A Detailed Guide to Lamb Rearing Techniques and Management Methods
Lamb Rearing Methods
The rearing of suckling lambs is divided into the colostrum period (5 days after birth), the normal milk period (6 to 60 days), and the transition period from milk to forage (61 to 90 days).
The milk produced by the ewe within 5 days after giving birth is called colostrum. Colostrum is rich in nutrients and plays an extremely important role in the growth and development of lambs, and also helps expel meconium. Therefore, lambs should be allowed to drink colostrum as early and as much as possible. The earlier and more they drink, the faster they gain weight, the stronger their constitution, the fewer cases of disease, and the higher the survival rate. During the colostrum period, it is best to let lambs suckle naturally with the ewe, and after 5 days switch to artificial feeding. If colostrum is fed artificially, start 20 to 30 minutes after birth, 4 times a day, with the amount gradually increasing from 0.6 to 1.2 kg.
During the normal milk period (6 to 60 days), milk is the main food of the lamb. From birth to 45 days of age is the period of fastest weight gain for lambs; from birth to 75 days of age is the period of fastest weight gain for lambs. Lambs grow quickly when young and have high nutritional needs, so if the amount of milk given is too small, their nutritional needs cannot be met. However, once they can eat grass, the rumen begins to enlarge, and giving a large amount of milk makes them unwilling to eat grass, which in turn affects gastrointestinal development.
Within two months after birth, the growth rate of lambs is related to milk intake; for every 1 kg of weight gain, they need 6 to 8 kg of milk. If 80 kg of milk is given over the entire suckling period, the average daily gain should be no less than 140 g for ewe lambs and no less than 160 g for ram lambs. When artificially feeding, the first problem encountered is teaching the lamb to drink milk from a bowl, bottle, or feeder, which is called teaching milk. When teaching them to drink milk, first let the lamb go hungry for half a day; generally, separate it from the ewe in the afternoon and teach it the next morning. When starting to teach milk drinking, hold the lamb with one hand and hold the bowl with the other, guiding the lamb's mouth into the bowl to drink milk. For artificial feeding, increase the milk amount from 10 days of age; the milk amount is highest from 25 to 50 days, then gradually decreases after 50 days.
After 10 days of age, start providing grass. Tie tender green grass or hay into bundles and hang them in the air so the lambs can feed freely. Start teaching them to eat feed 20 days after birth. Put feed scalded with boiling water in the trough to guide the lambs to nibble at it; after several repetitions, they will eat the feed. After 40 to 50 days, reduce milk and increase feed. If they cannot eat the feed, their growth and development will be affected.
During the transition period between milk and forage (61 to 90 days), milk and forage are initially given equal importance. Pay attention to the energy and protein nutritional levels and completeness of the diet. Digestible protein in the diet is best at 16% to 20%, and digestible nutrients at 74%. In the later stage, the amount of milk is continuously reduced, with high-quality hay and concentrate as the main feed, and whole milk used only as a protein supplement feed.
Before 2 months of age, give warm boiled water; from 2 months to weaning, give cool boiled water; after 4 months of age, when the weather is warm, they can drink fresh tap water.
After the colostrum period, lambs can be fed artificial milk. The artificial milk formula is as follows: skimmed milk powder 68%, animal fat 18%, fish meal 6%, soybean meal 4%, molasses 4%, vitamin A 4000 IU/kg, vitamin D 1000 IU/kg, vitamin E 250 IU/kg, neomycin 70 mg/kg.
Lamb Rearing and Management Techniques
Before a lamb drinks colostrum for the first time, it must be weighed immediately for birth weight. Before weighing, first check the ewe's ear number, then check the sex of the lamb, and keep a record. This can serve as important reference data for future rearing and management, and is the first step in lamb rearing and management.
The milk secreted by the ewe within 3 to 5 days after giving birth is thick in texture and rich in nutrients, and is called colostrum. Colostrum is easily digested and absorbed by lambs and cannot be replaced by other foods or artificial milk. Colostrum contains relatively more magnesium salts, and magnesium ions have a laxative effect, which can promote the excretion of meconium and prevent constipation. In addition, colostrum contains relatively more antibodies and lysozyme, and can resist the invasion of almost all kinds of E. coli. Newborn lambs should be guaranteed to drink colostrum within half an hour after birth. Lambs that cannot get colostrum from their own mother should preferably get colostrum from other ewes, otherwise it is difficult for them to survive.
Supplement Feed in Time
As lambs grow, the digestive function of the rumen gradually becomes fully developed. With the expansion of stomach volume, milk alone can no longer meet the nutritional needs of lamb growth and development. Therefore, supplementary feeding must be provided in time to promote rumen growth and exercise the digestive function of the gastrointestinal tract.
When supplementing feed for lambs, note that supplementary feeding should be started as early as possible. Once lambs are accustomed to eating forage, the forage used should be diverse, nutritious, and easy to digest. During feeding, give small amounts frequently, at fixed times and in fixed amounts, with concentrate first and roughage afterward.
Concentrate has special requirements: it should be ground, and if necessary stir-fried until fragrant and mixed with an appropriate amount of salt and bone meal to increase the lambs' appetite. To prevent the ewe from snatching the feed, a supplementary feeding pen should be set up specially for the lambs. The supplementary feeding pen can be set in a corner or on one side of the sheep house, separated by wooden or iron rails, as long as the ewe cannot enter and the lambs can just enter to feed. The supplementary feeding trough can be built with cement or made from a large iron basin, preferably one that the lambs cannot tip over.
When supplementing feed for lambs, carry out feeding at fixed times, in fixed amounts, at a fixed place, and by a fixed person, so as to form a good conditioned reflex and avoid adverse stress. They should not eat sporadically, otherwise it is not easy for them to fatten up. Appropriate exercise for lambs can strengthen their constitution and improve disease resistance.
Key Rearing Points After Weaning
After weaning, high-quality fresh pasture or legume hay is best, followed by silage, ammoniated, or micro-storage feed made from crop straw. After straw is treated by ammoniation or micro-storage, it has good palatability and high utilization rate, and micro-storage feed gives better feeding results.
Feeding forage alone cannot meet the nutritional needs of lambs, so a certain amount of concentrate must be supplemented. The proportion of concentrate can be gradually increased, and by the end of the adaptation period it should be increased to more than 40%. The composition of the concentrate must also be changed slowly, and the energy level of the diet should be gradually raised so that the lambs can adapt to feeding on a high-energy fattening diet.
Lambs should be fed multiple meals a day to prevent them from eating too much, which can cause bloating, feed refusal, or diarrhea. Generally, in the first few days, feed 5 to 6 times a day; after 3 to 7 days, change to 3 to 4 times; afterward, change to free feeding.
In addition to nutrition, lamb rearing and management should also pay attention to pen hygiene and timely disease prevention. Lambs have a relatively weak constitution and should be checked daily for timely detection. An important point is not to let lambs go into corners, as they are prone to catching cold there, accompanied by shivering, which may progress and possibly lead to death.