Technical measures to improve the reproduction rate of sheep

? Strengthen the feeding and management of sheep

The feeding and management of breeding ram requires that the breeding ram should be healthy, lively and energetic all the year round. Being too fat or too thin is not good for breeding. Feed requires full-price formula feed with high nutritional value, easy digestion and good palatability. Usually feed more alfalfa, carrots, corn, millet, eggs, etc., which are rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, of which millet can only account for less than 50% of the concentrate, which should not be too much, otherwise it is easy to make sheep obese. During the mating period, the ram with heavy breeding tasks should appropriately increase the supply of protein, vitamin A, vitamin E and minerals, and feed an egg with a shell every day to ensure its strong libido and mating ability. In addition, breeding rams also need to have a larger activity space, daily exercise time is not less than 6 hours.

The key point of ewe feeding and management is to master the supplementary feeding period, that is, from late pregnancy to early lactation, about 4 months. The fetus grows rapidly in the third trimester, and 90% of the birth weight increases during this period. if the nutrition is insufficient, the birth weight of the lamb is small, the thermoregulation function is not perfect, the resistance is weak, and it is easy to die, and the ewe is also prone to postpartum milk deficiency. Different supplementary feeding standards should be given according to the fatness of ewes and the number of lambs in the early stage of lactation. Reduce concentrate feeding within 1-3 days of lambing and feed only high-quality hay to prevent indigestion or mastitis. After that, strengthen supplementary feeding to make the ewes produce enough milk to ensure that the mother is strong and fat. The lamb should eat colostrum in time within 1-3 days after birth, train to eat grass and feed from 15 to 20 days old, make up feeding in time, and weaning at 4 months old to speed up the recovery of ewes. In addition, one month to one and a half months before mating, short-term preferential feeding should be carried out for ewes in poor condition in order to restore their physical condition and promote estrus. Feed more green succulent feed during the breeding season. The sheep barn is required to be dry, clean, warm and change the bedding grass frequently. Strictly prevent sheep from drinking ice-dregs water in winter.

? Cultivation of prolific varieties and breeding of high quality populations within varieties

Intra-breed breeding-the prolific performance of multi-lamb male and ewe has obvious heredity, so in the process of sheep breeding, attention should be paid to the selection of excellent ram individuals with twins and multiple births as breeding sheep. the selection of excellent twin and multiple ewes or their offspring ewes as basic ewes can significantly increase the lambing rate.

The breeding of prolific breeds is to introduce the blood source of multiparous breeds for hybridization and make use of heterosis to make the sheep with fast growth and high lambing rate grow rapidly. For example, the lambing rate and meat production performance of the hybrid generation of small-tailed Han sheep and non-horned Dorset sheep were significantly improved.

? Timely breeding

Spring, summer and autumn is the peak of estrus and reproduction of sheep. In general, the estrus of sheep lasts from several hours to 3-4 days. Therefore, in the process of feeding and management, special attention should be paid to ewes' estrus to ensure timely breeding. It was found that the ewe looked restless, ate less, sang incessantly, approached the ram actively and swung its tail, the hind legs spread apart, the vulva was congested and swollen, and the hand pressed the arm stood still. at this time, it reached the peak of estrus and could be mated. Ewes generally begin to breed in about 9 months, while rams usually begin to breed at about one and a half years old. Artificial insemination is the best method of mating, supplemented by natural mating. No matter which way of mating, repeated mating should be adopted (that is, the first mating should be repeated at an interval of about 12 hours). The best male-to-female ratio in natural mating sheep is around 1:25.

? Timely elimination and replacement

In the process of sheep breeding, special attention should be paid to increasing the proportion of ewes of appropriate age in the flock (generally required that ewes of appropriate age account for more than 60% of the flock). Timely eliminate old sheep over 7 years old, infertility, habitual abortion, poor motherhood, poor lactation, single lambs, dead lambs, defective reproductive organs and breasts, and add tall, well-developed young ewes into the flock every year.