How to grow a ram for meat: how much time is needed, feeding technology

Sheep are raised for several purposes - to get meat, wool, milk, and also for the sale of offspring. The article contains recommendations on the cultivation, maintenance and breeding of meat breeds at home.

The right breed of sheep

Sheep farming is a lucrative business worldwide. One of the main conditions for the success of the economy is the correct selection of the breed. To choose it, it is important to clearly understand the purpose of sheep breeding.

Among all breeds, depending on the productivity of animals, various directions are distinguished . So, sheep who have high-quality wool are considered to be woolly. Those who can give a lot of delicious meat - to the meat-tallow direction. There are breeds that can be bred to produce two to three products, for example, meat and wool or meat, wool and milk.

Thus, if it is planned to grow sheep for meat, it is necessary to choose breeds of meat direction with a large body weight and a high rate of slaughter yield. Did you know? The sheep became the first mammal in the world to be cloned from an adult cell. The most famous clone is Dolly the sheep. The second criterion by which the breed should be selected is adaptability to local conditions. There are animals that can tolerate low temperatures, drought, the absence of a specific type of food, and there are more tender ones that require certain conditions. When choosing a breed, a person planning to develop sheep breeding must take into account the peculiarities of the local climate and landscape.

Popular meat breeds

To date, a large number of meat sheep has been bred. The most popular are Dorper, Romanovskaya, Kuibyshevskaya, Vendee. We offer to get to know them better and learn about their advantages and disadvantages.

Romanovskaya

A very ancient breed, bred in the XVIII century. Its representatives have a strong skeleton, a hunchbacked head, a barrel-shaped body, and a short tail. Males weigh 65–75 kg, females 45–55 kg. Their height does not exceed 70 cm.

At birth, lambs weigh up to 3.5 kg. Their early maturity is average - by 8–9 months young growth weighs up to 45 kg. The daily weight gain is approximately 150-180 g. Romanovskiy sheep meat has a small percentage of fat, without a specific smell. The bottomhole yield is 50%.

In addition to meat, representatives of this breed also give high-quality wool, which is used to make a sheepskin fur coat . Annual shearing from sheep is 2.5–3.5 kg, from sheep - 1.4–1.8 kg.

  • Advantages of the breed:
  • the ability to simultaneously receive meat and wool;
  • high fecundity of uterus - over 270%;
  • unpretentiousness in leaving and feeding;
  • good acclimatization.

The disadvantages include weak lungs and a small yield of wool.

Kuibyshevskaya

Another popular breed is Kuibyshevskaya. Its representatives have a strong skeleton, a short neck, a barrel-shaped body. Kuibyshev sheep hornless. Their body is covered with a thick, long, semi-fine, white wool.

Rams weigh 85–95 kg each, sheep weigh 55–60 kg. Babies are born 3-4 kg each, reach a mass of 19-20 kg by the age of 4 months, and 32–55 kg by the year of birth. Their meat is tasty, juicy, marble, odorless. The best time for slaughter is 10 months: at this time, animals reach 75% of their total weight. Slaughter yield is 60%. From adult sheep, you can cut 1.7–3.8 wool with a length of up to 11 cm.

  • Sheep farmers who already had experience in breeding Kuibyshev sheep, note the following positive characteristics:
  • good adaptive qualities;
  • production of high quality wool;
  • tasty meat;
  • unpretentious to feeds, conditions of keeping and leaving;
  • high fertility (130%).

  • Representatives of the described breed also have disadvantages, the main of which are:
  • the inability to grow them in unproductive pastures prone to frequent droughts;
  • heterogeneity of wool in non-tribal individuals.

Dorper

Dorper is a meat and milk breed. These are large animals: sheep reach a weight of 90 kg, sheep - an average of 55 kg. Lambs are born with a weight of up to 5 kg. In a month they reach 12–25 kg, in half a year - 40–70 kg. Individuals who have reached the age of 9-12 months are ready for slaughter.

