Detailed Explanation of Small-Tailed Han Sheep Breeding Methods and Technical Key Points

The meat of the Small-Tailed Han sheep is tender, with intramuscular fat showing a marbled pattern, moderate fat and lean, delicious and juicy, rich but not greasy, fresh without a gamey taste. It is also nutritious, high in protein, low in cholesterol, and rich in various amino acids, vitamins, and mineral elements essential to the human body. The Small-Tailed Han sheep breeding video and techniques are introduced as follows

I. Timely Castration

Lambs used for fattening should generally be castrated within 1 week to 3 weeks, as castration at this time helps improve meat quality, making the meat tender, reducing the gamey smell, and making the sheep docile and easy to manage, and easy to fatten. There are two commonly used castration methods: one is the castration clamp method, using a specially made castration clamp to forcefully squeeze the upper part of the scrotum, breaking the spermatic cord, after which the testicles gradually atrophy. This method, because it does not cut a wound, carries no risk of blood loss or infection. The other is the ligation method: when the male lamb is 1 week old, push the testicles into the scrotum. Use a rubber band or thin rope to tightly tie off the upper part of the scrotum, that is, the spermatic cord area, so that blood circulation is blocked, and after 20 days to 30 days the scrotum and testicles atrophy and fall off naturally.

II. Early Weaning

The traditional weaning time for Small-Tailed Han sheep is mostly at 3 months to 4 months of age. According to experiments, lambs weaned at 60 days and 90 days of age, when fattened under the same conditions to 6 months of age, had average body weights and daily weight gains that were basically close, with no significant difference. This shows that early weaning at 2 months of age is feasible. Weaning and fattening at 2 months of age is conducive to breeding the ewe earlier, raising the breeding sheep from 3 births in 2 years to 2 births in 1 year, thereby increasing the reproduction rate, slaughter rate, and meat production of Small-Tailed Han sheep.

III. Regular Deworming

Fattening lambs should be dewormed once after weaning and once at the beginning of autumn. Commonly used deworming drugs include: nitroxynil, bithionol, albendazole, etc., administered orally at 4 mg, 35 mg to 75 mg, and 2.5 mg to 3 mg per kg of body weight respectively.

IV. Fine Feeding in Barns

Change the traditional extensive feeding method to a barn-fed fine intensive fattening method, with a reasonable combination of roughage and concentrate, so that lambs can be marketed in about half a year, which can significantly improve economic benefits. Specifically, a mixed feed of 35% green hay, 37% corn stalk powder, 5% soybean cake, 4% cottonseed cake, and 14% corn can be used; for weaned lambs fattened to 5 months to 6 months of age, the live weight can reach more than 40 kg, with an average daily weight gain of more than 200 g. This method has good meat production results, a short fattening period, and fast turnover, and is suitable for intensive, factory-style fattened lamb production.

V. Feeding Additives

1. Feed sheep-fattening compound feed additive (add according to instructions). This additive is composed of trace elements iron, copper, manganese, zinc, selenium, rumen metabolism regulators, growth promoters, and substances that inhibit harmful microorganisms. It is suitable for fattening castrated lambs of the year and culled old sheep. Feeding this additive increased weight gain speed and feed conversion rate by 23.1% and 18.7% respectively.

2. Add monensin (also known as monensin sodium). Its effect is to control and improve rumen fermentation efficiency, so as to increase weight gain speed and feed conversion rate. Experiments have shown that barn-fed Small-Tailed Han sheep fed monensin had a daily weight gain about 35% higher than the control group, and feed conversion rate increased by 27%. Usage and dosage: add 25 mg to 30 mg of monensin per kg of diet for Small-Tailed Han sheep. In practical application, the appropriate amount should be determined according to the composition of the diet, and it must be evenly mixed into the feed; the initial amount can be lower, then gradually increased.

3. Add urea phosphate (urea can also be used as a substitute). Its effect is to supplement nitrogen and phosphorus for ruminants, and it is a new type of non-protein nitrogen feed additive. Add about 10 g of urea phosphate per sheep per day, and the average daily weight gain increases by 26.7%.

4. Add bacitracin zinc antibacterial growth promoter. Its effect is beneficial to livestock and helps the digestion and absorption of nutrients in the intestinal tract, improves feed utilization, and increases body weight. For lambs, add 10 mg to 20 mg per kg of mixed feed, mix evenly in the feed and feed.

V. Timely Slaughter of Small-Tailed Han Sheep

Small-Tailed Han sheep have a high growth intensity in the early stage and slow growth in the later stage. If meat lambs are raised to over 1 year of age before slaughter, the feeding cost is high and fat deposition is greater. Therefore, the best rapid fattening and marketing period for lambs should be 5 months to 6 months of age.