Feeding sheep during the different production stages
The cost of feed represents about 70-75% of the total cost of any animal production project. Hence, we find that any reduction in feed costs is positively reflected in the increase in the profitability of the project. Therefore, balanced diets must be made in the nutrients of energy, protein, vitamins and mineral elements that meet the nutritional needs of the sheep. It has a high digestive nutritional value and the lowest possible cost during the different production stages.
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| Feeding sheep |
Sheep nutritional needs:
Under the intensive production system, food needs are divided into two types, the first is preservative food needs and the second is productive food needs.
: preservative nutritional needs
They are the necessary needs in production and include each of the requirements for the pregnancy stage (including the last trimester of pregnancy) - the milk production stage for ewes - the growth stage for lambs and the wool production stage.
1- Feeding the ewes
Preparing the ewes begins about two weeks before the pollination season by making a nutritional boost, with an increase of about 25-30% of the preservative diet added to the basic preservative diet. The feeding process takes about two weeks, at a level of 10% of the preservative diet, until the feeding is done as required.
The importance of feeding the sheep
A- Works to improve the health of females so that they can maintain pregnancy without early miscarriage.
B - It works to increase the rate of ovulation, which helps to increase the proportion of twinning of ewes.
2- Feeding ewes during pregnancy (pregnant women)
The first months of pregnancy, the nutritional needs are the preservative needs of the ewes during the first 15 weeks of pregnancy (the last 6 weeks of pregnancy) when the rapid growth of the fetus begins, as well as the development of the udder to produce milk for the newborn and other changes that require a significant increase in the diet, as we find that the ewes In this period, the food eaten increases at a rate of approximately 50% from the preservative diet as an additional diet. It is preferable to provide an energy source such as barley or molasses by a large percentage, because it facilitates the birth process. Reducing the amount of maize in the diet, as it causes an increase in the percentage of fat, which reduces the ease of childbirth, as it does not exceed 40% in the provided diet. For females, unlike barley, we find that an increase in it is required during that period.
Also, consideration must be given to providing the ewes in the last stage of pregnancy with mineral salts (calcium: phosphorus 1:2 and other elements from table salt and sulfur). We find the importance of calcium so that females do not get exposed to osteoporosis. It is added in the form of coarse tile powder or calcium phosphate, either as vitamins, especially vitamin A is added in the form of Ad 3e to the diet or drinking water provided to pregnant ewes during the last period of pregnancy. Vitamin A must be added or green fodder should be provided as a source of vitamin A because vitamin A works on the safety of the fetus’s body as well as the birth of a healthy pregnancy. Also, the percentage of concentrated feed should be increased and the percentage of filled feed should be reduced, because the ability of the ewes to absorb the diet is small due to the large size of the fetus inside the womb.
3- Feeding intrapartum (lactating) ewes
Immediately after birth, the ewes begin to produce colostrum milk for three days, which is the most important period of pregnancy, because this milk is the one that gives the natural immunity to pregnancy, as it contains immune protein (alpha globulin), known as the natural immune protein from the mother to the newborn, and is absorbed as it is in the intestine without digestion in the rumen. During that period, the lactating females must be fed on their own diets, and the single-parented ewes should be separated from the twins, so that the required nutritional needs can be given in an appropriate manner with the amount of milk produced from the ewe, as well as the percentage of fat, according to the dietary regulations.
4- Feeding suckling lambs from birth to weaning
Lambs are breastfed by their mothers until they take colostrum milk during the first three days, so that the young can benefit from the immune bodies represented in alpha globulin and the high nutritional value found in colostrum milk. The newborn continues with his mother until weaning (2-3 months). Starting from the third week of birth, The pregnancy begins gradually on the weaning diet, which consists of (83% corn + 15% soybean meal + 2% mineral salts) in order to accelerate the development of the rumen, and after weaning, it depends on itself in food. It was also found that the best average weight of weaning for pregnancy is not less than 15 kg.
5- Feeding the rams
The best lambs that will be used as offspring are chosen and fed after weaning on a diet balanced in the various nutrients of energy, protein, mineral salts and vitamins until the weight of the bull (ram) reaches the appropriate weight according to the breed at the age of one year to 1.5 years, which is the period of sexual maturity and must be given A balanced diet with a high percentage of protein up to 15%, with the addition of mineral salts and vitamin A3e, in its importance in the fertility of rams. It also has a food drive process during the pollination season, such as ewes, in order to increase the vitality, activity, and movement of sperm, as well as increase the strength and ability of rams to increase The number of fertilized females.