The main distinguishing feature of the Dorper is a short coat, thanks to which they always have a well-groomed appearance and do not require frequent haircuts. The coat is light gray, coarse. Depending on the species, Dorper can have black or white heads. Representatives of this breed have very tasty meat: it does not have a specific smell, it is tender, juicy, with a small amount of cholesterol. Slaughter yield is 59%.

  • Among the advantages of the Dorper breed are the following:
  • unpretentiousness in care and feeding and, as a result, low maintenance costs;
  • high productivity indicators;
  • good metabolism, which leads to the need to provide a small amount of feed;
  • ability to endure for a long time without water, at extreme temperatures;
  • strong immune system;
  • lack of need for haircuts;
  • attractive appearance;
  • high fecundity;
  • good viability of young animals;
  • well-developed maternal instinct in queens.

  • The disadvantages of the sheep of this breed include:
  • high cost;
  • the presence of a long and thin tail;
  • excessive mobility and high risk of injury.

Vendee

The Vendee breed belongs to the meat-and-wool direction. Its representatives have a strong skeleton, proportional addition, a barrel-shaped body. Males reach a weight of 80–130 kg and a height at the withers of 75 cm. Females grow to 70 cm and weigh 60–110 kg. Their body is covered with thick hair 6–8 cm long.

Lambs are born 4-6 kg. They are growing fast. The increase is 400-500 g per day. They are recommended to be slaughtered starting from the fifth to sixth month of life. Slaughter yield is 50%. Did you know? Sheep instinct is highly developed in sheep: if they are alone, then they experience anxiety, which intensifies over time . The meat of these sheep is distinguished by high taste characteristics, juiciness, sweet taste, marbling. In a year, sheep manage to cut 3-5 kg ​​of wool, and females - 2-4 kg. Net yield is 60%.

  • The advantages of the Vendee sheep include:
  • rapid growth of young animals;
  • the possibility of early slaughter;
  • high productivity of wool and meat;
  • excellent quality meat and wool fibers.

The main disadvantage of the breed is that its representatives are not able to live in some climatic conditions. For example, the climate in Russia does not suit them.

Breed selection depending on conditions

There are 4 ways to keep sheep:

  1. Stall.
  2. Grazing.
  3. Mixed stall-pasture.
  4. Pasture stall.

Accordingly, when choosing a breed, one should take into account the climate, landscape features of the area, pasture fullness.

If we talk about the described breeds, then for the Romanovskaya, Vandeyskaya and Kuibyshevskaya the recommended way of keeping is a mixed one, which combines stall living and walking on a pasture. Dorper sheep are suitable for grazing, stall and mixed keeping.

Conditions of detention

For successful breeding of sheep, it is necessary to build a shepherd, equip it in accordance with the requirements, create and fence off a place for walking.

Pasture

For grazing sheep, natural pastures and artificially created, specially planted with perennial and annual plants: cereals, legumes, sedges, cattails are used. In order to calculate the optimal area for walking, it is necessary to take into account the general need for feed for all animals and the yield of the area.

The calculations are made according to the formula:

G (number of goals per 1 ha of pasture) = U (grass yield multiplied by% use of grass): N (daily rate of grass per 1 animal) × P (duration of pasture use).

For 100 sheep, approximately 62 hectares of pasture with a yield of 25 c / ha will be required.

There are several requirements for pasture:

  1. It should be dry, not swamped.
  2. It should not have prickly and poisonous plants.
  3. There should be no pits, puddles, ditches on it.
Important! Before releasing animals on a paddock on a natural pasture, it should be examined for the growth of poisonous herbs: hemlock, belladonna, wild rosemary, aconite, wolf bast, celandine, horsetail, livestock, etc. The recommended stay in the pasture is 8-10 hours . in a day. It should be divided into morning walk and evening.

Koshara

There are several requirements for a nightmare:

  1. It should be spacious, bright and dry.
  2. The floor above the ground should rise 20-30 cm. It can be made of clay, wood or earth.
  3. On the floor should be laid a bed of straw, sawdust.
  4. Recommended temperature - not lower than + 5 ... + 8 ° С, during the lambing period - not lower than + 15 ... + 18 ° С.
  5. The room should be equipped with good ventilation, large windows.
  6. The minimum ceiling height is 1.5 m.

