What are the advantages of using a fermentation bed for raising sheep in winter?
In recent years, in response to the national policy of "ecological environmental protection and returning farmland to forest," most sheep farmers have begun to change their farming model, shifting from the previous extensive free-range model to an environmentally friendly barn feeding model. However, the barn feeding model also has shortcomings: it restricts the sheep's activity space, reduces the sheep's fertility rate and disease resistance, and so on. Therefore, in order to improve this farming model, the national government advocates dry-scatter fermentation bed farming, which has a good insulation effect, effectively buffers the stimulation of temperature changes on the sheep, helps prevent diseases, promotes the sheep to be strong and healthy and grow quickly, and can also save labor and improve farming efficiency.
1. Warm and comfortable, improving fertility rate
(1) In winter the weather is cold, and the ground temperature is low and damp. Breeding ewes carrying lambs have their bellies in contact with the ground for long periods, exposed to the invasion of cold air, which easily causes miscarriage or stillbirth.
(2) In winter the weather is cold, and newborn lambs have weak constitutions. If they are not cared for in time and stay for long periods in crude barns, the lambs may suffer frostbite or freeze to death, greatly reducing the survival rate of the lambs. Therefore, to ensure a safe winter, farmers need to repair the barns in advance and hang straw curtains on doors and windows, which involves a huge amount of work. The dry-scatter fermentation bed is divided into a protective layer, a core layer and a bottom layer. The protective layer refers to the top 5 cm of the fermentation bed, mainly protecting the microbial strains of the fermentation bed within a relatively stable range, with temperatures reaching over 20 degrees. The bottom layer is the lowest 10 cm, whose main function is to separate part of the fermentation bed from the ground, blocking external factors such as excessively damp ground. It completely changes the traditional situation of raising pigs, in which pigs live on cold concrete floors; instead they sleep on soft and comfortable bedding, growing quickly without disease.
2. Helps prevent diseases and strengthen the constitution
(1) Green grass is rich in vitamins and various trace elements, but in winter green grass is scarce, and sheep mainly feed on straw. Straw contains large amounts of lignin and crude fiber, has poor palatability and a low absorption rate (the absorption rate of green straw in summer is 60%-70%, and the absorption rate of yellow straw in winter is 40%-50%). In addition, the activity space in the barn is limited and there is a lack of exercise. Therefore, in winter the sheep's constitution weakens, the body becomes thin, and resistance declines, which greatly increases the occurrence of disease. The core fermentation layer of the dry-scatter fermentation bed has the function of decomposing manure; more than 95% of the manure and urine are completed in this area, converted into nutrients such as sugars, proteins, organic acids and vitamins that can be eaten by the sheep. The sheep can effectively take in nutrients by feeding, supplementing the nutrients lacking in a single intake.
(2) The functional bacteria in the fermentation bed bedding contain various beneficial microorganisms such as crude protein and bacterial protein. After being eaten by the sheep, they can help maintain body condition while enhancing their own resistance.
3. Saves labor, clean and comfortable environment
Because barn feeding itself weakens the sheep's constitution, and the space for barn feeding is limited, diseases spread easily. Therefore, keeping the barn clean and comfortable is very important, but cleaning up sheep manure and disinfecting the barn is both time-consuming and laborious, especially in winter, when cleaning the barn is even more difficult. With the Jinbaobei dry-scatter fermentation bed, an environmentally friendly sheep-raising model, the problem of manure treatment no longer exists. The sheep manure has already been decomposed and transformed by beneficial functional bacteria, so there is no need to flush the pen with water or manually clean up the manure. Not only does it avoid pollution from manure and sewage, it can also greatly save water fees and labor costs. The sheep live in an odorless and fresh environment, which is more conducive to rapid and healthy growth.