6- Fattening the lambs
The fattening process begins immediately after weaning, as the growth rates of pregnancy are rapid, and feeding must be done on good concentrated feed, taking into account the gradation of concentrated feed before full feeding on it, so as not to cause diarrhea or punching.
The fattened lamb may reach 40-50 kg, depending on the breed and type of food, and this will be at the age of 6-8 months, depending on the type of fattening.
Types of fattening in sheep
The first type: is rapid fattening
This is done by feeding on concentrated fodder only, and the diet consists of (83% corn + soybean meal + 2% mineral salts and vitamins) the proportion of protein is about 14% and the energy is 80% and the average daily increase is from 250-350gm and the monthly average is 7.5-10 kg and reaches the marketing weight at the age of 6 months.
The second type: is slow fattening
Concentrated fodder is used in it from the filling fodder. Concentrated fodder is used by 2-2.5 of the live body weight. Good filling fodder is given until satiety. Usually alfalfa is threshed in summer or alfalfa in winter. The growth rate reaches 200 g per day, about 6 kg per month.
7- Feeding under grazing system (pastures)
Sheep are among the most well-bred animals on pastures, as the nature of sheep makes good use of natural pastures as well as being inexpensive, and sheep’s inheritance increases soil fertility due to the high percentage of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Sheep also have the ability to walk long distances, bear thirst, and graze dry and short plants after grazing large animals. From cows and buffaloes.
Usually, when grazing sheep on clover in the winter, the number of sheep is left according to the productive state of the animal and the type of pasture, as we find that it can carry about 30 heads of sheep on an acre for a period of 6 months in fertile lands and reaches 15 heads only in newly reclaimed lands, and the animals must be given an amount of of hay or rice straw from a quarter to half a kilogram daily before going out to pasture in order to reduce the chance of bloating.
Precautions to be observed before the sheep go to the pasture
1- Before the animals go out to graze in the pasture, they must be fed on fodder such as hay so that the animal is not exposed to blowing.
2- The animals must be given drinking water before grazing so as not to suffer from flatulence.
3- It must be ensured that the pasture is free of poisonous weeds so that the animals are not exposed to poisoning.
4- Sheep should not go down to the pasture early in the morning and go down to the pasture after sunrise to get rid of the dew on the pasture plants that causes the animals to bloat.
5- Lambs are not allowed to go to pasture before they are weaned, so as not to be exposed to dangers.
Feeding problems in sheep
1- Indigestion in sheep
It occurs as a result of a change in the rumen environment (microflora) due to a sudden change in the type of food, especially when the food changes from coarse to highly concentrated materials.
Symptoms:
Bloating - diarrhea - constipation - poor appetite - ending with a decrease in production.
treatment:
It provides suitable amounts of good hay and limestone (calcium carbonate) at a rate of 1% of the ration to work out the required balance between acid to alkaline, as well as between the concentrate and the coarse.
2- Satiation in sheep
Saturation occurs as a result of the animal’s craving for food with a lack of drinking water, especially for fattening animals. Another reason for satiation is the sudden change of eaten food from green fodder to dry fodder with an increase in the eaten of the concentrated substance with the occurrence of an increase in rumen acidity as a result of the increase eaten from the concentrated fodder.
Her symptoms:
Swelling appears on the left flank above the rumen, which causes the animal to bloat and diarrhoea, the temperature drops, the respiratory rate increases, the appetite decreases, it refrains from rumination and may eventually faint.
Treatment:
Emptying the rumen of its contents while giving the animal a liter of fresh rumen liquid from a healthy animal in order to stimulate digestion and fermentation by natural rumen bacteria.
3- Bloat in sheep
Bloat occurs as a result of a sudden transition from feeding on dry fodder to feeding on green fodder, especially at the beginning of the winter season (end of December), when the clover is juicy, unripe, and the humidity reaches about 90%. Rough material such as hay or straw before grazing.
symptom
The rumen is full of gases with the occurrence of swelling of the left loin with the animal's refusal to eat - an increase in the pulse rate and an increase in breathing - salivation - congestion of the mucous membranes, and in the end, if not treated as soon as possible, the animal may be exposed to death.
Treatment:
A suitable sized applicator (a needle) is used to pierce the wall of the rumen in the swollen part of the left waist to release air (gases).
4- Urinary stones
Cases of urinary retention result from the presence of stones in the kidneys, bladder, or urethra, which causes great economic loss for educators who fatten lambs on high-concentrate diets such as grains that are characterized by a high level of phosphorus compared to the level of calcium, where we find that the ratio is 1:1, which works To increase the chance of forming urinary stones of the type of triple phosphate, which includes phosphorus as an essential element, and this increases in the summer, when the green diet is a source of vitamin A.
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