Breeding meat sheep: how fast they grow and the rules of fattening, content

Meat breeds of sheep are kept in private households and bred on large farms. Much attention should be paid to the diet of animals. A balanced diet promotes rapid weight gain. Purchase, maintenance of meat sheep and breeding pay off within two years, subject to demand for products. But unpretentious animals can be kept on pasture, saving on sheepfold equipment.

Pros of breeding meat sheep

Producing lamb is profitable for the following reasons:

• one sheep gives a lot of meat and fat;
• meat breeds can be kept on open grazing and save on food;
• animals tolerate cold well and can stay in the tebenevka in winter.

Meat breed sheep quickly gain weight even with a meager diet. They are easier to care for than cattle. Free grazing in summer and winter will allow you to increase the amount of production and save on feed and barn equipment. When kept indoors, animals willingly eat compound feed.

Breed selection rules

To choose a breed, you need to decide on the type of product. There are two types of meat breeds: meat-fat and meat-wool. In addition to meat, they give fat or fat tail and wool. Meat breeds give a lot of milk. Therefore, when they are bred, at least two valuable products are obtained - meat and milk. Romanov, Gorky, Katum, West Siberian breeds are popular among domestic breeds. Of foreign breeds, dorper, texel, and prekos are distinguished by high productivity.When choosing meat-wool sheep, one should pay attention to the Edilbaev, Hissar and Saraja breeds. Main selection criteria:

• multiple pregnancy;
• endurance;
• high rate of mass gain;
• strong immunity.

To start breeding, unpretentious breeds resistant to cold climates - Romanov and Gorky are suitable. Kuibyshev sheep are distinguished by high productivity. They can be kept on pasture all year round, and lambs quickly gain weight. At 6 months they weigh 60 kilograms and are ready to be slaughtered.

Conditions and care

The choice of keeping method depends on the financial capabilities of the farmer and the climate in the region. The most economical option is to graze on an open pasture all year round. The meat of such sheep is valued higher - as an environmentally friendly product.It is convenient to keep sheep on pasture in the southern regions. But usually free grazing is combined with kosher keeping, as animals and shepherds need shelter from bad weather and the midday sun. Sheep are more carefully cared for in the koshara:

• hooves are trimmed every 2 months;
• heated drinkers are installed for the winter;
• feed 3 times a day.

In the stalls, you need to change the bedding and remove manure so that valuable animal hair does not get dirty. Sheep in the pasture do not come into contact with manure, so their wool is cleaner than cattle in the sheepfold.

Pasture

Sheep of meat breeds are grazed on a natural or artificial pasture. The best area for grazing is dry land, steppe, mountain slopes. Steppe pastures provide vitamin nutrition in spring. Dry and mountainous areas are the most valuable and versatile.

When choosing a location, pay attention to growing herbs. For meat sheep, hogweed, legumes, white clover and timothy are useful. Dangerous and poisonous plants - red clover, buttercup family, horsetail and feather grass.

Red clover in its first year of growth and buttercups contain a nerve poison that causes convulsions in animals. Horsetail is dangerous for cat sheep, as it provokes a miscarriage. The achenes of the feather grass spoil the wool, and the stems are too sharp for chewing. Also, one should not graze sheep after rain and during dew, especially in an alfalfa field. Wet green mass wanders in the stomach and is not digested.

Raising beef sheep on artificial pasture is safer but labor intensive. The fields are cleared of weeds, sown with perennial grasses and made sure that pest animals do not start. Gopher burrows become the focus of helminths, to which lambs are sensitive.

In the summer, the flock is taken out after the dew has disappeared. Animals feed until noon. Then they are led to the river to a watering place or to a shelter with brought water. When the heat subsides, the sheep are again led to feed. They are in the pasture from about five in the morning until ten in the evening.

Winter grazing, or tebenevka, starts at eleven in the morning and ends at eight in the evening. In bad weather, animals stay indoors.

Koshara

Sheepfold keeping is used as the main way to raise beef sheep. If the animals will be constantly indoors, it is necessary to provide them with comfortable conditions:

• bright lighting - at dusk, the reproductive capacity of sheep decreases, so daylight hours need to be increased with lamps;
• warm floor - a layer of straw should be poured on a hard clay surface;
• fresh air - in a closed sheepfold it is necessary to equip a ventilation system.

When building a facility, calculate how many square meters of stalls are required per herd.

