How to Increase Ewe Lambing Numbers? Master the Best Lambing Season and Postpartum Care Methods
Sheep are also called domestic sheep or white sheep. They are woolly, four-legged ruminants. Originally native to the mountains of the Northern Hemisphere, the male has large spiral horns, while the female has no horns or only small ones. So how do you increase ewe lambing numbers? In which season are the lambs born best? How should postpartum care be handled?
How to increase ewe lambing numbers?
1. Do a good job of breed selection and breeding. Reproductive capacity is hereditary, and different breeds have different reproductive capacities. To improve reproductive capacity, you must introduce prolific traits through crossbreeding improvement, or select prolific variations, so as to fundamentally improve the production performance of the flock. At the same time, a sound breeding registration system and improved-breed propagation system must be established.
2. Select excellent breeding sheep. Excellent breeding rams have good body condition, abundant energy, short and round thick necks, a sturdy constitution, a rectangular body, deep and broad chests, straight backs and loins, broad, wide and full rumps, testicles of moderate size and symmetrical left and right, a sheath opening relatively far from the base of the scrotum, and good semen quality. Any sheep with a single testicle, cryptorchidism, or any reproductive organ deformity must not be used for breeding. Breeding ewes, on the other hand, should be selected for large individual size, a compact body shape, full muscles, elastic skin, a deep and broad chest, straight back and loins, a slightly larger hind abdomen, straight limbs with a wide stance, fast growth and development, a high meat yield, many lambs born, a soft spherical udder, good lactation performance, a quick mind, lively movement, light and brisk walking, a held-high head, and glossy coat color.
3. Optimize the flock structure. Female goats generally do not exceed 6 to 8 years of age. As for the overall flock structure ratio, it is best for breedable ewes to account for 47%, replacement ewes and sheep born that year to account for 50%, and breeding rams to account for 3%. In addition, besides replacing the breeding ram once a year to prevent inbreeding, the culling of old, diseased, weak, and chronically infertile sheep must also be strengthened, so as to ensure that sheep of the appropriate age account for more than 70% of the total flock. Only in this way can stable and high yields be achieved.
4. Strengthen feeding management. In winter, most ewes are in late gestation, and combined with the severe cold, grazing should therefore be steady, with an appropriate amount of exercise. Farms and households with the conditions should appropriately supplement some high-quality hay and concentrate feed.
In which season are the lambs born best?
1. Spring is the season when ewes lamb relatively concentratedly, but due to the influence of many factors such as early spring temperatures, the survival rate of lambs is difficult to guarantee. Therefore, for the vast number of sheep farmers, doing a good job of ewe delivery and lambing work and lamb management plays an important role in maintaining ewe health, improving the survival rate of young lambs, and promoting the healthy growth of lambs.
2. Signs of ewe delivery. When a ewe is about to give birth, she mainly shows four changes. First, changes in the udder: a small amount of clear gelatinous fluid or a small amount of colostrum can be squeezed from the teats, and the teats enlarge and thicken. Second, changes in the external genitalia: the labia gradually become soft, swollen, and enlarged, the wrinkles on the labia skin unfold, and the skin becomes slightly red. The vaginal mucosa is flushed, the mucus changes from thick and sticky to thin and slippery, and urination is frequent. Third, changes in the pelvis: the pubic symphysis of the pelvis, the joints, and the ligaments on both sides of the pelvis become more mobile, and the flank hollows are noticeably sunken. When you hold the tail root and move it up and down with your hand, you feel that the sacrum moves upward with greater amplitude. Fourth, changes in behavior: the ewe is restless, has reduced appetite, lies down and gets up from time to time, keeps straining and bleating, and obvious sinking of the abdomen is a typical sign of imminent delivery, so she should be moved into the delivery pen immediately.
How should postpartum care for ewes be handled?
Postpartum ewes should be kept warm, protected from dampness, sheltered from wind, guarded against colds, and kept resting quietly. In the first few days after giving birth, they should be given good-quality, easily digestible feed, and the amount should not be too much. After three days, the feed can be changed to normal. After the lamb is born, the lamb should be made to suckle colostrum as soon as possible. Thin and weak lambs, or ewes giving birth for the first time, as well as ewes with poor mothering ability, need manual assistance in nursing. If the ewe is sick or has insufficient milk due to multiple lambs in one litter, a foster ewe should be found to nurse them. Some ewes, due to factors such as genetics, immunity, nutrition, and environment, as well as whether the birth was smooth or not, often have newborn lambs showing some disease symptoms shortly after birth. Therefore, preventive measures should be actively taken, such as doing a good job of selecting the ram and ewe at mating, strengthening the feeding management of ewes during gestation, and paying attention to the environmental hygiene of the livestock shed and the individual hygiene of the lambs, so as to reduce the occurrence of disease and improve the reproductive survival rate of lambs.