Breeding techniques of Boer Goat

Boer goat is native to South Africa and is known as the "king of meat goats" in the world. it is a famous goat producing high quality lean meat in the world. it is an excellent meat goat breed with the characteristics of large size, fast growth, strong fecundity, more lambs, high slaughtering rate, meat yield, delicate meat quality, good palatability, rough feeding resistance, strong adaptability, strong disease resistance and hereditary stability.

Management at the initial stage of introduction

1. Preparation before introduction: sheep like to be clean, dry and afraid of heat, so the enclosure and sports ground should be thoroughly cleaned before introduction, the enclosure, feeding trough and surrounding environment should be disinfected with 2% caustic soda water or Lysol, and the feeding trough should be cleaned with clean water. The enclosure is required to be well ventilated in summer, moistureproof and shade, and can protect against cold and wind in winter.

2. Feeding and drinking water: the breeder sheep are very tired after long-distance transportation. Let the sheep have a full rest first, do not be frightened, and then drink water after it is stable. Do not give drinking water that is very different from your body temperature for the first time. The water must be clean and fresh. As the sheep are on an empty stomach for a long time, do not feed too much for the first time, you can give high-quality dried grass to 6: 7% full, so that the gastrointestinal function can be fully conditioned, and then gradually give and increase concentrate and free forage.

3. Clear sheep are grouped: after a short rest after feeding, all imported sheep are counted and checked, and grouped according to sex, age, individual size and physical condition. For the thinner sheep, the amount of fine feed and special nursing should be increased appropriately to restore the body condition as soon as possible.

4. Deworming and preventive injection: deworming is carried out in batches according to specific conditions, that is, the structure of sheep, the mating situation of pregnancy and the body condition of sheep are flexibly mastered. The focus of preventive injection is to inoculate triple vaccine, streptococcus vaccine and lamb dysentery vaccine and so on.

5. Observation and treatment: Boer goat has strong disease resistance, and the symptoms are not obvious at the initial stage of the disease. The mental state, feeding, exercise and drinking water of the sheep should be observed carefully. If there is a slight abnormality, it means that the sheep is sick, and the reason should be found in time to give treatment. Newly introduced sheep often find cough, runny nose, slight diarrhea or large pieces of feces, which is a normal phenomenon, which usually lasts only 1-2 days, and should be quarantined and treated in time for a long and serious time.

6. Reducing stress: due to the differences in environmental conditions, feeding methods and feeding levels between introduction and feeding areas, the feeding mode should not be changed at once, but should be transferred gradually so as to reduce the stress response of sheep as much as possible. adapt to the local environment and feeding methods in a short time.

Feed preparation method

1. Common feed and nutritional characteristics

① green feed: there are many kinds of green feed, including all kinds of weeds, various available branches and leaves, as well as artificially cultivated forage, leafy vegetables, aquatic green feed and so on.

② silage: this is a kind of feed made from lactic acid fermentation by chopping, compacting and sealing in a silage kiln (pool) or plastic bag. Silage is characterized by sweet and sour smell, good palatability, rich nutrition and can be preserved for a long time. Sheep farms and professional sheep farmers can use it as an excellent feed for sheep in winter. The straw of barley, green corn and other crops, peanut rattan, Taro vine and all kinds of gramineous weeds and leaves can be used as silage materials. Silage can replace 50% of the roughage in the diet, which is the winter feed for Boer goats. Silage must be of good quality without mildew, otherwise it will cause gastrointestinal disorders.

③ dry roughage: dry roughage is an important feed for Boer goat during the feeding period or half-house feeding period. Including hay and all kinds of crop straw, blighted shell, vine and so on, this is the most abundant resources and the cheapest feed. In order to make full and rational use of this kind of roughage, scientific and reasonable processing methods must be adopted to improve its feeding value.

