How can farmers improve the economic benefits of raising sheep?

1. Choose excellent breeds according to local conditions and carry out crossbreeding and improvement. Good sheep breeds have a large body size, fast growth, high reproductive rate, strong adaptability, good meat quality, and high benefits. At present, the main ones include Boer goats, Saanen goats, Huanghuai goats, etc. Most goats raised by farmers today are mainly local breeds, which are small in size, slow-growing, and have a low slaughter rate, so the benefits are not high. To reverse this situation, Boer goats, Saanen goats, etc. should be introduced for crossbreeding and improvement. For example, when Boer goats are crossed with local goats, at 6 months of age they weigh nearly 10 kg more than local goats, which can significantly improve benefits.

2. The scale of sheep raising should be appropriate. The scale of household sheep raising should be based on one's means, and can be determined according to conditions such as the amount of existing cultivated land, the size of pasture, the quantity of forage and feed, labor, and the amount of funds invested. Generally, a scale of raising 15-25 breeding ewes is relatively moderate for specialized households.

3. Reform traditional raising habits

1. Change mixed-group grazing to single-group grazing. For lambs, graze them in single groups nearby according to their physiological characteristics and living traits, change extensive management to careful management, strengthen early cultivation, and enable lambs to feed well on milk, wean early, eat grass early, and receive supplementary feed early, so as to speed up growth and development.

2. Change pure grazing to a combination of grazing and supplementary feeding. During the winter and spring dry-grass period, it is difficult for the flock to meet its nutritional needs by grazing alone, so in winter and spring, practice half-day grazing and half-day supplementary feeding. This can not only prevent the sheep from consuming physical strength, but also achieve the purpose of maintaining body condition.

3. Change spring lambing to winter lambing. With winter lambing, the lambs' growth period in that same year reaches 10-11 months, which is very favorable for fattening after autumn and slaughtering in the winter of that same year. It can not only prevent sheep from losing condition over the winter, but also save manpower and material resources, speed up flock turnover, and improve economic benefits.

4. Change extensive feeding and management to fine feeding and management. First, seasonal grazing must be done well. In autumn, the weather is cool, and the hundred grasses set seed and have high nutritional value, making it the golden season for grazing. At this time, graze as much as possible and let the sheep eat more grass. In winter, the climate is cold, so graze as little as possible, only enough to achieve moderate exercise, and supplement high-quality hay and concentrate. In spring, the weather is cold and changeable, so let the sheep run less and eat more. In summer, the weather is hot and there are many mosquitoes and flies, so make use of both early morning and late afternoon to graze as much as possible. Second, make full use of green and concentrated feed produced by the farm household for supplementary feeding, especially for lambs, pregnant ewes, and breeding rams, which cannot meet their nutritional needs by grazing alone, so concentrate and forage must always be supplemented, with special attention to the supply of protein, minerals, vitamins, etc. Third, pay attention to supplying clean drinking water and improving environmental sanitation. Clean the sheep shed every day, wash the feed troughs and water troughs, and ensure that the sheep shed is warm in winter and cool in summer.

4. Regular deworming and medicated bathing

During the raising process, sheep are highly susceptible to internal and external parasites, causing slow growth and low resistance, and in severe cases even death. Therefore, sheep-raising households should carry out deworming and medicated bathing every year according to the prevalence of parasites. Usually, the first deworming is carried out in spring, mostly using levamisole or chongkexing, etc. to expel nematodes; after 5-7 days, use nitroxynil to expel nematodes once more, and then do it once again in autumn. Medicated bathing is carried out once each in spring and autumn every year, choosing clear and warm weather, with a water temperature of 35°C, using 0.5%-2% trichlorfon plus sulfur for bathing for 1-2 minutes.

5. Do a good job in disease prevention and control

For lamb dysentery, streptococcosis, brucellosis, foot-and-mouth disease, infectious pustular stomatitis, etc., which are relatively serious harms to sheep, vaccination and comprehensive prevention and control should be done well, and a reasonable immunization program should be strictly formulated and implemented.

(Source: Inner Mongolia Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Information Network)