Technology of intensive breeding of young breeding Romanov sheep. Growth and development of lambs at different weaning dates in the Yasya Polyany LLC, Troitsk district
In a sheep farm with a completed rotation of the herd before the start of lambing, there will be the following sex and age groups: rams for various purposes (producers, samplers, repairs), ewes, repair lambs, as well as dead ones. In the period between lambings in the herd, in addition, there will be lambs before culling and young animals after culling under the age of 1 year.
Typically, queens are used for 5 years, producing 5 lambs. By this age, the queens reach 7 years of age and are culled due to old age. Then, ideally, the queen herd should consist of five age groups with an equal number of sheep, i.e. 20% of each age. However, during their productive life, the number of queens of all ages is reduced annually due to disease, mortality, culling of barren and low-productive ones during annual viewings and for other reasons. Therefore, the actual age structure will be different, and the older the queens, the smaller their share in the herd will be. Because of this, to maintain a constant herd size, annual repairs are necessary, i.e., the proportion of younger age in the herd should not be 20%, but somewhat higher - 22-25%. In this case, the age structure of the queens will be approximately the following (before the start of lambing at the first mating at the age of 18 months): 2-year-olds - 22-25%; 3-year-olds - 20-23%; 4-year-olds - 19-22%; 5-year -17-20%; 6-year-olds - 15-19%; over 6 years old - 5-10%.
To accelerate the change of generations and increase the efficiency of selection in hatchery herds, especially in the breeding core, we can recommend the age structure of the broodstock: 2-year-old - 27%, 3-year-old - 26%, 4-year-old - 25%, 5-year-old - 22 %-27%. The annual mortality of queens is assumed to be 2-3%.
For the purely wool-based direction of sheep breeding in the arid zone, the herd structure is as follows: stud rams - 1%, ewes - 50%, ewes - 14%, rams - 20%, breeding rams - 15%. There is no point in having rams in more than 1% of the herd structure when using artificial insemination.
The structure of the herd may vary depending on the type of mating, since the need for stud rams during artificial insemination is significantly lower than during natural mating. The proportion of queens in the herd structure will be lower, and the proportion of replacement queens will be higher if it is planned to increase the number of queens, including queens.
Seasonality of reproduction. For most breeds, the breeding season begins as the length of the longest day decreases. Ovulation rates typically peak in mid to late fall. Regular sexual cycles repeat on average after 17 days. The beginning of the cycle is considered the first day of hunting. A few hours after the start of the hunt, ovulation occurs, i.e. rupture of the follicle and release of the egg.
Some queens come back into heat and are ready to breed within a month of lambing, but most do not begin cycling until their lambs are culled. The mating period for a sheep is usually 5 months. (147 -153 days), but can vary from 140 to 160 days. The maximum fertility of sheep is achieved when mating in the middle of the breeding season, since at this time the proportion of cycling queens and the ovulation rate are maximum. All other things being equal, the timing of mating is chosen so that it can be completed in a shorter time and more lambs can be obtained. For most regions of Russia, the more favorable mating dates for sheep are September, October and November, for more northern regions - August - September. Unfavorable months for mating are January - June, when most of the sheep herd is in a state of sexual rest.
Indicators of reproductive ability. Reproductive ability is understood as a set of characteristics and properties that ensure the reproduction of livestock: fertility, fertility, safety of young animals, and the frequency of lambing per year.
Not all sheep become mated after mating. Some of them remain unfertilized, or barren. There are many reasons for barrenness. This - various diseases, low fatness, lack of regular sexual cycles, death of embryos in the early stages of development, high level phytoestrogens in pasture grass, lack of rams or their impotence and, finally, poor organization of preparation and mating in general.
With poor organization of work, productivity can reach 25-35%, with good organization - only 3-8%. Barrenness control can be carried out immediately after the end of the breeding period, determining fertility. This can be done in the laboratory by examining blood or mucus from the vagina 18-30 days after mating, as well as taking into account the number of uterus that have become pregnant. In practice, fertility is assessed by the number of lambed queens as a percentage of those available at the beginning of lambing. It is clear that the fertility rate cannot be more than 100%.
Fertility is the number of lambs at birth, including live, stillborn and aborted, per 100 lambs or aborted ewes per lambing. Numerically, fertility is also expressed as the percentage of all registered lambs to all registered queens, i.e. 105 lambs from 100 queens correspond to 105%, 235 lambs from 100 queens - 235%. Fertility is a sign that characterizes the biological capabilities of sheep of a particular group, herd, breed or individual sheep. Fertility cannot be less than 100%, since only queens that have had at least one lamb are counted. The safety of young animals is one of the most important economic indicators reproduction. It is estimated as the percentage of animals surviving at a certain age from the number available at the beginning of the accounting period. In practice, safety is taken into account for the period from birth to slaughter and from birth to sale for slaughter, breeding, or transfer to the main herd. Preservation during the milking period depends on the milk supply of the uterus and maternal instinct. These qualities are better developed in adult queens than in young ones.
There are types of natural mating: manual, class, free and harem. After artificial insemination, manual mating is the most advanced way of mating animals. In this case, the queen, who has come into heat, is mated with a ram pre-selected for her. The next day, the mated queen is checked with a sample ram and, if she is in heat, she is covered a second time with the same ram.
Class mating consists of selecting appropriate rams for a certain group of queens, which are kept together with the queens throughout the breeding season.
In case of free mating, the load on one ram should not exceed 30 ewes, on a young one (18-20 months) - 20 ewes. In general, this type of mating allows uncontrolled mating and with it no breeding work on sheep breeding is possible.
Harem mating is very effective. To carry it out, ideally, for each group of queens of 30-50 heads, it is necessary to have a fenced area of pasture with a feeding capacity for one month. You can also arrange small pens according to the number of groups of queens and feed the queens in the pen with imported grass and other forage for a month. After a month of aging with the rams, the queens are combined into one herd and mating is completed in the usual manner, as with artificial insemination.
Raising lambs during the dairy period. There are several technologies for raising lambs during the dairy period. The placenta should be removed from a lambed queen and checked for milk production by external examination of the udder and nipples, paying attention to their condition and size. In this case, the first streams of milk from each lobe of the udder should be milked in order to determine its possible milk content, functional ability and to free the nipple canals from the resulting plugs. The traditional rearing system is based on 4-5 months. duration dairy nutrition and a gradual increase in the size of the group of queens with lambs. Sometimes, immediately after lambing, the queen and lamb are placed in a single cage. But, as a rule, multi-litter queens and first lambs are placed in separate piles for 3 - 4 days, and queens with single lambs, with rare exceptions, should be placed immediately in piles of 3 - 4 goals. After 2-3 days, 3-5 queens are combined in one group, then 10-15, 20-30 queens with lambs. When the lambs reach 2-4 months. At age, the size of the group (sakman) is increased to 150-200 queens. Feeding and watering should be uninterrupted and of good quality during this period. The sooner the sakmans unite, the less guarantee there is to raise a good offspring and the more worries there will be with it in the future. Therefore, it is very important not to enlarge the sakmans as much as possible during the first 45 days of raising lambs. At the same time, it is necessary to develop the responsibilities of sackman workers and their remuneration. First, a group of queens with lambs should be permanently assigned to each saxman.
