Sharing Experience on Improving the Reproductive Rate of Organic Sheep
Differences in breed and nutritional conditions, temperature levels, and age of organic sheep all affect their reproductive rate and economic benefits. This article mainly introduces the measures that should be taken to improve the reproductive rate of organic sheep:
Measures to improve the reproductive rate of organic sheep: Differences in breed and nutritional conditions, temperature levels, and age of organic sheep all affect their reproductive rate and economic benefits. What measures should be taken to improve the reproductive rate of organic sheep?
1. Crossbreeding to promote multiple births. Introducing prolific breeds and crossbreeding prolific breeds with local breeds is the fastest, most effective, and simplest method to improve the reproductive rate. Use introduced excellent meat-type prolific breed rams to crossbreed with domestic fine breeds such as Small-tailed Han sheep, Hu sheep, Chinese Merino, and Northeast Fine-wool sheep to improve the reproductive rate of local sheep.
2. Select and retain prolific breeding sheep. The number of lambs born to ewes is influenced by heredity, and ewes bred from twin lambs have a higher probability of giving birth to twins. Selecting and retaining the offspring of ewes that gave birth to twins or more as breeding stock is an important way to improve the reproductive rate of organic sheep.
3. Breed prolific varieties. Breed more ewes with early sexual maturity, high lambing rate, year-round estrus, strong lactation performance, good maternal instincts, strong lamb-rearing ability, and strong disease resistance; as well as rams with fast growth speed, high feed utilization rate, strong adaptability, and good carcass quality.
4. Improve flock nutrition. Improving the nutritional status of rams and ewes is an effective way to improve the reproductive rate of sheep. By maintaining body condition year-round, ewes not only come into estrus uniformly but also ovulate more; short-term flushing of ewes before mating can increase the number of twin lambs. The nutritional level of breeding rams also affects the conception rate, lambing rate, birth weight, and weaning weight. Feeding rams and ewes with complete-value nutrients results in higher conception rates and lambing rates, and greater lamb birth weights.
5. Retain more ewes of suitable age. Having ewes of reproductive age account for more than 60% of the flock is an important way to improve the reproductive rate of the flock. If the proportion of wethers (castrated male sheep) is too high, it is not conducive to improving the reproductive rate of the flock. Although wethers can produce wool, they should be slaughtered promptly after autumn fattening; otherwise, after winter their body weight will drop significantly, causing waste of forage, feed, and labor, which is very uneconomical. If the proportion of ewes is large and there are many ewes of reproductive age, the reproductive rate of the flock can be improved, reproduction can be expanded, and economic benefits can be increased. Old ewes over 7 years of age should be gradually culled according to circumstances, and young ewes should be added each year so that the number of ewes of suitable age continues to expand.
6. Strengthen feeding management. (1) Breeding rams. The supplemental feed for breeding rams should be easy to digest, small in volume, good in quality, and good in palatability. Feed less roughage and succulent feed and more concentrate to promote a strong physique, abundant energy, strong libido, and breeding condition. In addition, it is best to supplement each breeding ram with 10 grams of calcium phosphate per day, which affects sperm production and vitality. (2) Ewes. Reasonable feeding can ensure normal estrus in sheep, improve the conception rate and lambing rate, and produce healthy lambs. In the early stages of pregnancy (about 3 months), generally no supplemental feeding is needed. By the last two months of pregnancy, the fetus grows quickly, so concentrate should be added at this time. During pregnancy, sufficient exercise is needed, which is beneficial to the ewe's health and fetal development. Feed must not be frosted or moldy, and drinking ice water or overly cold water should be avoided. Attention should be paid to the nursing work when sheep are lambing.
7. Early weaning to induce estrus. Using techniques such as artificial milk and artificial lamb rearing for early weaning of lambs can shorten the ewe's lactation period and bring the ewe into estrus earlier. During the anestrus period of ewes, using hormones and biological treatments and other measures to induce normal estrus and mating in ewes can shorten the ewe's reproductive cycle and improve the reproductive rate of sheep. First carry out early weaning of lambs, then treat the ewes with progesterone. After stopping the drug, inject 600-1100 international units of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (a glycoprotein hormone) subcutaneously, which can induce estrus and multiple ovulation; regulate the photoperiod to shorten daylight, achieving the purpose of estrus and ovulation. Before the normal mating season, mix rams and ewes together to advance the mating season and shorten the time from postpartum to ovulation and mating, so as to improve the reproductive rate of ewes.
8. Cull inferior ewes. Ewes that fail to conceive in the first year should be examined to find the cause and overcome it. If they still fail to conceive in the second year, they should be culled. Ewes that gave birth to dead lambs in the first year also have a higher proportion of dead lambs afterward and should also be culled.
The above are the methods introduced for improving the reproductive rate of organic sheep. We hope this breeding technique will be helpful to everyone.