Which regions are suitable for raising Small-tailed Han sheep?
The Small-tailed Han sheep is a dual-purpose meat and fur sheep breed in our country, with breeding characteristics such as fast growth and development, early maturity, strong reproductive capacity, stable genetic performance, and strong adaptability. It has been designated by the state as a famous and improved livestock breed. It is not only one of the best projects for farmers to escape poverty and become prosperous, but also the most reliable project in government poverty alleviation work. Let us take a look below at where it is suitable to raise Small-tailed Han sheep!
Where is it suitable to raise Small-tailed Han sheep?
Although the Small-tailed Han sheep belongs to the Mongolian sheep line, because it has developed the habit of “shed feeding and pen raising” in the southwestern Shandong region over thousands of years, natural conditions such as sunlight, rain, and severe cold can all be regulated by the shed, and it is rarely affected by regional climate factors. It can be raised all over the country. From Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia in the north to Guizhou and Yunnan in the south, it can grow, develop, and reproduce normally. Success has been achieved in all areas where raising does not violate the special living habits of the Small-tailed Han sheep.
Environmental conditions for raising Small-tailed Han sheep
The Small-tailed Han sheep is produced in southern Hebei, eastern and northeastern Henan, southern Shandong, and the northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu areas. It is mainly distributed in Caoxian, Wenshang, Liangshan and other counties in Shandong Province, as well as parts of northern Jiangsu, northern Anhui, and Henan. The production area has low terrain, fertile soil, and a mild climate. The annual average temperature is 13-15°C, January is -14-0°C, July is 24-29°C, annual precipitation is 500-900 mm, and the frost-free period is 160-240 days. The main production area is one of the main production areas of wheat, miscellaneous grains, and cash crops in our country. Crops can have two harvests a year or three harvests in two years, and agricultural by-products are abundant, providing a large amount of forage and feed for raising sheep.
Feeding and management techniques for Small-tailed Han sheep
1. Timely castration: Lambs used for fattening should generally be castrated within 1-3 weeks. Castration at this time helps improve meat quality, making the meat tender, reducing mutton odor, and making the sheep docile and easier to manage, and they should fatten easily.
2. Early weaning: The traditional weaning time for Small-tailed Han sheep is mostly at 3-4 months of age. According to experiments, lambs weaned at 60 days and 90 days of age, when fattened under the same conditions until 6 months of age, had average body weights and average daily gains that were basically close, with no significant difference. This shows that early weaning at 2 months of age is feasible. Weaning and fattening at 2 months of age helps the ewe mate earlier, increasing the breeding sheep from 3 lambings in 2 years to 2 lambings per year, thereby improving the reproductive rate, slaughter rate, and meat production of Small-tailed Han sheep.
3. Regular deworming: Lambs for fattening should be dewormed once after weaning and once in early autumn. Commonly used deworming drugs include nitroxynil, bithionol, and albendazole, administered orally at 4 mg, 35-75 mg, and 2.5-3 mg per kg of body weight, respectively.
4. Fine shed feeding: Change from the traditional extensive feeding method to a fine shed-feeding intensive fattening method, with reasonable matching of roughage and concentrate, so that lambs can be marketed in about half a year, which can significantly improve economic benefits. Specifically, a mixed feed of 35% green hay, 37% corn stalk powder, 5% soybean cake, 4% cotton cake, and 14% corn can be used. For weaned lambs fattened to 5-6 months of age, live weight can reach more than 40 kg, with average daily gain above 200 g.
5. Feeding additives
① Feeding sheep fattening compound feed: This additive is composed of trace elements iron, copper, manganese, zinc, selenium, rumen metabolism regulators, growth promoters, and substances that inhibit harmful microorganisms. It is suitable for fattening castrated lambs of the year and culled old sheep. With this additive, weight gain speed and feed conversion rate increased by 23.1% and 18.7%, respectively.
② Adding monensin: Its role is to control and improve rumen fermentation efficiency, so as to increase weight gain speed and feed conversion rate. Experiments have shown that for shed-fed Small-tailed Han sheep fed monensin, the daily gain increased by about 35% compared with the control group, and feed conversion rate increased by 27%. For Small-tailed Han sheep, add 25-30 mg of monensin per kg of daily ration. In practical application, the appropriate amount should be determined according to the composition of the daily ration, and it should be evenly mixed into the feed. The initial amount can be lower, then gradually increased.
③ Adding urea phosphate: Its role is to supplement nitrogen and phosphorus for ruminants. It is a new type of non-protein nitrogen feed additive. Adding about 10 g of urea phosphate per sheep per day increased average daily gain by 26.7%.
④ Adding bacitracin zinc antibacterial growth promoter: Its role is beneficial to livestock and helps the digestion and absorption of nutrients in the intestinal tract, improves feed utilization, and increases body weight. For lambs, add 10-20 mg per kg of mixed feed, mix evenly in the feed, and feed.
6. Timely slaughter: Small-tailed Han sheep have strong growth intensity in the early stage and slower growth in the later stage. If meat lambs are raised to over 1 year of age before slaughter, feeding costs are high and fat deposition is greater. Therefore, the best marketing period for rapid fattening of lambs should be 5-6 months of age.