From about 10 days of age, lambs should be left in the sheepfold, and the queens should be fed in the base. Although this method in the first 8-10 days causes unnecessary anxiety in the lambs, the uterus is fresh air They eat the feed better, and the lambs themselves do not spoil it. Moreover, from this period the lambs are accustomed to water, and from 14 days. age - to eating grain mixtures, mineral supplements and roughage, as well as silage good quality.
No less important is the transfer of suckling lambs to pasture keeping. In conditions of severe overcrowding, virgin pastures near sheepfolds pose a greater danger of infection with helminthic infestations than pasture value. Therefore, lambs are released onto pasture no earlier than 3 weeks of age. Differential transfer of lambs to pasture allows them to carry out differentiated treatments against monieziosis.
It should be borne in mind that even during the grazing period, feeding lambs with grain fodder should be carried out by organizing special “canteens” for them, or separating them from the queens in a special feeding barn. For grazing of queens with lambs behind rye, special crops of winter wheat, then alfalfa and Sudan grass can be used. Lambs that are well accustomed to using various feeds develop quickly by 4 months. age, i.e. at the time of beating and have a live weight of up to 30-34 kg.
Lamb lambing and intensive rearing. Lambs are slaughtered one by one, but the age can be different and depends on the purpose of the lambs, their breeding value, feeding and maintenance conditions. But one rule is general under all circumstances: the worse the conditions for queens with lambs, the earlier the lambs should be separated from the queens. Early weaning refers to the practice of separating lambs from their mothers earlier than traditionally and bringing them to the required condition. Most often this is done at the age of 6-8 weeks instead of the traditionally accepted 4-5 months.
Lambs should not be culled before 50 days of age, since the milk production of queens at this stage of lactation is still relatively high and they may develop mastitis. If the queens do not have milk or have very little milk, then cutting must be done earlier. Feeding the queens and feeding the lambs should ensure the weight of singles at beating is at least 12 kg, twins - at least 10 kg. If in the group (sakman) there are still lambs with a smaller weight, then they still need to be killed, but placed separately. Leaving stunted lambs under the uterus in this case does not make sense, since it was the uterus, its low milk production or disease of the lamb that was the cause of its poor growth.
From 2-4 months lambs are raised on a complete finishing mixture. These mixtures fully satisfy the nutritional needs of lambs. In addition to the mixture, lambs are provided with hay and succulent feed, including carrots. As a rule, mixed feed and succulent feed are given in the morning, and roughage - at night.
The best beating method is gradual increase time of separate feeding, and possibly grazing of queens with lambs. It should be borne in mind that the lambs should remain in the same carcasses in which they were before beating. This will avoid stress in them, as well as avoid mass cases of uterine mastitis. Before lambing, the queens should be transferred to dry and relatively poor pasture. All care for the killed lambs is entrusted to the senior shepherd of the breeding flock, as the most experienced, and an auxiliary worker is given to help him. The lambs are grazed on alfalfa and Sudan grass crops, and are also fed grain fodder depending on the condition of the pastures at the rate of 100-250 g per lamb. In the heat of the day, lambs must be under a canopy or in a shed, which is cleaned and disinfected for these purposes and in which the windows and doors are opened.
Technology of feeding and keeping sheep. Sheep use roughage and succulent feed better than other farm animals. The most valuable food for sheep is green grass and hay.
Green feed (pasture grass) is the cheapest and most complete feed for all groups of sheep. It is rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and biologically active substances, well eaten by sheep. Sheep get green grass from grazing, but it can also be successfully used in the form of green mass, barely mowed one at a time.
Hay is one of the main feeds in winter period. It is rich in nutrients, contains a sufficient amount of vitamins E, K and group B. For sheep, it is better to use small grass, meadow, and legume hay. It is believed that the minimum feeding rate should be 0.5-0.7 kg for pregnant queens, 0.8-1.0 for suckling queens and 0.4-0.5 kg for replacement young animals.
Straw is used in cases where there is not enough hay. Sheep eat millet, oat and barley straw better. Straw is given in quantities of 0.5 to 2.0 kg per head per day as an additive to hay and other feed. Sheep as roughage They also provide chaff (oatmeal, millet, legumes).
Grass meal, granules are valuable food obtained from artificially dried grass. Nutritional value of 1 kg - 0.7-0.9 feed, units. containing 16-20% crude protein, 250 mg or more carotene. Grass meal and granules can be introduced into the diet of sheep in the amount of 10-15% in nutritional value, and in the composition of complete mixtures - up to 40% by weight.
Silage is the most common feed for sheep in winter. In the diet of pregnant queens, good quality silage can be 2.5-3 kg, lactating queens - 3-4 kg, replacement young stock - 1.5-2 kg, young females and rams - 2-2.5 kg.
Haylage High Quality can be used as the main feed for all age and sex groups of sheep.
Root vegetables are included in the diet of 2-3 kg per day for adult sheep and up to 1 kg for young animals aged 6-9 months. Before feeding, root crops are washed and chopped.
Concentrated feeds - oats, barley, corn are used to balance rations in terms of energy; peas and other legumes - to balance protein; cakes, meal - for balancing protein, fat, phosphorus. Daily norm feeding to adult sheep - 0.3-0.5, to young animals - 0.2-0.4 kg.
Mineral feed. Every day an adult sheep should be given 10-15 g, a lamb - 5-8 g of loose salt. Salt lick should always be in the feeders as an insurance supplement. Of great importance among the macroelements are calcium and phosphorus. Their deficiency in the diet is compensated for by chalk and bone meal, defluorinated phosphate and feed precipitate. Pregnant and suckling queens are given 6-10 g, and young animals - 5-7 g per head per day.
In our country's sheep farming, two main systems for feeding and keeping sheep have developed: pasture and various options stall-pasture.
Lamb weaning
Lambs on mother's milk grown for 34 months. By this time, young animals have reached such a development that they are able to digest pasture and other feed as efficiently as adult animals.
Many years of experience show that lambs should not be raised on mother's milk for more than 4 months, since young animals only meet 10% of their nutritional needs from their mother's milk. In addition, the delay in weaning lambs leads, firstly, to the fact that well-developed rams often cover queens that have come into heat, resulting in unscheduled lambing, and, secondly, large lambs strongly suck the queens, and by the beginning of mating they have insufficient nutrition. There are often cases when large lambs injure the udder while suckling and bite through the nipples of their mothers, who then have to be culled prematurely.
When keeping sheep on pastures, lambs can be weaned (without compromising their subsequent growth and development) at the age of 1.5–2 months. So that by this time they can make good use of plant foods, lambs are accustomed to eating them from 10-15 days of age. When weaning at this age, they usually do not use liquid sheep milk replacer or other liquid feeds, but immediately transfer the lambs to dry feed or to pasture fed with concentrates. But the feed at this time should have high concentration nutrients and contain biologically complete protein, minerals and vitamins. Weaning lambs before 1.5 months often leads to mortality, since their stomach at this age is not yet adapted to digesting fiber from roughage. Early weaning of lambs from their uterus is carried out taking into account the age of the lambs and their live weight. If lambs weigh 4–4.5 kg at birth, then when weaned at the age of 1.5 months, their weight should be at least 8–10 kg.
