What to Do When a Ewe Has Insufficient Milk? Take Preventive Measures in Advance

Causes of Insufficient Milk

1. Poor breed quality. The quality of goat breeds raised by farmers varies greatly. Most first-time ewes with insufficient milk have drooping udders, short teats, fleshy udders, or poor development on one side of the udder.

2. Backward feeding and management methods, inadequate postpartum care, and low nutritional levels.

Prevention Methods

1. Select Good Breeding Sheep

Overall, a ewe should have a small head and wide forehead, a slender and long neck, a straight back, a broad and long rump that is not too sloping, a well-developed abdomen, slender and strong limbs with no bad leg posture, and fine, glossy hair. The udder should be round and hemispherical both top and bottom, broadly and deeply attached, large in volume, with thin and elastic skin; the hair on the udder should be short and sparse with no coarse long hair; the teats should be medium-sized and pointing forward; the mammary glands should be well developed, with thick milk veins and a broad, deep milk mirror.

2. Strengthen Daily Management

① Scientific feeding. Sheep should be fed and watered at regular times. Follow the principles of feeding roughage first and concentrate afterward, feeding dry feed first and wet feed afterward, and feeding feed first and watering afterward. Within a certain period, the feed should remain relatively stable, without arbitrary changes; do not feed sheep spoiled, rotten, or toxic feed. At the same time, a certain amount of minerals and vitamins should be supplemented in the daily ration.

② Provide enough fresh, clean water. Water has a direct impact on the health and milk production of ewes. A first-time ewe needs a daily water intake of about 10%-12% of her body weight. Therefore, ewes that have just given birth must be supplied with sufficient drinking water to meet the needs of body consumption and milk production.

③ Increase light duration and maintain suitable temperature and humidity in the sheep shed. Increasing light duration can stimulate milk production. In summer, attention should be paid to heat prevention and cooling; electric fans can be installed in the shed so that the shed temperature does not exceed 30°C and humidity does not exceed 70%. In winter, attention should be paid to cold prevention and warmth; the shed temperature should reach above 8°C and humidity should be around 55%.

④ Do a good job in disease prevention and control. Carry out epidemic prevention according to the immunization program, and promptly prevent and treat mastitis and external parasitic diseases.

3. Do a Good Job in Postpartum Care

① Use a disinfected clean towel soaked in warm water to wipe the udder and teats, and use both hands to squeeze the teats.

② Before and after birth, grind soybeans into slurry, add warm water, and feed it to the sheep; the milk-promoting effect is good.

③ Inject drugs that are both antibacterial and milk-promoting, such as Chanbao.

4. Ensure Sufficient Nutrition

① Grass should be the main feed. Sheep feed should be mainly grass, with appropriate supplementation of concentrate. The roughage in the daily ration should be no less than 60%, and concentrate should be no more than 40%. Follow five principles: 1. Variety. Feed should be as rich and diverse as possible, with a reasonable mix of green, rough, and concentrate feed. Green feed, roughage, and mixed concentrate should include 5 types (including 2 legume types), 2 types, and more than 3 types respectively. 2. Quality assurance. Feed quality should be good and fresh; forage grass must not carry dew (rain, etc.). 3. Sufficient quantity. Each adult sheep should receive 4-5 kg of green feed, 1-2 kg of roughage, and more than 0.5 kg of mixed concentrate per day. 4. Complete nutrition. The crude protein in the daily ration should reach 10%-14%, crude fiber should be controlled within 20%, and mineral feed (or additional lick blocks) should be added to the daily ration. 5. Stable supply. Green and rough feed must be supplied evenly throughout the year; when changing feed, change from less to more and make a gradual transition.

② In late gestation, the fetus grows and develops rapidly in the mother's body, with about 80%-90% of fetal weight formed in late gestation, so sufficient nutrition must be supplied. If nutrition is insufficient, lambs will have low birth weight, low survival rate, and the ewe's milk production capacity will decline. In addition to grazing, supplement with 0.5-1.0 kg of wild hay, 1 kg of silage, and 0.5-1.0 kg of concentrate. The concentrate formula is 52% corn, 25% soybean cake, 18% bran, and 1% each of salt, stone powder, bone meal, baking soda, and premix.