How to equip

The shepherd should be equipped with such devices and communications:

  1. Artificial lighting.
  2. Ventilation.
  3. Feeders for dry, succulent feed, mineral additives. For 1 adult animal, there should be 25 cm, for a lamb - 15 cm.
  4. Drinking bowls 30–40 cm high. For 1 adult animal, there should be 15–20 cm.

Calculation of the area of ​​koshara and the number of livestock

For 1 adult sheep, 1.5 m² of floor area is recommended. 2.5 m² are allocated for a mature ram. An area of ​​0.8 m² should be provided for young individuals. In the room where the lambing takes place, the calculation of the area is based on 1.7 m² per 1 animal.

Sheep acquisition rules

When buying animals, you need to pay attention to their appearance and behavior. Find out what is the life span of a sheep.

Young animals

When choosing a young animal, attention should be paid to its weight - it should not have strong deviations from the norms stated in the breed standard. You should choose animals with a strong constitution, moderately well-fed, with thick shiny coat, even gait.

Adults

Adults must have a proportionate physique. They should have a strong constitution, tight skin, a wide sternum, a flat back, straight, widely set limbs, strong hooves, a clean-looking coat, a healthy-looking, correct bite. A prerequisite is a large body weight. It is important to pay attention to the eyes - they should shine with a healthy glow, not have dried secretions.

It is worth refusing to buy a sheep with secretions from the nasal passages. The fact that the animal is healthy is indicated by smooth and clean breathing. Sheep should be selected with a constitution and coat color consistent with the breed standard. In non-giving birth females, the udder should be small, dense, but not solid, of regular shape.

Important! When buying animals, you should ask the seller about vaccinations and anthelmintic measures taken.

Lambs

When buying meat lamb, they take into account that at 4–5 months it should not weigh less than 42–45 kg. Active animals should be selected without visible defects or signs of the disease. A healthy lamb is shy, so when a person approaches, it will run away. He must have the correct bite, even breathing, clean hooves.

Sheep’s case

Puberty in females occurs in 7–8 months, in males earlier - in 5–6 months. However, this does not mean that animals can happen at this age. The optimal age for mating of females is considered to be 18 months: it was at this time that the body of female individuals was already able to endure and give birth to a baby without problems.

Females are usually very prolific. The fertility level depends on the breed, can exceed 150% and reach 270%. As a rule, in the first lamb appears one lamb. In subsequent births, from 1 to 3. Females can produce offspring every 8 months. However, frequent births undermine their health, so veterinarians do not advise to happen to animals more often than 1 time per year.

Selection of queens and mating

A mating is produced when the female begins to hunt. It lasts for two days.

The following characteristic signs indicate the beginning of the hunt:

  • swelling, redness of the genitals, mucous discharge;
  • aggressive behavior of the sheep in relation to other females.

For mating, only healthy individuals are selected. The condition of the females is checked - in particular, they examine the udder, teeth. Sheep is also diagnosed: special attention is paid to the condition of the hooves, teeth, and genitals.

There are several options for covering sheep:

  1. It is possible to separate females and males 1.5 months before the mating so that they gain strength and ate (they are provided with enhanced nutrition). And then you should bring the sheep and sheep in a special machine or just in the same room. Using this method, it is possible to determine with high accuracy when the female became pregnant and how much time is left before delivery.
  2. In the second case, sheep and sheep are kept for several months together. This method is called freestyle. With him, it is difficult to establish the exact timing of pregnancy and lambing.
  3. The third method is artificial insemination.
Important! Unsuitable for mating are considered to be female individuals who have frequent mastitis, lung diseases, as well as old age.

To control breeding, it is recommended to keep breeding sheep separately from females. Not every mating is successful and ends in pregnancy.

The fact that the female is fertilized is evidenced by the following symptoms:

  • non-occurrence of sexual hunting for 16-18 days;
  • weight gain;
  • lack of interest in sheep.