In steppe regions, in dry years, when natural pastures burn out, lambs often have to be weaned from their mothers at the age of 2.5 months. Such early date weaning is explained by the fact that on burnt-out pastures the fatness and milk production of queens decreases, therefore, the growth and development of lambs slows down. In this case, for weaned lambs formed into independent flocks, the best pastures are allocated and feeding with concentrated feed is organized. This technique is fully justified: the lambs develop well, and the queens, freed from the lambs, make better use of distant pastures and quickly restore their fatness.
Flocks of young animals are driven away from the queens. After 710 days, lambs usually wean off them. In the first days after weaning, the lambs are restless and, as a rule, do not graze well, scatter to the sides, etc. Therefore, adult queens are allowed into the flock of rams for several days, and ewes are allowed into the flock of rams. This makes it easier to manage the flock, and young animals feel calmer near adult animals.
On farms with a small herd, rams and lambs are combined with rams after weaning, and lambs are kept in a separate group for 10–20 days. After the queens stop lactation and the cows wean themselves off their mothers, they are returned to the brood flock.
Particular attention in summer time should be given to the maintenance of lambs. Lambs are sensitive to summer heat. Under direct sunlight, they often experience overheating of the body, accompanied by a strong increase in breathing (up to 150-200 per minute), increased thirst, and deterioration of appetite. This leads to the appearance of pulmonary diseases, upper respiratory tract diseases, and digestive disorders. Lambs are often vilified, lose fat, and grow poorly.
To protect against the effects of high summer temperatures, it is recommended to arrange special light shady canopies, under which they can calmly rest and receive feeding.
Timely implementation of veterinary preventive measures to combat common invasive diseases is important for the successful rearing of lambs. Infection of lambs at any age with helminthic diseases leads to a sharp decrease in growth, wool clipping, and in severe cases and to mass mortality.
With the onset of the stall period, which usually coincides with the age of 6-8 months of lambs, a high level of average daily growth is ensured by feeding good quality hay, silage, haylage and concentrated feed. Optimal feeding conditions during this period have a great influence on the productivity of breeding young animals at the age of 1 year.
Tail trimming of lambs and castration of rams. Fine-fleece and semi-fine-fleece lambs have their tails trimmed at 3-7 days of age. The tail, when untrimmed, becomes heavily contaminated with feces and urine, spoiling the fur on the back of the body and the fleece on the sides. In queens it interferes with feeding lambs. The tail of lambs is cut at a distance of 6-10 cm from its root between the 3rd and 4th caudal vertebrae, after first stretching the skin to its base. The wound is lubricated with iodine or other disinfectants.
In breeding farms, rams are examined at the age of 10-12 days and the required number is selected for the purpose of rearing for breeding purposes. The rest of the rams, and in non-breeding farms all rams, are castrated at 2-3 weeks of age, before the onset of hot weather. Valukhi (castrated rams) are calmer and produce higher quality wool.
If the lambs on the farm are intended to be sold for meat at 7-8 months of age, they do not need to be castrated. Keeping rams intended for meat purposes at an older age is not practical for economic and management reasons.
Timing and technique of weaning lambs from their uterus. The lambs are usually reared under dams for 4 months. Under optimal feeding conditions at this age, they achieve good development and become completely accustomed to eating and using pasture grass and other feed. If the lambs have insufficient development, especially if there are a large number of multiple lambs, they are sometimes kept under the uterus for two weeks. However, this shortens the period of preparation of the queens for mating. The presence of well-developed or older rams in the flock, with a delay in the weaning of lambs, can lead to undesirable premature mating of queens that come into heat during this period.
In years with unfavorable feeding conditions, poor pastures, and poor development of lambs, they should be separated from their dams earlier than four months, provided with the best pasture areas and provided with additional feeding. The average live weight of lambs at weaning at the age of 4 months should be 24-25 kg for fine-wool breeds of wool productivity, 26-27 kg for wool-meat breeds, and 28-30 kg for early maturing meat-wool breeds.
After weaning from their mothers, lambs are separated into separate flocks by sex and development, and in breeding flocks also by origin and breeding merit. Livestock that are more valuable in terms of breeding are transferred to more experienced shepherd teams for rearing and are provided with better feeding and maintenance.
The size of the young flocks is determined taking into account the existing conditions. The following flock sizes are accepted: breeding rams - up to 600-800, non-breeding rams - up to 800-1000, breeding rams - up to 600, rams - up to 1000-1200. Flocks of young animals of early maturing meat and wool breeds are formed in smaller sizes.
After weaning from their mothers, the lambs are allocated the best pastures and are provided with additional nutrition. Before the onset of winter, they must get stronger and get used to eating various foods. Clean, dry sheds are prepared in advance for them, and they are transferred to winter housing before the adult livestock. Young animals are prepared for flocks best food.
To monitor the development of lambs, a control group of up to 10% of the total number in the flock is allocated, marked with paint and periodically weighed.
In sheep farming, early weaning of lambs is also used: 1-2 days after birth, at the age of 30-45 and 60-65 days.
Weaning at birth practiced when raising lambs from multiple uteruses, when there is a lack of milk in mothers, as well as in dairy sheep farming. There is a great need for it on large farms, where the number of queens is usually large. Lambs weaned from their mothers are raised on sheep milk replacers (SMS), in heated rooms, using appropriate equipment. As a substitute, mixtures similar in composition to sheep's milk with the addition of microelements, vitamins, and antibiotics are used.
In most cases, skim milk in natural or dried form or whole milk is used as the main source of protein when preparing ZOM.
The most commonly used sheep milk substitute consists of skim milk powder (65-80%) and fat (20-30%) with the addition of vitamins and microelements. The liquid substitute contains 18-20% dry matter and 6-7% fat and is close in composition to sheep milk.
Sheep milk substitutes based on whole and skim milk are also used. cow's milk, regenerated milk, skim milk powder, whole milk replacer for calves (WCM), as well as substitutes containing various feeds plant origin and products of microbiological synthesis.
When weaning lambs from their dams at the age of 1-3 days, one should take into account the higher cost of artificial rearing compared to raising them under their mothers. This is due to the increased consumption of expensive POM components, commercial feeds and greater labor intensity.
Mother's milk is the most valuable feed product, ensuring increased safety of lambs and their more intensive development. Transferring lambs to artificial rearing using conventional technology is advisable only in the case of the absence or lack of milk from mothers, their loss, the impossibility of transferring them to other queens, as well as in farms producing sheep milk.
After weaning from their mothers (or after feeding with colostrum from richly milking mothers), lambs must be kept without feeding for 4-6 hours.
To avoid waste for weak and small lambs, the duration of fasting should be reduced to 2 hours and subsequently fed somewhat more often.
