What Do Dorper Sheep Eat? A Detailed Guide to Feed Formulas
The Dorper sheep originated in South Africa and was developed by crossing the Horned Dorset sheep with the Persian Blackhead sheep. It was initially bred and raised in the drier regions of South Africa, and is known for its strong adaptability, rapid early growth and development, and good carcass quality. Dorper sheep are divided into two types: White Dorper and Blackhead Dorper. Dorper sheep are mainly used for mutton production, and they can very effectively meet the requirements of mutton production in all respects.
Dorper sheep mainly eat the following types of feed:
Green forage
There are many kinds of green forage, including various weeds, various usable branches and leaves, as well as cultivated pasture grass, leafy vegetables, aquatic green forage, and so on. These include 1 green-fed corn and sorghum, 2 green-fed barley and oats, 3 ryegrass, 4 smooth brome, 5 alfalfa, 6 sweet clover, 7 Chinese milk vetch, etc., which can be fed directly, or made into hay or silage. Green forage is the basic feed for goats and is relatively economical.
Silage
1 green-cut corn with ears, 2 green corn stalks, 3 various green grasses. This is a feed made by chopping green, succulent feed, compacting and sealing it in a silage pit (tank) or plastic bag, and subjecting it to lactic acid fermentation. Silage is characterized by a sweet-and-sour odor, good palatability, rich nutrition, and easy storage. Sheep farms and specialized sheep-raising households can use it as an excellent winter feed for sheep. The stalks of crops such as barley and green corn, peanut vines, sweet potato vines, and various grass-family wild grasses and tree leaves can all be used as silage raw materials. Key points for silage raw materials: fine-stemmed pasture grass is suitable at 7-8 cm, and thicker stalks such as corn should preferably not exceed 1 cm. Dry roughage
1. Hay 2. Stalks (corn stalks, wheat straw, rice straw, millet straw, soybean stalks, etc.) 3. Chaff husks (bean pods, grain husks, cottonseed hulls, etc.). Dry roughage is an important feed during the housed or semi-housed period for goats. It includes green hay and the stalks, chaff husks, vines, etc. of various crops. This is the most abundant and lowest-cost feed resource. In order to fully and rationally utilize this type of roughage, scientific and reasonable processing and preparation methods must be adopted to improve its feeding value.
Concentrate feed
Concentrate feed mainly refers to the fruits of grass-family crops and legume-family crops and their processing by-products. Such as corn, barley, soybeans, bran, oilseed meal, etc. Concentrate feed has high digestible nutrients and is a necessary supplementary feed for mutton sheep, especially during pre-slaughter fattening and the winter-spring dry-grass season, when supplementary concentrate feed should be given even more attention.
Succulent feed
Mainly refers to root and tuber feeds such as carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, sugar beets, and pumpkins. It is characterized by high water content, low dry matter content, low crude fiber content, high vitamin content, and high digestibility, and is a good feed for mutton sheep in winter and spring.
Animal-based feed
Mainly refers to the general term for by-products of fish, meat, and dairy processing and other animal products. Commonly used ones include eggs, fish meal, meat-and-bone meal, blood meal, feather meal, silkworm pupae, whole milk, and skim milk, etc. Animal-based feed is a high-protein feed, generally containing more than 50% protein. Ruminant animals rarely use animal protein feed, but animal-based feed can be appropriately supplemented during the lactation of Boer goats, the peak mating period of breeding rams, and the fattening stage of crossbred sheep.
Mineral feed
Natural feed all contains mineral elements, but there are problems such as incomplete composition and inconsistent content. Therefore, during housed feeding, as well as for breeding ewes, breeding rams, and growing and developing lambs on pasture, some minerals should be appropriately supplemented. Calcium-containing mineral feeds include shell powder, stone powder, etc. Calcium- and phosphorus-containing mineral feeds mainly include bone meal and calcium phosphate types.
Dorper sheep feed formulas:
1. Lamb fattening feed formula. Corn 62%, bran 12%, soybean meal 8%, cottonseed meal 12%, stone powder 1.8%, calcium hydrogen phosphate 1.2%, urea 1%, salt 1%, premix 1%. This formula contains 18% crude protein and 12.94 MJ/kg digestible energy.
2. Housed intensive fattening concentrate formula. Early stage 20 days: corn 46%, bran 20%, cottonseed meal or rapeseed meal 30%, stone powder 1%, calcium hydrogen phosphate 1%, salt 1%, premix 1%. This formula contains 18.5% crude protein and 12.78 MJ/kg digestible energy. Middle stage 20 days: corn 55%, bran 16%, cottonseed meal or rapeseed meal 25%, stone powder 1%, calcium hydrogen phosphate 1%, salt 1%, premix 1%. This formula contains 16.8% crude protein and 13 MJ/kg digestible energy. Late stage 20 days: corn 66%, bran 10%, cottonseed meal or rapeseed meal 20%, stone powder 1%, calcium hydrogen phosphate 1%, salt 1%, premix 1%. This formula contains 15% crude protein and 13.2 MJ/kg digestible energy.
3. Selection of roughage. To improve fattening efficiency, natural pasture grass, stalks, tree leaves, agricultural by-products, and various scraps should be fully utilized. Fresh pasture grass, feed crops, and hay and silage made from these raw materials have good palatability and high nutritional value and can be fed directly. Low-quality roughage such as stalks, chaff husks, and pod husks should be processed and treated in order to obtain better feeding results. Recommended daily rations for mutton sheep are as follows.
Formula 1: grass-family hay or stalks 0.5 kg, silage corn 4 kg, concentrate 0.5 kg. This formula ration contains 40.6% dry matter, 4.12% crude protein, 0.24% calcium, 0.11% phosphorus, and 17.97 MJ/kg metabolizable energy.
Formula 2: grass-family hay or stalks 1 kg, silage corn 0.5 kg, concentrate 0.7 kg. This formula ration contains 84.55% dry matter, 7.59% crude protein, 0.6% calcium, 0.26% phosphorus, and 14.38 MJ/kg metabolizable energy.
For raising mutton sheep, it is best to use pelleted feed. Among this, stalks and hay meal can account for 55%-60%. Concentrate accounts for 35%-40%