A Detailed Explanation of Meat Sheep Fattening Methods and Technical Key Points

Meat sheep farming has always been a relatively important type of meat production in China, with high demand throughout all four seasons. In order to raise high-yielding meat sheep, farmers have tried every possible method, but in fact, fattening meat sheep requires a comprehensive approach combining multiple aspects. Below, let us look together with Qinnong Network at which aspects need to be addressed together for the best fattening results.

1. Breed Selection Direction

This is the primary condition for farming. There are now many breeds of sheep, some leaning toward disease resistance, some toward adaptability, some toward high lambing rates, and some toward meat production, so when selecting breeds, everyone must choose varieties with good fattening results. When selecting sheep, there is no need to choose overly active lambs; gentle and quiet ones are preferable, as they are easier to fatten and consume less energy in daily activities. Lambs that tend to huddle together are a very good choice.

2. Feeding and Feed

When feeding, it depends on your farming model. For grazing, a certain amount of concentrated feed needs to be supplemented in both morning and evening. Concentrated feed should be mainly high in protein and energy. When feeding concentrated feed, some forage can be appropriately left so that the meat sheep can eat at night. For penned housing, emphasis should be placed on multiple meals in small amounts; sheep do not have a very strong absorption capacity, so feeding more frequently is more conducive to nutrient absorption and fattening. Feed should be a mixed feed; 30% concentrated feed plus 50% roughage plus 10% protein feed plus 10% fresh forage is a relatively suitable ratio for feeding. Water should be provided with every feeding, and warm water must be given in winter.

3. Farming Methods

During farming, sheep must be raised separately by type. Meat sheep at different stages have different requirements in all aspects, and fattening results are better after separation. Young lambs place more emphasis on forage in the early stage, while growing sheep mainly rely on feed for fattening results, and the feeding amounts for the two differ greatly. Raising them together easily leads to both being unable to fatten well. Secondly, for fattening results, it is recommended to implement penned housing quickly, as this facilitates management and can effectively reduce the energy consumption of meat sheep, making the fattening results better.

4. Daily Management

Raising meat sheep is very prone to disease outbreaks. After disease occurs, meat sheep generally show signs of becoming thinner and not eating, which seriously affects fattening results. Moreover, data shows that the level of cleanliness and hygiene in the sheep shed affects the fattening speed of meat sheep to a certain proportion. During daily observation, for meat sheep that eat less, some medication that aids digestion can be fed, simply mixed into the feed. Everyone should also keep one point firmly in mind: the fattening speed of forage generally cannot match that of feed, and the cost difference between the two is very small, so when rapidly fattening meat sheep, forage must still be a supplementary source of nutrition, while feed is the main product.

Fattening meat sheep must be carried out simultaneously across all aspects; it is by no means something that can achieve good results by relying on any single feed alone. If only feed is considered while other issues are ignored, in the end everyone will find that the results are not as good as imagined, and may even decline instead.