The technique of accustoming lambs to drinking ZOM comes down to the following. The lamb is taken in the left hand and brought to the drinking bowl, with the right hand a rubber nipple is inserted into its mouth and, pressing lightly on it, milk is squeezed out in small portions. After this, with the right hand they lightly push the lamb in the area of the ischial tuberosities, imitating the act of sucking. Weak lambs that do not have swallowing movements, as well as older lambs that refuse to accept the nipple, are force-fed or administered through a gastric tube.
Accustoming lambs to artificial feeding must be done individually until they are completely accustomed to the established feeding regimen. During this period, it is important not to overfeed the lambs; the dose of feeding ZOM per feeding should not exceed 150-180 g. After habituation, the lambs are placed in group cages. The formation of groups should be carried out taking into account the live weight of the lambs, their age and activity.
It has been noted that the younger the lambs, the faster they get used to artificial feeding.
The set of components required for the preparation of sheep's milk replacer (SMS) is dissolved in water at a temperature of 50-60 ° C and mixed (can be in a washing machine) until maximum dissolution, the resulting mixture is filtered and, after cooling to 38-40 ° C, poured into it antibiotics and vitamins are added.
IN finished form ZOM is an emulsion with small fat globules on the surface.
In the absence of semi-automatic and automatic factory-made installations, various drinking bowls are used to feed POM: bottles (during the training period), plastic buckets, flasks, etc., along the perimeter of which there are fittings or holes for securing rubber nipples. You can use converted drinking bowls for piglets to feed lambs. All drinking bowls must be positioned so that the distance from the floor to the nipple is 34-45 cm, and the inclination of the nipples is within 40-45° to the horizon. To avoid spontaneous leakage of the substitute from the nipples, it is better to make one cut at the top instead of a round hole, and during the training period, two cuts perpendicular to each other. When you press on the nipple (in any position), the hole opens and the lamb receives milk with little effort. Single-notch teats are suitable for lambs from five to seven days of age. It is necessary to ensure that the outlet at the nipple is within 1.5-2.0 mm. This promotes a more uniform flow of milk into the lamb's stomach.
Feeding sheep's milk replacer to lambs
When accustoming lambs to consuming SOM, the frequency of feeding should be at least six times a day. In the future, the frequency of feeding can be as follows: before 10 days of age - five times, from 11 to 30 days - four times, after 30 days - three times, and before transferring them to feeding only dry feed mixtures - twice.
From seven to ten days of age, lambs must also become accustomed to eating various feeds. For this purpose, drinking bowls for drinking water and feeders for good quality hay and concentrated feed are installed in the cairns. The best results are obtained by feeding lambs complete feed mixtures containing 18-22% digestible protein. By the age of one and a half to two months, lambs, previously accustomed to eating dry food, do without food supplements and can be fed the same food as adult animals.
Weaning lambs from their mothers at 30-60 days of age with their subsequent intensive rearing has become much more widespread in sheep breeding.
In a number of countries engaged in intensive lamb production, beating lambs at this age is a generally accepted technological technique.
The economic and technological feasibility of weaning lambs at this age is due to a decrease in their dependence on mother’s milk and growth potential due to the use of less nutritionally valuable feed.
It was established (A.V. Modyanov, 1978) that the correlation coefficient between the consumption of mother's milk and the average daily gain in the period from birth to 4 weeks of age in lambs is +0.90, in the age of 4 to 8 weeks - +0.80, and in the period from 8 to 10 weeks - +0.29-0.39. In addition, the production of milk in the uterus from 84 to 112 days of lactation requires 4 times more feed, and from 112 to 140 days 8 times more than in the first 4 weeks.
Therefore, after two one month old Feeding more valuable feed directly to the lamb is more beneficial than to the uterus.
However, the high growth rate of lambs with early weaning from their mothers can be ensured by the possibility of additional feeding them with feed of increased nutritional value. Thus, the protein content in diets for lambs aged 30 days should be at the level of 17-20%, 60-70 days - 14-16%, over 120 days - 12-13%.
Lambs satisfy a significant portion of their high-protein feed needs from the milk of their mothers, who in turn use less valuable and less nutritious feed. Therefore, increasing the cost of raising lambs when weaning at an earlier age is economically more profitable when using queens to obtain marketable milk or with intensive reproduction of the herd -■ to obtain three lambings in two years.
In some cases, the need for earlier weaning of lambs from their queens can be justified by the unsatisfactory condition of spring and summer pastures, the lack of cheap green feed, which is accompanied by a decrease in the fatness and milk production of the queens and the unsatisfactory development of lambs. Weaning lambs at an earlier age (85-95 days) allows them to develop Better conditions feeding through additional feeding and grazing on the best areas of pastures, or using areas intended for fattening or raising pedigree young sheep. This also provides more favorable conditions for preparing the queens for the next breeding season.
The main condition for successfully weaning lambs from their mothers at an early age is to accustom them to eating basic types of feed at an earlier age. To do this, they are separated from the queens, starting from 7-10 days of age, twice a day for 2-3 hours in the morning and in the afternoon. During this period, the queens are fed on walking and feeding grounds, and lambs left without mothers are provided with complete feeding with complete feed mixtures, hay, and mineral feeds. Starting from 40 days of age, the queens can be separated from the lambs in the morning and allowed in only at night. Throughout the day, ewes and lambs feed separately. Lambs previously accustomed to separate housing, as a rule, painlessly tolerate early weaning from their mothers at 60-70 days of age and transfer to feeding with rough, juicy and concentrated feed.
Normally developed lambs by 2 months of age should have a live weight of at least 15-18 kg.
After 3-4 months of the suckling period, lambs are separated from their mothers and weaned off their mother's milk gradually so as not to cause developmental delays. Lambs are weaned from their dams at the age of 3.5-4.5 months, usually in two stages. First, larger, better developed lambs are killed, and after 10-15 days the rest are killed. At the same time, the lambs are divided into groups (young lambs, rams and lambs), which are kept separately. Weak lambs are separated into a separate flock and provided with increased feeding. The newly formed flocks of young animals are entrusted to shepherding by the best shepherds, who drive them away from the queens. After 5-7 days, lambs usually wean themselves off their mothers.
After lambing, it is recommended to graze the queens on poor, dry pastures for 3-5 days, reducing watering to once a day, which will prevent the formation of milk and protect them from mastitis. If necessary, high-milk ewes are milked in the first 2-3 days after weaning.
After weaning lambs from their mothers, the main food for them in the summer is green grass and, as a supplement to it, concentrates. Lambs up to one month of age are given concentrated feed at the rate of 50 g per head per day, up to two months - 100-150, three months - 200-250 and four months - up to 300 g. Concentrates are best given flattened or crushed in the form of mixtures. The latter can consist of oats, barley, bran and cakes.
After weaning, lambs need to have their hooves carefully trimmed, as they show little wear and tear in the first six months of life. Better growth Lambs are assisted by shearing, which is first performed at approximately 6 months of age.
