How to Improve Lamb Survival Rate? A Detailed Guide to Practical Feeding and Management Methods
How to improve the survival rate of lambs?
(Agricultural Wealth Network) How to improve the survival rate of lambs?
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Strengthen supplementary feeding of lactating ewes. Lambs rely mainly on breast milk for growth during the first 8 weeks after birth. Supplementary feeding of ewes is mainly done in late gestation and during lactation, lasting about four months. For supplementary feeding, choose high-quality hay or concentrate. Each day, feed 1.5 kg of hay (alfalfa or wild hay is best), 1.5 kg of silage, and 0.45 kg of concentrate. Within 3 days after lambing, if the ewe is in good body condition, concentrate may be temporarily withheld and only high-quality hay given, to prevent indigestion or mastitis.
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Do a good job of lamb feeding and management. Lambs should drink enough colostrum from 1 to 3 days after birth. For weak lambs and those whose mothers have poor mothering ability, manual assistance with feeding is needed. The method is: hold the ewe firmly, push the lamb to the ewe's udder to suckle. Within 7 days after birth, do not take the ewe and lamb outside the shed to windy places; after 7 days, the ewe may appropriately go outside the shed to graze. When lambs are 15 to 20 days old, train them to eat grass. At half a month of age, supplement with mixed feed at 50 g/day to 75 g/day; at 1 to 2 months of age, supplement with 100 g/day; at 2 to 3 months of age, supplement with 200 g/day; at 3 to 4 months of age, supplement with 250 g/day. The mixed feed should preferably consist of beans, soybean cake, corn, etc., and it is best not to use cottonseed cake. Hay such as alfalfa, peanut vines, and willow leaves is best, and the hay should be chopped. Feed concentrate first, then roughage, and also appropriately add green feed, while ensuring adequate drinking water. Lambs are generally weaned at 4 months of age, mostly using the one-time weaning method, that is, separating mother and lamb and no longer keeping them together.
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Do a good job of lamb disease prevention and control. Within one week after birth, lambs are most susceptible to dysentery. Lamb dysentery is an acute intestinal infectious disease with severe diarrhea and neurological symptoms, and a high mortality rate. Comprehensive measures should be taken to prevent and control this disease.
1. Strengthen feeding and management of ewes, especially pregnant ewes. Do a good job of fattening in summer and autumn and maintaining body condition in winter and early spring, so as to ensure that the lambs born are robust, that milk supply is sufficient, and that the lambs' resistance is enhanced.
2. The sheep shed must be kept warm in winter and spring. Pay attention to sudden changes in temperature. The temperature inside the shed must not be too low, and the sheep shed should be kept dry.
3. Before the ewe nurses, the dirty wool around her udder should be clipped, and a few drops of colostrum should be milked out before letting the lamb suckle. After birth, the lamb should be allowed to suckle breast milk promptly, which can enhance its immunity.
4. Begin feeding oxytetracycline within 12 hours after the lamb is born, 0.15 g to 0.2 g per lamb each time, once daily, for 3 consecutive days, which can have a preventive effect.
5. Observe lambs promptly so that disease can be discovered in time. Once discovered, isolate them immediately and provide careful nursing and treatment; sheep shed manure and bedding straw must be burned; contaminated environments, tools, and the like should be sprayed and disinfected with 3% to 5% Lysol water.
6. For sick lambs, drug treatment should be combined with nursing. Commonly used drug prescriptions include: (1) Sulfaguanidine 0.5 g, tannalbin 0.2 g, bismuth subnitrate 0.2 g, sodium bicarbonate 0.1 g, mixed with water and fed orally, 3 times daily, for 3 to 4 consecutive days for recovery. (2) Oxytetracycline 0.2 g to 0.3 g, mixed with water and fed orally, 2 times daily; at the early stage of disease, penicillin and streptomycin may each be used at 200,000 units by intramuscular injection. (3) For lambs with abdominal pain and continuous drooling, 0.05% atropine sulfate 0.2 mL to 0.3 mL may be injected subcutaneously, and the dosage must be strictly controlled during injection. For severely dehydrated sick lambs, 20 mL to 30 mL of glucose saline may be injected intravenously. (4) Garlic bulbs 20 g to 25 g, peeled, washed, and mashed, administered orally with water, 2 times daily, for 3 consecutive days. (5) Lactic acid 30 mL to 50 mL, with 50 g brown sugar added, administered orally, 2 to 3 times daily, until recovery. (6) Use 15 g of dried poplar flowers decocted into 15 mL of juice (single oral dose), taken 1 to 2 times daily.
