Karakul sheep are a multi-purpose breed, kept for
milking,
meat,
pelts, and
wool. As a
fat-tailed breed, they have a distinctive meat. Many adult Karakul are double-coated; in this case, a
spinner would separate the coarse guard hair from the undercoat. Karakul is a relatively coarse fiber used for outer garments,
carpets and for
felting. The meat from the sheep, and especially the fat from the tail end, is an important ingredient in
Uzbek cuisine.
Karakul pelts Very young or even fetal Karakul lambs are prized for pelts. Newborn karakul sheep pelts are called
karakul (also spelled
caracul),
swakara (portmanteau of
South West Africa Karakul),
astrakhan (Russian and French),
Persian lamb,
agnello di Persia (Italian),
krimmer (Russian) and
garaköli bagana (Turkmen). Sometimes the terms for newborn lambs' and fetal lambs' pelts are used interchangeably. The newborn lambs have a tight, curly pattern of hair. The lambs must be under three days old when they are killed, or they will lose their black color and soft, tightly wound coils of fur. Dark colors are dominant and lambs often darken in color as they age. Fetal karakul lamb pelts are called
broadtail,
Breitschwanz (German), and
karakulcha. Fetal karakul lambs are harvested through miscarriages, induced early delivery or by killing the mother sheep and removing the fetus. Rather than killing healthy female sheep, farmers will kill older sheep that have already given birth many times. The pelts have also been used in
haute couture. {{cite web ==References==