Routine Management Methods and Technical Points for Meat Dogs
1 Kennel Environment
The kennel must be cleaned every day. Remove the feces and damp bedding from the kennel and replace it with fresh dry hay. Carry out a thorough cleaning once a month and disinfect; carry out thorough disinfection twice a year in spring and autumn. After washing the interior with clean water and letting it dry, bring the dogs back inside. Collect the feces and bedding material in one place and burn or bury them deep.
The kennel must have good ventilation and sunlight exposure; keep the air inside fresh and not damp.
Maintain suitable temperature and humidity. Temperature changes inside the kennel should be relatively gradual; within a certain range the body can adjust appropriately. However, when changes are too great or too sudden, they will have adverse effects on the body. The standard temperature inside the kennel: 13-15°C in winter, 21-24°C in summer. Strengthen insulation measures in winter; in summer, prevent heatstroke and lower the temperature, because dogs' sweat glands are not well developed, so cooling is very important. The humidity inside the kennel should be kept at 50%-60%.
Feeding utensils must be disinfected regularly. Feeding and drinking utensils should be disinfected once a week, either by boiling for 20-30 minutes, or by soaking in 0.1% benzalkonium bromide solution for 20 minutes, or by soaking and scrubbing in 2%-3% hot alkaline water, then rinsing clean with clear water. After each meal, the utensils must be washed clean. It is best to feed a measured amount to reduce leftover food. Any leftover food should be thrown away, so that it does not spoil and affect the dog's subsequent eating.
Activity space should be used reasonably. For breeding dogs, the larger the space the better; for dogs ready for market, the smaller the better as they grow older.
2 The Dog's Living Space
The activity area occupied by a meat dog can be controlled within the range of 2-2.5 sq m.
Inside the kennel, make dog beds from thin boards so they do not come into direct contact with the ground. A ground bed can also be poured with cement and sand and gravel; the bed must have bedding material or straw, etc., to prevent dampness. The activity yard inside the kennel should also have its ground poured with cement and sand and gravel, and should be formed at a certain angle, to facilitate cleaning up dog feces and debris, and also to help the water used for washing the kennel flow out of the kennel and keep the kennel dry.
The outer perimeter of the kennel can be made into a fence with iron mesh plus steel bars, thus forming a small enclosure so that breeding dogs can be raised individually. This reduces direct contact with outside personnel and reduces the spread of disease.
In winter, pay attention to temperature changes, and look after each dog well so that the temperature inside its kennel does not change greatly and the dog is not affected. If there is a major change, the dog will not adapt to the temperature and will develop disease.
In every season, attention must be paid to disinfection work in the kennel.
3 Inspection Requirements During the Care of Meat Breeding Dogs
Check the general condition every day (such as body condition, whether the coat is glossy, changes in shedding) and each part and organ. During feeding and brushing, check for lesions, and record them or explain them to the managing veterinarian.
Eyes: According to the gaze of the eyes, the lively expression, and changes in the color of the mucous membranes, the dog's overall functional condition can be judged to a certain extent.
Ears: Inside the ears, especially on the ear flaps of drop-eared dogs, brown matter and some small foreign objects can sometimes be found. When there is disease in the ear, a light brown secretion may flow out from inside, with an unpleasant odor.
Feet: Pay attention to their condition, whether there are thorns and external injuries, etc.
Nose: Whether there are abrasions, mucous and purulent secretions, and whether it is dry and cracked, etc.
Oral cavity: Pay attention to the condition of the teeth, whether there are small pieces of bone stuck and other foreign objects, etc.
Be especially careful during inspection. Sometimes, due to a dog's defensive reaction to an accidental painful stimulus, it may bite its owner (if the dog has rabies, the consequences for people are harmful).
4 Group Management of Dogs
When large numbers of puppies are weaned at the same time, according to procedure, put 6-10 weaned puppies into one kennel as a group, and manage them as one group or several groups. Also, make the puppies survive independently. But within the group, there is a relationship of mutual dependence between the younger and slightly older dogs. As time goes on, at 3.5 to 4 months, breeding dogs or market dogs should be selected, because at this time individual development undergoes obvious changes. At 5 or 6 months, select breeding dogs again and put them individually into small kennels for feeding and management. During the feeding and management process, if a puppy has a serious illness and recovers, it must be transferred to the market dog category; the rest are finally determined as breeding puppies. All the other puppies are marketed at 6-7 months, @#@136@#@.
However, the group must have certain practical management methods to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The following aspects should be noted:
4.1 Train each individual puppy to defecate at the defecation area, manage the environmental hygiene inside the kennel well, and let the puppies develop good hygiene habits to reduce the spread of disease.
4.2 If an individual is found to have a lesion, the severe cases should be raised in separate groups and cannot be used for breeding. After the disease is cured, they are marketed as meat dogs.
4.3 Epidemic prevention must be strictly controlled. Vaccines must be injected regularly and as required, and there must be no carelessness. Also, puppies must be carefully looked after to ensure an increase in the survival rate.
4.4 Newly introduced breeding dogs must not come into direct contact with the original group. They must be fed in isolation for a period, and there must be a dedicated person to manage them, to reduce the spread of epidemic disease.
4.5 In summer, create bathing places for the dogs, keep the kennel hygiene clean, which is beneficial to growth and development and to preventing and treating disease.
4.6 According to the conditions available in different seasons, adjust the food of meat dogs, so as to achieve the goals of saving feed and increasing the growth rate of market dogs.
5 Feeding Methods for Dogs
5.1 The dog's food intake. When feeding dogs, feed at fixed times and in fixed amounts. It is related to their breed, age, sex, and amount of activity. Food intake differs at different developmental stages. Dogs in the developmental stage eat more than adult dogs, and dogs engaged in outdoor activities eat more than dogs kept indoors. For a dog weighing 15-25 kg, the basic daily ration is 300-500 g (90-250 g for dry powder feed, 90-400 g for wet feed) of food. Calculate the feed amount according to the dog's body weight, at 20-25 g per kg of body weight.
5.2 Water supply. The water amount for growing dogs is 150 ml/kg body weight per day, and for adult dogs 100 ml/kg body weight; they should be allowed to drink freely throughout the day.
5.3 The amount of food should also be determined according to weather, exercise, and other conditions, increasing or decreasing the food amount to improve feed utilization.
5.4 Number of feedings. Puppies within 1 month of age: 6 times a day; puppies within 2 months of age: 5 times a day; puppies at 3 months of age: 4 times a day; dogs around 1 year old: 3 times a day; adult dogs: 2 times a day.
5.5 Carrots and green vegetables. Wash, chop, and make into vegetable soup, or mix with bone and meat broth and feed. Carrots and green vegetables can also be chopped and briefly boiled with bone and meat broth to make a vegetable and meat soup for feeding.
The way to allocate bone, meat, and vegetable soup: feed adult dogs and puppies once at noon. Market fattening dogs can be fed twice. This arrangement is to reduce the quantity of food, which both saves feed and speeds up the growth rate of fattening dogs.
5.6 Increase the sleep of fattening dogs. That is, when feeding, add sleep-inducing Chinese medicine (a prepared and mixed medicine) and feed at fixed times and in fixed amounts, so that after the dogs finish eating they enter a semi-sleep state, reducing the amount of exercise. This can save feed and increase feed utilization.