How to fatten culled breeding sheep? A detailed guide to practical methods

Culling of breeding sheep includes the culling of breeding rams and breeding ewes. Generally, those culled are older breeding sheep with low productivity or that are unsatisfactory. After breeding sheep are culled, they also need to be sold, so before selling, most breeders will fatten them for a period of time to maximize profits as much as possible. The method for fattening culled breeding sheep differs from that for normal sheep, so how should we fatten culled breeding sheep? Let's take a look below.

1. Check the sheep's body

Before fattening, we need to conduct a comprehensive examination of the culled breeding sheep to avoid unnecessary losses. When checking the sheep's body, we need to examine it from all aspects to ensure the accuracy of the data. After the examination results come out, for sick breeding sheep, we should fatten them only after treatment; if they are sick sheep that cannot be treated, then they need to be dealt with promptly; at the same time, if a breeding sheep cannot eat because it is too old, then there is no need to waste time and cost on fattening it, and it can be sold directly. Therefore, conducting a physical examination after breeding sheep are culled is a very necessary step, and it is also a problem that many people often overlook.

2. Timely castration

Breeding rams need to be castrated before fattening. Generally, culled breeding rams are castrated about ten days before fattening. Breeders are very clear about fattening rams: if a ram has not been castrated, it is very difficult to fatten, so culled breeding rams also need to be castrated, and the timing of castration must also be well controlled. Culled breeding ewes, however, need to be fattened immediately after giving birth. This period is their best fattening stage, and at the same time, when they have been fattened to a certain degree, they should be sold promptly, otherwise they will lose weight again.

3. Nutritional configuration

For culled breeding sheep, there are also certain differences in nutritional configuration. Many feed formulas used for fattening sheep are not suitable for these culled breeding sheep. Culled breeding sheep have basically stopped growing and developing. If they are to be fattened, other nutrient substances need to be used to repair their various functions. We usually choose high-concentrate feed for fattening, while feeding forage grass as a supplement to improve the meat quality of the breeding sheep. The concentrate is mainly based on corn and wheat bran, mixed with a small amount of soybean cake.

4. Grasp the timing

During the fattening process of culled breeding sheep, the timing must be well controlled. In fact, whether they are culled sheep or normal fattening sheep, we must grasp the marketing time, otherwise they will lose weight again after growing to a certain degree. The best fattening duration for culled sheep is about two to three months, and the duration must not exceed three months at most, because their capacity to deposit fat is limited, so once the maximum limit is reached, further feeding will not continue to increase weight.

There is also a big difference in meat quality between fattened culled sheep and normal fattening sheep, so if we want to increase the economic value of culled sheep, then we need to improve meat quality through feeding methods. This is the purpose of our fattening.