Okot

Sheep pregnancy lasts approximately 5 months. As a rule, these animals give birth on their own, without human intervention. However, the owner needs to prepare the place for the pregnant female to live in the last days before giving birth, and also after them, to take care of the place of keeping the babies, to arrange with the veterinarian who can help in case of complications.

The preparation of the premises must be done 7-10 days before lambing: it is important that it is warm, clean and dry. A dense bedding should be laid in it, a feeder and a drinking bowl installed. On birth day, it is necessary to bring sanitized scissors, iodine, warm water here.

The fact that childbirth will occur soon will be evidenced by such changes in the body of a sheep:

  • an increase in the size of the udder;
  • sagging abdomen;
  • swelling of the external genital organs.

If such signs are found, the female must be separated from the herd. The owner of the sheep must be present at lambing. If everything proceeds normally, then it will last no more than an hour. The interval between the appearance of several lambs should be about 15 minutes.

Mother independently gnaws the umbilical cord. However, if she has her first birth, she may not do this - then human intervention is necessary. The umbilical cord is cut at a distance of 8-10 cm and disinfected with iodine.

Also, the help of a person may be needed if the mother did not lick the animal and did not clear his nasal passages. The owner must clean them himself. Lamb appears with a weight of 2-5 kg (depending on the breed). At first, he should be left near his mother. For 40 minutes, the newborn is given colostrum.

The first feeding of the woman in labor is carried out 4 hours after lambing . After childbirth, the owner must monitor the condition of the sheep and ensure that the last is left. Under normal circumstances, this occurs within 6 hours after lambing. If during this time he did not appear, then you should seek veterinary help. Absenteeism of the placenta indicates complications, constitutes a threat to the health and life of the woman in childbirth.

If the last came out in a timely manner, it is removed from the premises and buried along with the litter on which the lambing took place. To exclude other complications, the condition and behavior of the sheep must be observed for another week.

Growing lambs

Young growth is allowed to grow in three ways:

  1. Joint. Lambs are kept with their mother up to 2 weeks of age.
  2. Separated. After lambing, the babies are separated from their mother and until they reach 3 weeks of age they are placed in a separate room, starting them only at the time of feeding - first every 3 hours, then less often.
  3. Artificial. Newborns aged 1-2 days are weaned and fed artificially.

Feeding can be introduced when the kids are 15–20 days old. First, concentrates and hay are suitable. In the future, decoctions of oatmeal and oilcake are given. At first, the amount of complementary foods should be 60 g. It is gradually increased to 120 g.

For a three-month-old lamb, a portion of 300 g is needed. Since that time, it can already be gradually transferred to adult feed. It is possible to let young animals out for walking in 2-3 weeks, starting from 15-20 minutes a day. The length of stay in the fresh air is increased gradually, bringing to 1 hour.

Adult livestock

For adults, it is necessary to properly draw up a diet, conduct quality care and carry out activities aimed at preventing the appearance of diseases and parasites.

Diet

The following ingredients should be included in the diet:

  • grass;
  • hay;
  • straw; cereals (oats, rye, corn, wheat);
  • legumes (alfalfa, sainfoin);
  • fresh vegetables (root vegetables, gourds);
  • salt.

Recommended feeding rates for fattening animals can be found in the table:

Type of feedAmount per day, kg
For young animals up to 12 months:
Hay1.3
roots2
concentrates0.3
Salt8-10 g
For adults:
Hayone
strawone
roots2
concentrates0.3
Salt10 g

Young animals are fed 3-4 times a day, sharing feeding as follows:

  • 6-7 am - hay;
  • 10–11 hours - concentrates;
  • 15–16 hours - root crops, silage;
  • 18-19 hours - hay.

Subject to these recommendations, the growth of young animals will be 150–170 g per day, of adults - 160–180 g.

Care

Leaving consists in regular cleaning and disinfection of a shepherd, replacement of a laying. Animals need to be bathed periodically, sheared (up to 2 times a year), hoof cleaning.

