Practical Tips for Professional Sheep Farms to Reduce Breeding Costs
The current live sheep market price is unpredictable. A while ago, sheep prices in some areas had just shown an upward trend, and recently it is said that prices have fallen again, making it difficult for sheep farmers to grasp, especially some small-scale farmers, who are already short of funds, and find it even harder to withstand price fluctuations.
Reducing breeding costs as much as possible is a link that sheep farmers must consider. Professional farms are relatively better off in all aspects, with their own technical teams and management teams, able to respond to market risks in a timely manner and reduce breeding costs, minimizing risks as much as possible. Small-scale farmers are worse off in all aspects, so learning from the practices of professional farms is not a bad idea!
So from which aspects should reducing breeding costs start?
One,Make full use of wheat straw and other stalks at home to make ammoniated feed or silage, which both avoids waste and saves feed costs. And you can selectively feed according to the different growth stages of the sheep.
Two,Rational selection of breeding stock. It is not about how many breeding sheep there are, but about quality. Timely cull, eliminate or sell off inferior breeding rams, so that the quality of the flock is improved. When necessary, you can learn artificial insemination techniques, which can greatly improve the utilization rate of breeding rams and reduce the number of animals raised. Isn't that saving money?
Three,Shorten the fattening period. It is advisable to use 2-3 months, and at the same time, flexibly control the fattening time according to the body condition of the fattening sheep. During the green grass period, in places with grassy slopes, adult sheep in poor condition can first be grazed, using green grass to restore the sheep's body condition, and then fattened, which can save feed and reduce costs.
Four,Self-breeding and self-raising. If you have breeding rams and breeding ewes of excellent breeds, you can breed and raise them yourself. As long as the breeding sheep are of good quality, is it possible that the sheep born cannot sell for a good price?
Five,Make full use of heterosis. Common crossbreeding models in China include two-way crossbreeding, three-way crossbreeding, backcrossing, terminal crossbreeding, etc. Taking two-way crossbreeding as an example, the hybrid offspring can absorb the advantages of the sire and the dam, and the method is simple and easy to carry out.
Six,The last point, which is also what sheep farmers should possess most: breeding technology! It is better to rely on yourself than on others. Set aside some time every day to recharge yourself, watch more, learn more, ask for advice more, and understand more common problems, such as: lamb delivery, identification of basic sheep diseases, what harms inbreeding has, and so on. These are all closely related to actual profits. Learning more will certainly do you no harm!