50 . Lambs are most often weaned at 3.5 - 4 months of age. Lambs are weaned from queens intended for milking at 2–2.5 months of age. First, the most developed lambs are separated, and then, as they grow older, the rest are separated in such a way that weaning is completed within 10–15 days. When beating, lambs are separated by sex - rams separately from lambs and lambs (in small herds, lambs are combined with lambs), since by 4 - 5 months of age, some rams and lambs become sexually mature and when they are kept together, there may be premature covering of the lambs. Flock size: small flocks - 500 - 800, small flocks - 750 - 1000 heads. Subsequently, before mating, the young animals, depending on the direction of sheep breeding, are divided into flocks of the following sizes: fine-fleece and semi-fine-fleece - 700 - 1000 heads; coarse-haired – 800 – 1200; feeding flocks and wild animals - 1200 - 1600 heads. When determining the weaning date of lambs, they are based on the organization and technology used for raising them, their development and fatness, as well as the condition of the grass on the pasture. Many years of experience show that lambs should not be raised on mother's milk for more than 4 months, since young animals only meet 10% of their nutritional needs from their mother's milk. In addition, a delay in the weaning of lambs leads, firstly, to the fact that well-developed rams often cover queens that have come into heat, resulting in unscheduled lambing, and, secondly, large lambs strongly suck the queens, and by the beginning of mating they have insufficient nutrition. There are often cases when large lambs injure the udder while suckling and bite through the nipples of their mothers, who then have to be culled prematurely.
Keeping lambs and adult queens together is undesirable, since in this case the proper organization of feeding and maintenance of the young animals is difficult.
In breeding farms, lambs should be graded immediately after beating.
Lambs that are unsuitable for reproduction, as well as lambs after beating, must be fed for fattening and sold for meat at the age of 7–8 months.
So that the queens, after lambing, produce less milk and are not disturbed, they are grazed on dry, low-productive pastures, sufficiently distant from the location of the young animals, for 5–7 days after lambing, and given water once a day.
After lambing, lambs are grazed on fresh pastures with good grass so that they are less likely to become infected with helminthic diseases. In addition, young animals are fed with concentrates. Water the lambs at least 2-3 times a day. To reduce disturbance during grazing, several dam queens are allowed into the flock of young animals for the first 10–15 days, serving as leaders. When the lambs begin to graze on their own, the queens are returned to their flocks
51. Characteristics of feed for sheep. Sheep are given food of plant, animal and industrial origin. By physical properties, chemical composition, digestibility, physiological effect on the animal’s body, all feeds differ significantly from each other.
Green food. The dry matter of these feeds contains 20-25% protein, 4-5% fat, 35-50% BEV, 9-11% minerals, 10-15% fiber. In terms of its chemical composition and general nutritional value, the dry matter of young grass is close to concentrated feed, and the biological value of the protein is even higher. 1 kg of grass contains 40-70 mg of carotene.
In the overall balance of feed used in sheep farming, green feed from natural and cultivated pastures makes up a large share.
Hay. Inferior to concentrated feed, but in terms of its chemical composition, ratio of nutrients, content of minerals, macro- and microelements, as well as vitamins, it is a very valuable feed for sheep. The feeding properties and digestibility of nutrients of hay depend on the botanical composition of the grasses and their growing season, on the time and method of harvesting, storage and soil and climatic conditions.
Silage. The most common succulent feed for sheep kept in stalls. Its nutritional benefits depend mainly on the type of crops being ensiled, the method and technique of ensiling. There are no significant differences in the content of fat, fiber and BEV between cereal, legume and cereal-legume silos, but legume and cereal-legume silos are significantly superior to cereal silos in protein content. The best for sheep is considered to be silage made from corn in the stage of milky-waxy ripeness of the cobs mixed with leguminous crops. Such silage contains more than 30% dry matter. In 1 feed units silage contains 100-110 g of digestible protein. Silage is especially necessary for lactating queens during winter lambing and for growing young animals during the stall period.
Haylage. Finds increasing use in feeding sheep. It is prepared from herbs dried in swaths and windrows during haymaking to a moisture content of 50-55%. The best feed quality is considered to be haylage made from cereals and legumes, harvested in early stage growing season. 1 kg of haylage contains 0.4 feed. units, 40-55 g of digestible protein, 40-50 mg of carotene, 4-7 g of calcium and 0.8-1.5 phosphorus. One of the main advantages of haylage is that its quality is almost no different from freshly cut grass and is readily eaten by animals. In addition, the distribution of haylage to sheep is easy to mechanize.
Herbal flour. Very valuable feed for sheep. 1 kg of such flour contains up to 0.85 feed. units, 100-140 g of digestible protein and 200-250 g of carotene. It is prepared on special units by high-temperature rapid drying in a stream of hot air. Flour in the form of granules is especially valuable for feeding sheep located on distant winter pastures, where the vegetation cover does not have sufficient nutritional value.
In feeding sheep from grain crops great importance has oats. Depending on the film content (30-40%), the digestibility of oat organic matter ranges from 75 to 85%. The nutritional value of 1 kg of oats is equal to 1 feed. units It contains 80-110 g of protein.
Of the leguminous crops, peas are the most valuable for sheep. In 1 feed units contains 190-200 g of digestible protein. Digestibility of nutrients is high - 80-85%.
Cake and bran are of great importance in feeding sheep. Cake contains a lot of protein (30-40%), fat (4-6%) and phosphorus.
Animal feed. These include dairy products, meat and fish meal. Used in sheep farming in limited quantities - when raising lambs and feeding stud rams during the period of preparation and artificial insemination of sheep.
Minerals. An integral part of the sheep diet. In the absence of the necessary balance in the body, metabolism is disrupted and animal productivity decreases. Minerals are divided into macroelements (sodium, chlorine, phosphorus, sulfur) and microelements (cobalt, copper, iron, zinc, iodine).
52. Features of feeding sheep depending on gender, age, productivity, physiological state.
From early spring to late autumn, sheep should be kept on pasture. It is important to remember that sheep slowly adapt to a new type of food and therefore the transfer from stall housing to pasture and back should be carried out gradually.
Sheep are ruminant animals and their main food is hay, straw, and grass. However, you should know that sheep are unable to eat low-nutrient roughage in large quantities. They are quite demanding on the quality and composition of the feed.
When preparing a diet for sheep, their fate should be physiological state, gender, age.
-- Feeding the rams.
Good quality hay - 35-40%,
juicy food - 25-30%
Compound feed - 30-40%
In addition, rams should be given animal feed - milk, skim milk, eggs.
The requirement of rams for feed units is per 100 kg of weight:
1.6-1.9 KE during the rest period,
2.1 -2.4KE in the breeding period.
Moreover, if the sexual load of males increases, then the diet should be increased by 10%.
In summer, in addition to grazing on good pastures, the ram should receive 0.6-0.8 kg of concentrates per head daily.
-- Feeding ewes
After weaning the lambs and the end of the suckling period, the queens need to restore fatness by the time of insemination. Rest should be at least 1.5-2 months. In summer during this period, sheep should receive green food, which has a beneficial effect on the multiple births of sheep. If the pasture has good grass cover, fertilizing is not required. If there is a pasture with sparse vegetation, then the sheep need to be given 300-400 g of concentrates daily.