It is important to ensure that water is always present in the drinkers. An adult animal needs to drink at least 3-4 liters per day. В жаркую погоду это количество нужно увеличить до 6–8 л. В зимнее время воду нужно подогревать.

Disease prevention

С целью предотвращения развития опасных болезней у животных и возникновения эпидемий необходимо регулярно проводить обязательные вакцинации. Перечень прививок будет зависеть от региона выращивания овец.

Следует вакцинировать животных от бешенства, сибирской язвы, ящура, инфекционного мастита, оспы, бруцеллёза. Также обязательно нужно проводить противоглистные мероприятия.

Как рассчитать время откорма

Откорм производят с целью получения после убоя максимального количества качественного мяса. Усиленное питание вводят в определённый период, чтобы ко времени забоя добиться желаемой массы овцы.

For adults

Овцы в среднем живут по 14 лет. Опытные овцеводы отмечают, что их целесообразно держать лишь до возраста 6–8 лет. Интенсивный откорм начинают за 1, 5–2 месяца до планируемого забоя.

В это время вводят следующие ингредиенты:

  • силос — 5 кг;
  • овощи — 1 кг;
  • кукурузу, ячмень — 0, 25 кг;
  • сено бобовое — 0, 5 кг;
  • сено обычное — 0, 2 кг.

For young

Откорм молодняка начинают сразу же после отъёма от матери — в 3–4 месяца. Длительность усиленного питания при суточном приросте в 200 г составляет 60 дней. Также возможно проводить откорм на протяжении 3–4 месяцев при суточном приросте в 120–150 г.

Выгоднее всего проводить забой молодняка по достижении 45–50 кг. Романовских овец забивают в возрасте 8–9 месяцев при массе 30–40 кг.

For lambs

Суточный прирост ягнят в среднем составляет до 2 месяцев — 300 г, с 2 до 4 месяцев — 230 г, с 4 до 8 месяцев — 75–100 г. По этим причинам особенно усиленно необходимо кормить малышей — начиная с рождения и до 4 месяцев. Так можно сократить сроки выращивания и откорма. Important! Чем интенсивнее будет откорм, тем ниже затраты на корма на 1 кг прироста.

В дальнейшем затраты на откорм будут повышаться. Так, если до 3 месяцев на 1 кг прироста ягнёнка требуется 3 энергетических кормовых единицы (ЭКЕ), в 3–4 — 3–4 ЭКЕ, то в 8 месяцев для набора массы потребуется предоставить 5–8 ЭКЕ, а с 8 до 12 месяцев — 8–10 ЭКЕ.

Забой

Забой животного в домашних условиях осуществляют по определённой технологии, которая включает подготовительный этап, непосредственно забой и разделку туши. Перед процедурой ветеринар должен осмотреть барана и разрешить его забой.

Подготовку начинают за сутки. Животное отделяют от стада и полностью прекращают кормить, однако в достаточном количестве предоставляют ему воду.

В ходе забоя барана подвешивают на перекладину за заднюю ногу так, чтобы его голова располагалась на уровне колен человека, либо укладывают со связанными конечностями на горизонтальную поверхность. Далее необходимо нанести удар острым ножом в область уха и перерезать артерию. Затем нужно в течение 5 минут дать стечь крови, подставив таз.

После этого переходят к разделке туши. Вначале острым ножом снимают шкуру, а затем вскрывают брюшную полость и извлекают внутренние органы. Шкуру вычищают от мяса, моют, переворачивают вверх шерстью и оставляют на час для остывания и просушки. В дальнейшем производят консервирование. Наиболее распространённый способ — сухая засолка.

Did you know? У овец зрачки имеют форму прямоугольников. Кроме них, такая же особенность строения глаза у коз, осьминогов и мангустов.

Итак, если вы планируете заняться овцеводством для получения и продажи качественного мяса, то вам необходимо правильно подобрать породу и создать необходимые условия для разведения овец, а именно: построить овчарню, оборудовав её кормушками и поилками, продумать место выгула, подготовить кормовую базу.

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