Sheep Fattening and Weight Gain Tips: Methods to Quickly Get Sheep to Put on Fat
Sheep farming covers a very large area in China, and today sheep farming is mainly focused on meat sheep. Mutton not only has very high nutritional value but also has many beneficial effects, and it is very popular in China. Therefore, when raising sheep, fattening and weight gain are a primary concern for many sheep farmers. So how can sheep be effectively fattened and made to gain weight? Below, the editor brings you tips on fattening and weight gain for sheep. Let's take a look!
1. Breed Selection and Barn Construction
If you want to improve the fattening capacity of sheep, then first of all, choosing an excellent meat sheep breed is very important. It is best to focus on high-quality crossbred sheep breeds and use hybrid vigor to increase sheep production. For example, we can use Boer goats as the sire and then crossbreed them with local female goats. This can breed excellent varieties with good reproductive performance, strong disease resistance and a high meat yield. Then the construction of the pen must be done well. The sheep pen must be warm in winter and cool in summer, and it should be built in a place with high terrain, dryness and good ventilation, creating a good growing environment for the fattening sheep.
2. Raising the Ewes
The ability of sheep to gain weight and fatten must be developed starting from the lambs, so the work of raising the ewes is also very important. When raising the ewes, provide the ewes with high-quality forage and feed. Every day, also feed an appropriate amount of concentrate, such as corn, wheat bran, soybean meal, etc. A reasonable feed nutrition mix can ensure the growth of the fattening sheep, improve the production performance of the ewes, and the lambs' constitution can also be strengthened as a result. Then after the ewes give birth, select lambs that are large, have strong growth ability and good feeding conditions to form the fattening group.
3. Raising the Lambs
Improving the fattening performance of sheep must start from a young age. Therefore, in addition to doing a good job of raising the ewes, we must also strengthen the raising of the lambs. In particular, attention must be paid to feed and feeding: the lambs must be provided with sufficient roughage and also be given an appropriate amount of concentrate. The amount of concentrate the lambs eat will increase with age. Then we must also do a good job of docking the lambs' tails. Reasonable tail docking can speed up the growth rate of the lambs, improve meat quality, and reduce the gamey smell. Generally, tail docking can be carried out from the second day to the third week of the lambs' life, but it is best to complete it within one week, and tail docking should be carried out on a sunny morning.
4. Castration and Disinfection
When docking the lambs' tails, it is best to carry out castration at the same time. Push the testicles of male lambs around one week old into the scrotum, then use a rubber band to tightly wrap the scrotum together at the spermatic cord area. After about one month, the scrotum and testicles will fall off on their own. When raising fattening sheep, we must always keep sufficient drinking water in the barn, the barn must have good ventilation, the floor must not be damp, and bedding straw should be laid down. Avoid feed contamination, and the sheep barn must also be disinfected regularly. Feed troughs, water troughs, utensils and so on must not be neglected.
The above is a brief introduction to sheep fattening and weight gain tips. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!