When the weaning of lambs and the preparation of queens for mating coincide with the stall period, the queens are fed good hay, concentrates, potatoes and root vegetables. Feeding should ensure good nutrition of the queens.
Feeding level herded sheep affects both the productivity of the queens themselves and the future productivity of lambs.
From the level of queen feeding to suckling period their milk production depends, and therefore the growth and development of lambs.
juicy (beets, potatoes, silage, carrots) -2.5-3.8 kg
and concentrates - 0.3-0.5 kg.
The queens are fed 3 times a day, given hay in the morning, succulent and concentrated food at lunch, and hay and straw at night.
Sheep grazing. The transfer of sheep from confinement to grazing should be gradual. Green grass in the early phase of the growing season contains a lot of water and little dry matter, so it is recommended to feed sheep with roughage in the morning and evening. The presence of a significant amount of potassium in green grass can disrupt the body's supply of sodium. To maintain the balance of these substances, sheep are given 8-10 g per head per day of loose table salt.
Raising and fattening young sheep. The best pastures must be allocated for grazing young animals. However, grazing alone, even on good pasture, does not satisfy all the nutritional needs of young growing lambs, so they need to be fed with concentrates. It is best to feed young animals a mixture of grain feed (oats, corn, barley) with wheat bran and cake.
In winter, young animals should also receive a variety of high-quality feed. Poor feeding should not be allowed, since the delay in growth and development in the future cannot be compensated for. Young animals should be given 1.0-1.5 kg per head of good hay per day, as well as root vegetables and concentrates. Young animals should be given food at least 3-4 times a day at a certain time.
Usually young animals, especially valukhs, are fattened and slaughtered. The most common and cheapest way of fattening is feeding on natural pastures, preferably on legumes and cereals.
53. Pregnant queens need adequate feeding, and if the pasture is good, then the sheep eat their fill on it. However, they still need to be fed with mineral supplements such as chalk, bone meal and table salt. Powdered chalk is mixed in equal proportions with bone meal and this mixture is given in small feeders at the rate of 10 - 15 g per head per day. Table salt is given to sheep in the form of a lick or in bulk at the rate of 5 - 8 g per animal per day. Although mineral fertilizers should be in the feeders constantly, they are fed at least in two doses: one large part is given at night, and the other in the morning, before being put out to pasture.
When keeping pregnant queens on pasture, one must not tire them out with heavy movements, nor allow them to be treated roughly or frightened, which often leads to abnormal births and even miscarriages.
If the queens on pastures do not eat enough, they must be fed with silage, hay, cake or mixed feed. Twice a day, the queens need to be given fresh water, which should not be too cold. You should not turn out pregnant queens to pasture in rainy, inclement weather.
54. With the end of the grazing season in October, the sheep are transferred to stabling in specially prepared sheepfolds (sheds). The room for sheep should be of such a size that there is 2.0 m2 per animal, and there should also be space for installing a feeder and a nursery for succulent, roughage, concentrated feed, as well as mineral supplements. Keeping sheep in damp and cramped spaces leads to various diseases, damage to wool.
At good feeding sheep tolerate any frost, but suffer from excess humidity, damp bedding and drafts, which leads to various colds. Therefore, in rooms where animals are kept, the floor should be covered generously with straw at the rate of 5 kg per 1 sq.m. and, if possible, add new bedding every 3-4 days.
Straw bedding protects the coat from contamination by urine and manure, and also perfectly absorbs moisture. But bedding made of sawdust, peat, and chopped straw greatly contaminates the wool.
Sheep housing must be maintained constant temperature and provide good ventilation. Sheep do not need warmth, therefore, it is considered normal when the temperature in the room is kept at 6-8 ° C above zero, and during the lambing period of the queens - 10-15 ° C above zero. Sheep are gradually transferred to stall housing within 7 -10 days.
The winter period of keeping sheep lasts 200-210 days and coincides with the period of mating (pregnancy) of the uterus, lambing and raising lambs until weaning. In winter, sheep are fed, as a rule, 2 times a day in the morning and evening. In the morning, feed succulent feed (silage, root crops) and concentrates. For better palatability of silage, haylage, and crushed root crops, they are sprinkled with concentrates. As a rule, sheep are given the bulk of roughage (hay, haylage, feed straw) at night.
Root vegetables are fed to sheep in their natural form, unchopped, but cleaned of dirt or washed.
Feed is usually fed to sheep from specially designed feeders. These feeders can be portable, universal or stationary.
Portable universal feeders are usually made of wood; they are installed in the middle of the room (double-sided) or along the walls (single-sided).
In winter, as manure accumulates, portable feeders are raised up, and in the spring, when manure is removed, they can be moved or taken out of the barn.
It is advisable to feed sheep in winter at the same time of day at regular intervals. Sheep get used to a certain routine well and frequent changes in routine or erratic feeding have too adverse an effect on them. In winter, in good weather, it is advisable to drive them out into paddocks adjacent to the barn, and feed them with fodder straw and hay, and feed root crops and silage feed indoors, because they freeze outside.
It is better to distribute feed to lambs in nurseries and feeders in a specially fenced off feeding compartment with a hole where adult sheep cannot penetrate. Sheep must be provided with clean drinking water and salt at all times throughout the year. Water consumption by sheep depends on the ratio of “dry” and succulent feed in the diet and can range from 2 to 8 liters per head per day. Sheep are most often watered from troughs installed in stalls, paddocks, and pastures. On pastures, sheep can also be given water from natural reservoirs - lakes, ponds, rivers, drainage canals, etc. However, the water must be of high quality, and the reservoirs must be equipped with approaches that are convenient for the animals. Table salt, as a rule, is included in factory-prepared feed. However, for the complete satisfaction of animals in this necessary mineral fertilizing Lick salt or loose salt must always be in special troughs installed in stalls, paddocks or pastures.
55. Herding rules. With the exception of early spring and late autumn, when there are strong, cold dews, sheep grazing begins as early as possible, before the sun comes out. Sheep do not tolerate heat well, so on hot days grazing has to be interrupted from 10-11 to 14-16 hours. This is the time when the animals rest in their parking areas. With the onset of evening coolness, grazing is resumed and continued until dark. If the pastures are not good enough and the sheep do not eat enough on them during the day, night grazing is also practiced. Night grazing usually continues until 24 o'clock at night, after which the sheep are given the opportunity to rest until dawn.
Pastures are grazed gradually, in small areas. With alternate grazing, after completely grazing the first plot and moving the sheep to the second, the grass in the first plot will grow back better and after a while sheep can be grazed on it again.
Watering sheep. It is necessary to water sheep on pasture, preferably 2 times a day. It is best to water sheep after a day break, before resuming grazing, and also in the morning, before it begins.
Salt cottage. Sheep's need for salt when eating green fodder increases significantly. Salt should be given in the form of a lick, that is, large pieces that the sheep lick as needed. Pieces of lick are laid out in parking areas (tyrla), where animals are during breaks in grazing and at night,
56 .Caring for sheep in the pasture. The main responsibilities of a shepherd during the grazing period are to provide water to all sheep in a timely manner every day, provide them with a sufficient amount of pasture and salt, and provide weak adult animals and lambs with appropriate nutrition.
