How to choose the season and the animals for short-term fattening of meat sheep
The nutritional value of mutton is high: the protein content of meat sheep is as high as 8%-9.5%, and the digestibility after human consumption is as high as over 90%. Mutton can provide a large amount of heat energy, more than 2 times that of pork. Therefore, mutton has long been favored by consumers.
The autumn short-term fattening of meat sheep refers to housing commercial sheep and adding high-quality forage for fattening 3 months before sale, so as to improve the individual weight, slaughter rate and economic benefits of commercial sheep. It is an effective measure introduced as follows.
1. Make good preparations before fattening. Whether the short-term fattening of meat sheep achieves obvious results depends crucially on the preparations before fattening. At least the following preparations should be made:
1. Preparation of sheep sheds. Because housing is required, sheep sheds must be available, with a stocking density of 0.4—0.5 sq m per sheep, which helps limit sheep movement and increase the fattening effect. The site of the sheep shed should be chosen in a place convenient for ventilation, drainage, lighting, shelter from wind and facing the sun, and close to grazing land and feed warehouses.
2. Preparation of forage and feed. Forage and feed are the foundation of sheep fattening. During the entire fattening period, each sheep should be prepared with 2—2.5 kg of hay per day, or 3—5 kg of silage, or 3—5 kg of ammoniated feed, etc.; concentrate should be prepared at 0.3—0.4 kg per sheep per day.
3. Selection of the fattening season. Because mutton is mostly used for mutton hot pot, and “mutton hot pot” is mostly eaten in winter and spring, the market demand for mutton is greatest in winter and spring, and it is more suitable for commercial sheep to be marketed in winter. Therefore, the best fattening season for meat sheep is autumn. Moreover, the temperature in this season is suitable, and pasture grass and crop straw are abundant, which is conducive to the rapid growth and sale of meat sheep.
4. Selection of sheep for fattening. Generally speaking, the sheep used for fattening should be lambs and young sheep of the same year, followed by culled sheep and aged sheep. After selecting the fattening sheep, the following work should be done:
(1) Deworming: because internal and external parasites of sheep are very common, they will seriously affect the normal growth of goats.
(2) Castration: male sheep used for fattening that have not been castrated must be castrated, because castrated male sheep are docile in temperament, have good meat quality and gain weight quickly.
(3) Weigh regularly and keep records: that is, weigh the fattening sheep before and after fattening, so as to evaluate the fattening effect and summarize experience and lessons.
2. Master the principles of feeding management.
1. Master the ratio of roughage to concentrate. Although sheep can make full use of roughage, in order to increase the daily weight gain during the fattening period, a certain amount of high-energy feed must be provided. An appropriate ratio of concentrate to roughage can not only provide energy, but also meet protein needs, and also maintain normal rumen activity and ensure the health of sheep. Therefore, concentrate is suitable at 1/3 of the daily ration.
2. Protein level. The proportion of protein in the sheep's daily ration should be about 8%.
3. Feeding amount and feeding method. The feeding amount of sheep should be determined according to their feed intake: feed as much as they eat. Their feed intake is related to the breed, age, sex, physique of the sheep and the palatability and moisture of the feed. The greater the feed intake of sheep, the higher their daily weight gain. The daily intake of sheep for hay is 2—2.5 kg, for fresh green grass is 3—4 kg, and for concentrate is 0.3—0.4 kg. The feeding method is to feed concentrate first, then hay or roughage, and finally drinking water. Forage should be added at any time to maintain the sheep's strong appetite and increase their feed intake.
4. Daily management methods. This mainly means reducing sheep movement as much as possible and lowering consumption, so that all the nutrients absorbed by the sheep are used for weight gain. For autumn fattening, at noon the sheep can be let out to bask in the sun or graze nearby for a short time.
Short-term fattening must supplement concentrate, and a reasonable concentrate combination can achieve the effect of using less feed and gaining weight quickly.
It should be noted that seed-type feed should not be ground too fine, so as to avoid dust being inhaled into the lungs by sheep and affecting health. In addition, when combining concentrate with green hay, it is best to add silage separately to supplement the need for vitamins, or appropriately add compound vitamins and trace elements.