds of yaks were driven through deep snow to trample it down. Only after this was it possible to cross the passes on horses or on the same yaks. In places where winter pastures were located relatively high (the southern shore of Issyk-Kul, At-Bashy, etc.), yaks were also used for agricultural work.

Camel breeding had not only economic but also important social significance. First of all, camels were used for transporting heavy loads. They were rarely used for riding (usually during migrations), and even then only over short distances, as camels were poorly adapted to walking in the mountains (Akmoldoeva, 1983, p. 48). Camels provided valuable products such as meat, milk, wool, and hides. Camel wool (chuuда) was highly valued, from which clothing, fabrics, quilted blankets, ropes, and more were made. Wool taken from the neck and knees of the camel was used to make the base of carpet fabric (Antipina, 1962, p. 19). Some kitchen utensils were made from camel hides, which were also used to cover horse saddles. The Kyrgyz kept Bactrian camels with two humps.

Pasture-based livestock keeping allowed for optimal interaction with the natural environment, without causing significant damage to pastures, whose grass cover gradually restored (Andrianov, 1985, p. 164; Ethnic Ecology: Theory and Practice, 1991). Livestock breeders took into account the need for careful management of feed resources, the disproportion between pastures of different seasons, and their forage capacity. Thus, summer pastures occupied 43%, autumn pastures 25%, spring pastures 19%, and winter pastures only 13% (by capacity, they account for only 9%) of the total area of pastures (Ryazantsev, 1951; Nazarevsky, T. 98, p. 252). However, sometimes the concentration of livestock was allowed, which led to a deterioration in pasture quality and "could be the cause of winter feed shortages regardless of meteorological conditions, and in any case significantly accelerated the onset of this feed shortage with any slight shift in meteorological conditions in a negative direction" (Rakitnikov, 1936, p. 105). This fairly common phenomenon forced livestock breeders to seek alternative grazing opportunities. Thus, sometimes nomads used high-altitude, low-snow, stony (with tundra climate) areas for winter grazing, where livestock could find forage without much difficulty.


Livestock Farming Among the Kyrgyz