How to Raise Hu Sheep: Hu Sheep Breeding Techniques and Precautions

Hu sheep mainly live in the Taihu Plain of China, and the Hu sheep is also a first-class protected local livestock and poultry breed in China. The Hu sheep's coat is also a rare white variety. Hu sheep are relatively early-maturing, come into estrus easily in all four seasons, can give birth twice a year, and can bear multiple lambs per litter. Hu sheep have good milk production performance and grow very quickly. It is precisely because of these advantages that raising Hu sheep is relatively easy, which is also why many local people raise Hu sheep.

How to Raise Hu Sheep

1. Solving the forage problem solves 2/3 of the problems in sheep raising. Forage includes fresh green grass, green hay, vine-type forage, silage, fruit tree leaves and mulberry leaves, etc. When raising sheep household by household, people often feed whatever grass is in season and whatever is available, feeding the same kind of forage every day (for example, in spring and summer, when fresh green grass is abundant, they feed only fresh grass every day). This is not only monotonous in taste, but more importantly, it is also too monotonous in nutrition and can cause certain diseases due to nutritional deficiency.

2. In autumn and winter, green grass withers away, and there is no source of green feed for Hu sheep. Large-scale farms should prepare silage well in summer to prepare for overwintering. Scattered raisers with the means to do so can also use silage.

3. Concentrate feed is mainly used as a supplementary addition and should not be fed in large amounts. Generally, when forage is abundant, it is mainly added for ewes before mating and in the early and late stages of pregnancy, lactating ewes, breeding rams during the mating period, lambs and relatively thin and weak sheep.

Hu Sheep Breeding Techniques and Precautions

1. The Hu sheep is an excellent local breed formed through long-term pen feeding and selective breeding. Because it is mainly raised in the area around the Taihu Lake basin at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, it is called the Hu sheep. Sanitation management must be implemented thoroughly, cleaning the sheep pen promptly and organizing disinfection regularly to ensure the pen is hygienic and clean.

2. Strengthen drinking water management, pay daily attention to supplementing sufficient drinking water, ensure there are enough drinking water utensils, and clean them regularly to keep them sanitary. In the process of raising Hu sheep, if you want to improve the overall quality of the flock, it is far from enough to rely only on selecting excellent breeds for breeding. In addition, it must be combined with the selection and matching of the flock to do better. A Hu sheep farm should have an exercise yard close to the entrance and exit, and the exercise yard should also be on high, dry terrain with good drainage.

Common Disease Prevention and Control Techniques for Hu Sheep

1. Ruminal tympany. Cause: It is caused by the flock eating large amounts of young tender grass that ferments easily, leguminous forage, dewy grass or roughage that is difficult to digest. In addition, secondary infection from some diseases can also cause ruminal tympany.

2. Symptoms: Sick sheep mainly show obvious enlargement of the left abdomen, tight skin at the swollen area, a drum-like sound when tapped, purplish discoloration of the lips, hairless areas around the eyes and the surface of the ears, frothing at the mouth, accelerated breathing, and unsteady standing or inability to stand.

3. Prevention: In daily feeding management, prevent sheep from eating excessive leguminous forage, do not feed moldy or easily fermenting feed, do not feed dewy grass, and feed less of difficult-to-digest and easily bloating feed.

4. Treatment: 100 to 150 milliliters of paraffin oil or rapeseed oil, administered by drenching at one time, then use a straw rope to support the sheep's abdomen and massage it to promote the discharge of gas. For severe ruminal bloating, rumen puncture should be performed promptly to release gas.

How Much Does a Hu Sheep Cost

1. According to market surveys, a newborn lamb costs 200 to 400 yuan each, an adult Hu sheep costs 13 to 15 yuan per jin, and if buying only Hu sheep meat, it is about 35 yuan per jin.

2. The Hu sheep has a medium build, and both rams and ewes are hornless, with a narrow, long head, a raised nasal bridge, mostly large and drooping ears, a slender, long neck, a narrow, long body, a straight back and loin, a slightly drooping abdomen, a flat and round tail with the tail tip turned upward, and relatively thin and tall limbs. The coat is all white, and the belly hair is coarse, sparse and short, with a sturdy constitution.

3. The Hu sheep is the sheep breed distributed at the southernmost latitude in China, but the Hu sheep is not native to Jiangnan; it is an introduced breed that only gradually adapted to the hot and humid climate of Jiangnan after long-term acclimatization. Like other sheep breeds, it is more suited to grazing in pastoral areas, agricultural areas and semi-agricultural semi-pastoral areas north of the Yangtze River, as well as semi-grazing semi-housed feeding and pen housed feeding.

When raising Hu sheep, be sure to remember that Hu sheep like to eat grass at night, and eating grass at night also helps Hu sheep put on fat. This was summarized by farmers who have long raised Hu sheep, so people who decide to raise Hu sheep can learn from it.