Often sheep on pasture lame not because of limb disease, but because of neglected hooves. Shepherds must trim overgrown hoof horns.
57. In winter, the stable period for sheep begins and therefore they must be kept in sheepfolds. Sheepfolds and premises of sheep-breeding complexes must be erected on dry, relatively elevated places with the ends facing the prevailing winds. In the winter housing of sheep, the quality and quantity of feed play an important role. Sheep should go into winter well-fed. Before the start of wintering, all sick and weak sheep are collected in separate group, improve their feeding, organize treatment. Premises for sheep must be equipped with a sufficient amount of equipment - feeders, shields, drinking bowls. When determining the number of feeders, it is envisaged that a full-aged sheep should have 30-40 cm of feeding front, and a lamb 20-30 cm. When using briquettes and pellets from crushed hay, straw and concentrates, the preparation and distribution of feed can be completely mechanized. The preparation of complete mixtures from crushed feed gives no less effect when keeping sheep in winter. For example, a loose feed mixture is prepared consisting of hay, straw, silage, grain fodder and protein and vitamin supplements. A sudden change of feed during the transition from pasture to stall housing can lead to digestive disorders in sheep. Therefore, sheep are gradually transferred to feeding with roughage over a week to a week and a half, increasing the feeding daily from the dacha with 0.3-0.5 kg of hay; they are transferred to the full amount of roughage in 7-10 days. At the beginning of wintering, relatively better feed is used - hay, root crops. Somewhat inferior to them in quality of feed - straw, average quality hay is fed on frosty days. IN last weeks and the days of stalling provide good hay for the sheep.
58. In practice, two types of sheep fattening are used: pasture (grazing) and stall feeding. Feeding and fattening of sheep is aimed at: short term achieve maximum cheap animal weight gain by using green and succulent feed with a moderate amount of concentrates.
For fattening and fattening, cull queens are used after weaning lambs, young animals and super-replacement young animals of the current year of birth after weaning from their mothers and having reached a live weight of at least 25-27 kg. They begin organizing feeding in the spring. From the flocks, culled ewes (old, mastitic, infertile), young animals of winter and spring lambing, and in breeding farms all culled (“zootechnical marriage”) lambs and castrated rams are selected. Sheep can be fed on natural and artificial pastures.
If necessary, animals are additionally fed 2-3 kg of grass and 200-300 g of concentrates per day. Feeding on good cereal and legume pastures is carried out for 12-14 hours a day, leaving the sheep outside at night. Total duration its 60-100 days. In autumn, the sheep's diet includes green corn, root vegetables, and vegetable waste.
At the beginning of feeding, pastures distant from the sheds are used, and towards the end of fattening, pastures close to them are used. At the same time, in order to obtain higher weight gain, long daily movements of animals to pastures, tyrls and watering places are not allowed. For better grass consumption by sheep, they practice more frequent shifts pens, organize twice daily watering of animals and feeding them with table salt. After morning and evening grazing, the sheep are given a long rest.
59. Determining the age of sheep by teeth. On a farm where individual records of sheep are kept, their age is determined by records or by special marks on the ears indicating the year of birth. The age of sheep can also be determined by their teeth.
An adult sheep has 32 teeth, of which 24 are molars and eight are incisors. There are 12 molars on the upper and lower jaws (six on each side). The incisors are located in the front lower jaw, and in the upper they are replaced by a hard muscle roller. The inner pair of incisors are called hooks, the second pair are called internal middle ones, the third pair are called external middle ones, and the fourth pair are called edges. The three front molars are called false molars, and the three back teeth are called true molars.
Over the course of their lives, sheep's teeth change: instead of milk ones, permanent ones grow. This change occurs at certain intervals. The age of sheep is judged by the change of incisors and their shape. Permanent incisors are different from primary incisors; they are wider and larger. The change of incisors in sheep occurs in the following order: at the age of 1 year, and in precocious ones, by one year the first pair of incisors - hooks - is replaced, then by two years the second pair is replaced - internal middle ones, by three years - external middle ones and at 3^2 - 4 years - fourth pair of incisors, edges. Thus, at 4 years of age, sheep have permanent white, wide teeth that fit tightly together (Fig. 5).
In sheep over four years old, age is determined by the shape of the teeth, the degree of their abrasion and the appearance of gaps between them. By the age of five, the incisors begin to move out of the gums and their upper edges wear off, but the teeth sit firmly in the gums. At the age of six years, a gap appears between the first pair of incisors, the teeth acquire a chisel shape, turn yellow and begin to wobble.” At seven years, the crowns of the front three pairs of incisors are significantly worn out. At 7-8 years of age, sheep begin to lose teeth and are culled due to old age (dental defects) because they cannot chew food properly.
Sheep tagging.
Sheep are marked with individual numbers in the following ways:
A) tattoo on the ears;
C) metal and plastic ear tags;
C) burning on the horns;
The main way to mark sheep is by tattooing their ears. Numbers must be placed on a hairless surface inside ear. The numbers should run parallel to the length of the ear and in the middle of it; on the left ear the number should start from the head, on the right - to the head.
The tattoo is done with Dutch soot diluted in alcohol with the addition of 5-10% glycerin.
Marking of breeding animals is carried out in the following order: lambs obtained from ewes of the selection group and ewes on which the rams are assessed for the quality of the offspring at birth are tattooed on the left ear with the individual or conditional number of the mother.
Lambs sired by ewes of other groups in breeding farms and all lambs in custom herds are tattooed at birth symbol farm (brand) and herd number.
An individual number is placed on the right ear of all lambs when they are weaned. Also, the numbers each year start with one. The individual number is preceded by the year of birth (the last digit of the calendar year). For example, the bright woman born in 2000, No. 254, born from the uterus 849, should have No. 0254 on her right ear. The left ear of this bright woman will have No. 849 or another conventional sign of the household placed at birth.
For horned rams, the individual ear number is also burned on the right horn in the same order.
Sheep of all fine-wool breeds and their litter in breeding and customary breeds are individually or class-tested and assigned to various classes, marked by plucking on the right ear. Classes are marked in this way:
Elite - one arrow plucked at the end of the right ear. Queens selected for the selection group and core are additionally tweezed with an “arrow” on the left ear.
Class I - one pluck on the lower edge of the right ear.
Class II – two tweezers on the lower edge of the right ear.
Sheep that do not qualify as class animals have the end of their right ear cut off.