Number of cubic meters per animal:

• lamb - 0.7;
• sheep - 3;
• sheep with newborn lambs - 2.5.

For walking, a site is built with a size of 4 square meters per individual and with a fence 1.5 meters high. Depending on the size of the building and the number of animals, the entrance is designed. In a small shed, a door 1.5 meters wide is installed so that one sheep can freely pass through the opening. For a large herd, double-leaf gates are equipped.

Also provide separate entrance to feed room and truck driveway.

Feeders with a large-mesh protective net are installed along the stalls. Sheep will stick their head through the net, but they won't trample the food. Drinking bowls with a volume of 10 liters will provide livestock with plentiful drink. Material for feeders and drinkers - wood. Technical rooms are being equipped in the sheepfold:

• feed storage;
• haircut room;
• slaughter department.

You will also need a separate cold room to store carcasses.

Diet

The menu of sheep meat breeds consists of three components:

• green fodder - fresh grass in the pasture, silage in winter;
• roughage - straw from leguminous crops, barley, oats, alfalfa hay, clover, canned haylage;
• vegetables - fodder beets, carrots, pumpkin, zucchini;
• concentrates - grains of wheat, oats, corn, bran, sunflower meal.

Daily ration of adult sheep for fattening:

Product	Norm in kilograms
	For adult animals	For lambs up to 6 months
Clover or Alfalfa Hay	1.5-2	1.5
Silage, fresh grass	2-5	1.5
Concentrate	0.5	0.3

Animals need protein to gain weight quickly. Their highest content is in concentrates from peas, barley and corn. They also give mineral top dressing - chalk is mixed into crushed grain. Feeding troughs of fattening animals are constantly filled. Concentrates are given after the sheep have had a drink, while green and roughage are given before the water supply.

How long does a ram grow to slaughter weight

Meat breed lambs are rapidly gaining weight. At four months, they gain half the mass of adult animals, and by the year they almost completely catch up with them. Fattening begins at the age of four months, and after 4 months the lambs are allowed for meat. Daily weight gain depends on the breed and diet. Muscle mass increases up to six months.

Experienced farmers sell meat when rams reach ten months of age.Animals reach their maximum weight at this age, so fattening them further is not profitable. Sheep eat a lot, but gain little weight. Adult rams and sheep are fattened for 2 months after lambing. On average, sheep grow from birth to slaughter for 8-9 months.

Slaughter

Animal preparation and procedure:

• shorn hair a month before the procedure;
• transferred to a separate room per day;
• not fed, but given to drink;
• a sheep is tied up and its throat is cut in a lying or hanging position;
• bleed;
• skin, butcher.

The carcass should be cut into large pieces, as small ones are less stored. Sheep are calm and intellectually undeveloped animals. Therefore, they do not anticipate danger before slaughter.

Subtleties of reproduction

The breeding season for beef sheep starts in autumn, in October, and lasts until January. The gestation period is 5.5 months. During the mating period, oatmeal and barley chaff and hay are added to the rams-producers. Sheep need to diversify their diet with vegetables, provide plenty of fluids.

Lambing requires cleanliness in the room, you need to remove manure and change the litter. Sheep may stand or lie down during childbirth. Therefore, you need to put a thick layer of clean straw on the floor so that the cub does not get injured or infected.

Sheep licks a newborn lamb and feeds it with milk. If there are more than two cubs in the offspring, they will have to be fed artificially. One female can feed no more than two lambs.

After childbirth, you need to check if the placenta has come out - the shell of the fetus. It usually comes out immediately or after feeding newborns. If the placenta did not come out or came out partially, you need to contact your veterinarian. Due to the delay of the membrane during the day, inflammation of the uterus develops.

Purchasing sheep

When buying rams of meat breeds, pay attention to the appearance of adult animals and the weight of the lambs.

Adults

Signs of a he althy sheep:

• strong physique;
• wide chest;
• pure wool, eyes and ears.

Male sires must weigh 100 kilograms. Bright is distinguished by an elastic rounded udder.

Young

Young meat lambs are selected for the same qualities as adults. The seller should clarify what vaccinations the animal has received. It is important to check the bite in young animals. Sheep with misaligned teeth will not be able to chew solid food and gain weight.

Lambs

Lambs at the age of four months must meet the developmental standards set by the breed standard. The weight norm for grown lambs is 45 kilograms and above. He althy lambs get scared and run away when people approach.

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