④ concentrate: concentrate mainly refers to the seeds of Gramineae crops, legumes and processing by-products. Such as corn, barley, soybean, wheat bran, cake, etc., concentrate feed is high in digestible nutrients, which is a necessary supplementary feed for Boer goats, especially in pre-slaughter fattening and winter and spring withered grass season.

⑤ succulent feed: mainly refers to carrot, potato, potato, sugar beet and pumpkin tuber feed, which is characterized by high water content, low dry matter content, low crude fiber content, rich vitamin content and high digestibility, so it is a good feed for Boer goats in winter and spring.

⑥ animal feed: mainly refers to fish, meat and dairy processing by-products and other animal products. Commonly used are eggs, fish meal, meat and bone meal, blood meal, feather meal, silkworm pupa, whole milk and skim milk and so on. Animal feed is high protein feed, which generally contains more than 50% protein, and the cost is relatively high. Animal protein feed is rarely used in ruminants, but animal feed can be properly supplemented in the lactation of Boer goat ewes, the peak period of breeding ram and the fattening stage of hybrid sheep.

⑦ mineral feed: natural feed contains mineral elements, but there are some problems, such as incomplete composition, different content and so on. Therefore, in house feeding and grazing Boer goats breeding ewes, breeding rams and lambs in the growth and development stage should be properly supplemented with some minerals. Mineral feeds containing calcium include shell powder, stone powder and so on. There are mainly bone meal and calcium phosphate in the feed containing calcium and phosphate. Salt can supplement the sodium and chlorine needed by sheep, and can stimulate appetite and promote digestion. In addition, we also need trace elements-zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, cobalt chloride, magnesium sulfate and so on.

Note: concentrate supply should be arranged and supplied according to sheep structure, breeding plan, grazing intake and nutritional needs. The hay supplied in the winter and spring withered season should be arranged according to the length of the withering period in this area, such as the general withering period in the north, and the dry matter intake of Boer goats is 2.5%-3% of their body weight. among them, the percentage of roughage in the diet: 60% of lambs after weaning, 80% of adult sheep, 30% higher than the actual arrangement. In recent years, the area of artificial pastures and improved natural pastures has been increasing.

2. The forage of artificial pasture

① perennial ryegrass: strong adaptability, loose soil requirements, strong regeneration ability and cold tolerance, fresh grass yield of 5000 kg per mu, turning green seven days after cutting, soft grass, fragrant taste and good palatability.

② red clover: leguminous, perennial (2 ~ 4 years), suitable for planting in areas where it is not too hot in summer and not too cold in winter. Red clover has high yield and strong regeneration. It can be cut three times a year in Beijing, about 2000 kg per mu, and 4 ~ 5 times in the south. The managed yield can reach 4000 kg ~ 5000 kg.

③ white clover: Leguminosae, perennial herb, long life, generally more than 10 years. It likes warm and humid climate, the suitable temperature for growth is 19 ℃ ~ 24 ℃, and its heat resistance and cold resistance are stronger than those of red clover. Acid-tolerant soil, salt-alkali-intolerant, drought-intolerant, high nutritional value, no matter grazing or cutting mainly use its leaves, the yield is relatively low.

④ alfalfa: leguminous perennial, known as the king of forage, using a life span of 5 ~ 7 years, like warm and semi-arid climate, warm day and cool night is the most suitable for alfalfa growth. Strong cold resistance, can withstand the low temperature of-20 ℃. Prefer neutral or slightly alkaline soil. Cutting at the early flowering stage affects the yield prematurely, and it can be cut 3 ~ 4 times a year in Beijing area. High nutritional value, rich in crude protein, minerals and vitamins. Generally, the yield of grass per mu is 4000 kg ~ 5000 kg, and 1 kg of hay can be made for every 2 kg ~ 3.5kg fresh grass.