62. origin and productive biologist. Features of goats. Domestic goats originated from various types. wild goats. In our country, wild goats are represented by the Caucasian and Dagestan aurochs, as well as the Siberian ibex. Goats have a thin muzzle, movable lips, chisel-shaped thin incisors, allowing the animals to bite grass, delicate leaves and stems low. Body type is usually dry and angular. Its most characteristic features are narrow body, narrow backside and flat ribs. The horns are close together and in cross section have the shape of a triangle. Unlike sheep, goats have higher sexual potency, an energetic temperament and are superior to them in acclimatization ability. Sexual heat in queens is active. The reproductive cycle in goats is 17-19 days with fluctuations from 4 to 26. This is important to consider when inseminating them. The duration of fruiting is on average 150 days. Queens usually give birth to 1-2 kids, less often 3-4 or 6-7 kids. The intestines of goats are 27 times longer than the body, the sections of the stomach are relatively better developed than those of sheep, which allows them to digest feed containing a large number of fiber. The skin of goats is more mobile and elastic than that of sheep. Subcutaneous fat layer is poorly developed, fat is deposited mainly on internal organs. Goat wool is characterized by a high yield of pure fiber - from 75 to 99%. This is explained by the small number of sweat and sebaceous glands and, accordingly, fat, especially in downy and coarse-haired goats. Goat down differs from sheep (merino) in having fewer scales, due to which it retains dyes better. In goats of all breeds, downy and transitional fibers shed first, and then guard fibers. This biological feature makes it possible to obtain from them the highest quality down raw materials when itching in the early stages. A certain interrelation of various parts of the body, organs of body tissues quite fully characterizes animals of one or another direction of productivity or breed. Thus, woolly goats have a delicate and loose constitution, coarse-haired and downy goats have a strong, with some deviation in coarseness, dairy goats have a dense or dry, as well as a delicate constitution. The duration of economic use of goats is from 7 to 10 years. Age can be determined by the condition of the incisors. Goats have 32 teeth, including 24 molars, 12 on each side of the jaw (6 on the upper and 6 on the lower), and 8 incisors on the lower jaw. In goats up to one year old, all the incisors are deciduous. 60 chromosomes.
61. The current state of goat breeding in the Russian Federation and trends in its development. In Russian Federation at the end of 2008, the total number of goats in farms of all categories was 2 million 172.6 thousand, including 1 million 421.2 thousand goats; in agricultural enterprises, respectively, 180.8 thousand heads, including 111 .4 thousand
goats. In Russia, downy, woolly and dairy goat breeds are bred.
Despite the recent decrease in the number of downy
and woolly breeds of goats, there has been a tendency to increase the number of dairy herds and, apparently, this direction will continue in
in the near future. The economic crisis of the 90s practically destroyed the goat breeding industry. The existing inadequate monopoly price policy for down and wool products has led to
Since 1993, highly profitable goat farms have become unprofitable. This is due to the cessation of breeding sales
live; destruction of a previously stable raw material zone, economic ties and contractual relations between suppliers and consumers
bodies of raw materials; lack of reliable markets for down and other
products; a sharp increase in its cost, low level
state support agricultural products
drivers. Veterinary work has weakened in breeding facilities
service (due to the high cost of drugs-
Comrade), organization of rationed feeding (rations contain up to 50% straw). The industry management system is based on
extensive technology. As a result, there continues to be a sharp decline in the number of goats, production, and in some
farms and their complete disappearance. At the same time, the transition of the economy to market relations gave
a powerful impetus for the development of dairy goat breeding already in the new
basis of private production. The country is increasing in
head of these animals, the first breeding farms appear
goats for dairy productivity with broodstock
200-500 heads or more. Despite the fact that Russia ranks fourth in the world after France, Ukraine and Bulgaria in goat productivity (125 kg per head per lactation), it cannot be considered a country with developed production capacity.
local goat breeding. This is due to the lack of large pro-
industrial farms and production of housing equipment,
milking goats and milk processing.
62.Origin and productive and biological characteristics of goats.
Goats are warm-blooded animals, body temperature in adults is 38.5–40.5 °C, in young animals - 38.5–41 °C. They are classified as ruminants - after the initial chewing, the food after some time begins to be chewed again, more thoroughly. Goats have three pancreas - the rumen, the mesh and the book - and the stomach itself - the abomasum.
The udder of goats looks like two lobes that do not communicate with each other, each with a teat. Often there are vestigial nipples near the main nipples; there is no milk in them, but they do not interfere with milking. Contrary to popular belief, the productivity of such goats is no different from usual. To prevent the young animals from resorbing them - then these papillae will interfere with milking, the kids should not be kept on suction for a long time, or even before goatling, these nipples should be attached to the skin of the udder with a wide adhesive plaster. True, so that they do not become dead due to poor circulation, they need to be examined after 2 hours. The color of the udder, depending on the color of the animal, is white (pink) or black.
Economic use goats - 7–10 years. Puberty in goats occurs at 5–9 months. Most suitable age for mating - 1.5 years. An adult goat can be allowed to mate when signs of estrus appear. During this period, goats refuse to feed and become restless. The hunt lasts 24–36 hours. Mating is best done on the second day of the hunt. Cover twice. If the animal is not fertilized, then after two to three weeks, less often after a week, signs of heat appear again.
Pregnancy - pregnancy - lasts an average of 147 days (from 140 to 156 days). During this period, the goats' appetite increases and they are given high-quality feed. Goat breeding - childbirth - should take place in a dry, spacious room, cleaned and disinfected; the floor should be covered with a dry bedding of hay, straw, etc. Childbirth is easier if the animal moves a lot during pregnancy, so walking areas must be provided for the queens.
The quality of the offspring depends on the productivity of the parents and their origin (they must be free of body defects). To avoid inbreeding, the sire should be changed every two years.
According to zoological taxonomy, the subgenus of domestic goats ( Capra Capra hircus) belongs to the class of mammals ( Mammalia), order of artiodactyls ( Artiodactila), suborder ruminants ( Ruminantia), the bovid family ( Cavicornia), subfamily goat sheep ( Caprovinea) and the genus of goats – Capra ( Capra). Various subgenera of ten species of wild goats belong to the same genus. Currently, most researchers believe that the relatives of domestic goats are two existing wild species - bezoars, or saber-horned goats ( C. Capra aegagrus Ersc.), and horned goats, or markuras ( C. Capra falconeri Wagn.), belonging to the same subgenus as domestic goats. Proof of this origin of domestic goats is their great similarity in the structure of horns and other craniological characteristics with the named species of wild goats, as well as the production of fertile offspring as a result of crossing domestic goats with bezoar and horned goats. During the process of domestication, under the influence of artificial selection and selection, the appearance of animals changed in many ways, and differences appeared in their anatomical structure. The most stable and reliable indicators for establishing family ties are the structure of the skull, the shape and direction of the horns of goats. Domestic goats have much in common with wild species in appearance, color and lifestyle.
63.Organization and technique of grading goats.
The processing of valuation data begins after the goats are cleaned. The main purpose of compiling a summary statement of valuation is to characterize the goat herd in all respects.
The summary statement is compiled by sex and age groups of goats. It contains data on live weight and fluff. Materials are distributed according to the type of goats, fluff content in wool, length, density, fineness, uniformity, color of fluff, size and class composition. The summary sheet gives characteristics of the best animals: breeding goats, female goats, re-goats and record-breaking goats. A calendar plan is drawn up work for the coming year. A conclusion is given on the condition of the livestock, and the location during the year of deficiencies in feeding, care and maintenance of goats is noted.
Accepted