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A top female farmer in breeding, truly deserving of her reputation.
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Strengthen supplementary feeding of lactating ewes. Lambs rely mainly on breast milk for growth during the first 8 weeks after birth. Supplementary feeding of ewes is mainly done in late gestation and during lactation, lasting about four months. For supplementary feeding, choose high-quality hay or concentrate. Each day, feed 1.5 kg of hay (alfalfa or wild hay is best), 1.5 kg of silage, and 0.45 kg of concentrate. Within 3 days after lambing, if the ewe is in good body condition, concentrate may be temporarily withheld and only high-quality hay given, to prevent indigestion or mastitis.
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Do a good job of lamb feeding and management. Lambs should drink enough colostrum from 1 to 3 days after birth. For weak lambs and those whose mothers have poor mothering ability, manual assistance with feeding is needed. The method is: hold the ewe firmly, push the lamb to the ewe's udder to suckle. Within 7 days after birth, do not take the ewe and lamb outside the shed to windy places; after 7 days, the ewe may appropriately go outside the shed to graze. When lambs are 15 to 20 days old, train them to eat grass. At half a month of age, supplement with mixed feed at 50 g/day to 75 g/day; at 1 to 2 months of age, supplement with 100 g/day; at 2 to 3 months of age, supplement with 200 g/day; at 3 to 4 months of age, supplement with 250 g/day. The mixed feed should preferably consist of beans, soybean cake, corn, etc., and it is best not to use cottonseed cake. Hay such as alfalfa, peanut vines, and willow leaves is best, and the hay should be chopped. Feed concentrate first, then roughage, and also appropriately add green feed, while ensuring adequate drinking water. Lambs are generally weaned at 4 months of age, mostly using the one-time weaning method, that is, separating mother and lamb and no longer keeping them together.
--------------------------------------
Do a good job of lamb disease prevention and control. Within one week after birth, lambs are most susceptible to dysentery. Lamb dysentery is an acute intestinal infectious disease with severe diarrhea and neurological symptoms, and a high mortality rate. Comprehensive measures should be taken to prevent and control this disease.
1. Strengthen feeding and management of ewes, especially pregnant ewes. Do a good job of fattening in summer and autumn and maintaining body condition in winter and early spring, so as to ensure that the lambs born are robust, that milk supply is sufficient, and that the lambs' resistance is enhanced.
2. The sheep shed must be kept warm in winter and spring. Pay attention to sudden changes in temperature. The temperature inside the shed must not be too low, and the sheep shed should be kept dry.
3. Before the ewe nurses, the dirty wool around her udder should be clipped, and a few drops of colostrum should be milked out before letting the lamb suckle. After birth, the lamb should be allowed to suckle breast milk promptly, which can enhance its immunity.
4. Begin feeding oxytetracycline within 12 hours after the lamb is born, 0.15 g to 0.2 g per lamb each time, once daily, for 3 consecutive days, which can have a preventive effect.
5. Observe lambs promptly so that disease can be discovered in time. Once discovered, isolate them immediately and provide careful nursing and treatment; sheep shed manure and bedding straw must be burned; contaminated environments, tools, and the like should be sprayed and disinfected with 3% to 5% Lysol water.
6. For sick lambs, drug treatment should be combined with nursing. Commonly used drug prescriptions include: (1) Sulfaguanidine 0.5 g, tannalbin 0.2 g, bismuth subnitrate 0.2 g, sodium bicarbonate 0.1 g, mixed with water and fed orally, 3 times daily, for 3 to 4 consecutive days for recovery. (2) Oxytetracycline 0.2 g to 0.3 g, mixed with water and fed orally, 2 times daily; at the early stage of disease, penicillin and streptomycin may each be used at 200,000 units by intramuscular injection. (3) For lambs with abdominal pain and continuous drooling, 0.05% atropine sulfate 0.2 mL to 0.3 mL may be injected subcutaneously, and the dosage must be strictly controlled during injection. For severely dehydrated sick lambs, 20 mL to 30 mL of glucose saline may be injected intravenously. (4) Garlic bulbs 20 g to 25 g, peeled, washed, and mashed, administered orally with water, 2 times daily, for 3 consecutive days. (5) Lactic acid 30 mL to 50 mL, with 50 g brown sugar added, administered orally, 2 to 3 times daily, until recovery. (6) Use 15 g of dried poplar flowers decocted into 15 mL of juice (single oral dose), taken 1 to 2 times daily.
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A top female farmer in breeding, truly deserving of her reputation.