⑤ root (also known as horn flower): Leguminosae, perennial herb. Like warm and humid climate, cold tolerance is poor, not adapted to cold and dry areas, can also grow in barren and poorly drained soil. It is resistant to trampling and grazing, and its regeneration is medium. High nutritional value, good quality and good palatability. Suitable for grazing-based pastures, its stems and leaves contain low diosgenin, and it is not easy to cause bloating disease after eating sheep.

⑥ flat brome: Gramineae annual or short-term perennial herbs. Suitable for humid and warm winter climate, cold resistance is poor. In Beijing, Inner Mongolia can not overwintering, strong saline-alkali tolerance, drought tolerance, but not resistant to stagnant water, higher requirements for soil fertility. Flat brome has good palatability, and all kinds of livestock like to feed. The yield of hay is 700 kg per mu.

3. Feed preparation

Feed should be properly prepared, concentrate should be processed into 0.5 cm ~ 0.6 cm particles, straw and grass should be cut into 1 cm ~ 2 cm, roots, tubers, melons and fruits should be washed and cut into small pieces before feeding. Concentrate feed should be matched reasonably and strive for diversification, especially protein, mineral elements, trace elements, vitamin A, D, E and so on. Grass is best cut at heading stage, legume grass is cut at early flowering stage, and the water content of grass should be less than 15%, so that it is green and fragrant and free of impurities. The corn stalk for making silage should be harvested at the ripening stage, and the silage should be green or yellowish green with wine flavor. Silage feed, adult Boer goat ram 2 kg ~ 2.5 kg per day, ewe 2 kg ~ 2.3 kg, lambs should not be fed.

The modulation method of ① hay: the modulation of dried grass, sweet potato vine and peanut stalk is mainly short. Cutting short can not only reduce waste, but also increase food intake. Generally cut into small segments of 3 cm ~ 4 cm, and mix Gramineae hay and legume hay as much as possible. The short-cut hay can be wet with clean water or light salt water, and then sprinkle some concentrate to feed the sheep, the effect will be better. Concentrate can be used with cornmeal, bran or formula feed as needed.

The processing of ② straw feed: the straw feed is mainly crude fiber with low nutritional value and poor palatability. Only through processing can the palatability be improved and the utilization rate and nutritional value can be improved. The commonly used methods are ammoniation and microsilage.

Because ammonia can destroy the firmness between lignin and cellulose in the straw, it can improve the digestibility of the straw, and the nitrogen contained in ammonia can also increase the crude protein content of the feed. The ammoniated straw or other roughage can increase the nitrogen content by 0.8% to 1%, and the crude protein content by 5% to 6%. Feeding sheep after ammoniation treatment of wheat straw, rice straw and corn straw can increase the digestibility by about 30%.

The specific method of straw ammoniation is to stack the straw, generally pour 12 kg of 20% ammonia in 100kg straw, the temperature of the liquid ammonia is not lower than 20 ℃, stack layer by layer and spray layer by layer, and finally seal with plastic film. The mixed straw can also be put into a closed pool or sealed in a plastic bag. Farmers can process a small amount of ammoniated feed using urea ammoniation, the proportion is 1 kg of urea, 10 kg of water can be sprayed 25 kg of straw, straw and sprayed urea water should be fully mixed evenly, mixed into plastic bags, vats or cement ponds, the key is to keep air tight. The treated straw should be sealed for 15 ~ 20 days in spring and autumn, 7 ~ 10 days in summer and 45 ~ 50 days in winter. It should be placed for 1 ~ 2 days after opening so that the excess ammonia can be volatilized before feeding. The feed with better ammoniated quality is brown and has paste flavor. After more than a week of adaptation, the feed intake of sheep is generally 100 kg body weight 3.3 kg ~ 8.8 kg, each time the ammoniated straw should be covered with plastic sheeting. Ammoniated feed generally has no side effects, but it should be fully ventilated and mixed evenly before feeding. In case of poisoning, each sheep can be fed with 0.5 ~ 1.5 liters of vinegar to detoxify.