Altay sheep are from the dry, cold mountain basins of China.
They are fat-rumped and are sometimes raised for carpet wool
(they average 2.5 to 3.5 pounds, 1.3 - 1.5 kg, of wool per shearing), but more
often they are raised for meat.
Over time Altay sheep gradually developed
a fat tail (or rump) as a consistent characteristic. The tail (or rump) weighs
about 15 pounds (7 kg). The rams average 180 pounds (82 kg) and the ewes 150
pounds (69 kg) at maturity.