How to improve lamb survival rates? These key points you need to know

The survival rate of lambs directly affects the economic benefits of the year. Only when lambs are raised well can the whole flock achieve a virtuous cycle. The experience and insights on improving lamb survival rates are shared as follows:

I. Ensure timely intake of colostrum

1. Make good preparations before lambing. Lambing in March each year falls at the turn of winter and spring, when the climate is cold. Since newborn lambs have poor thermoregulation ability, heating lamps and other methods should be used to ensure the lambing room is warm. The lambing room must be strictly disinfected before use; maintain good ventilation.

2. Ensure timely intake of colostrum. Before the ewe nurses the lamb after giving birth, the ewe's udder should be washed with warm water, and it must be ensured that the lamb receives colostrum within 30 minutes after birth. If there are multiple lambs in one litter, when taking them out to nurse, the weak and small lambs should be fed first, followed by the strong and large ones, to ensure every lamb can get colostrum.

3. Pay attention to sanitation inside and outside the shed. Do a good job of sanitary management of the sheep shed and its surrounding environment. Change bedding frequently and keep the sheep shed dry. When sick lambs are found, isolate them promptly and do not let lambs come into contact with sick ones.

II. Prevention of common lamb diseases

1. Prevention of white muscle disease. During pregnancy, feed ewes a dedicated trace element premix. On sheep farms prone to white muscle disease, about 20 days after birth, lambs should be injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly with 1 milliliter of 0.2% sodium selenite VE liquid, and after an interval of 20 days, inject another 1.5 milliliters. A pilot test should be done before use to avoid blind application.

2. Contagious ecthyma. Promptly remove feed with awns or hard sharp parts, and provide lambs with finely ground forage, and do not graze young sheep in hard-grass areas. In epidemic seasons, add an appropriate amount of trace elements and or salt to the sheep. In areas where this disease is prevalent, immunization can be carried out in February to March each year using contagious ecthyma attenuated cell freeze-dried vaccine; for lambs, a booster immunization is needed once after 3 months. In addition, use 0.1 to 0.2% potassium permanganate solution to rinse the lips, then apply iodine glycerin and so on for prevention.

3. Lamb dysentery. Inject ewes with the triple vaccine and tetanus vaccine before pregnancy or in late pregnancy, and inject sheep after 15 days of age with the triple vaccine and tetanus vaccine. Regardless of the size of the animal, each sheep is vaccinated with 1.0ml, twice a year. Lambs can be given oxytetracycline by mouth, plus pepsin, twice daily, for prevention. 4. Contagious pleuropneumonia of sheep. Keep the sheep shed ventilated, dry, warm and clean; pay attention to weather changes, reduce stress, do a good job of cold protection and warmth in winter and spring, prevent cold wind invasion, and in summer prevent wind exposure and rain after sweating; goat contagious pleuropneumonia inactivated vaccine, injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly on the side of the neck; sheep mycoplasma pneumoniae inactivated vaccine, injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly on the side of the neck. Zhang Zhibin