Sheep are kept in the stall in winter. Hence the name “period of failure”. Keeping animals in the cold season means equipping a warm room with a good ventilation system and providing animals with an adequate amount of balanced food. About 4 weeks before being transferred to the stall, preventive measures related to examination, deworming and vaccination are necessary.
Sheep Room
Inadequate room hygiene leads to contamination of wool with manure, and can also cause infection by worms. To make it easier to collect manure, you should make the floor of the room trellised and automate the cleaning of feces.
The flooring is most often made from wooden boards. Near large sheep farms, a special storage facility for manure is equipped.It is located no closer than 60 m from the room where the sheep are kept, and the outbuildings in which people live.
The walls of the room are insulated from the inside and outside with sheets of plywood, carefully closing all the cracks so that there are no drafts. Also in the stable should be equipped with a ventilation system. The supply and exhaust system, which can be designed independently, has proved to be quite good.
Inspection
Keeping lambs in the winter implies a constant inspection of the animals. Inspect the lambs should livestock. All suspicious animals are selected for a more detailed examination and redirected to the veterinary clinic.
Sheep examination
In the veterinary clinic, a therapeutic course is carried out, and then all individuals are sent for slaughter in a special sanbayne. The meat of all representatives slaughtered in the winter is sent for veterinary examination in a special laboratory. Only after the expert’s conclusion is it possible to sell or use meat for one’s own purposes.
Mode
Keeping the flock in winter implies that all actions are carried out according to a specific schedule. The transition from summer keeping on a free-range to the stall method negatively affects the behavior of animals. When a sheep is constantly in a state of stress, it becomes aggressive, loses its appetite.
The exit from the premises is equipped from the leeward side of the building. In the early morning there is a rise of sheep and sheep. They are taught to lower temperatures gradually. If elementary rules are not respected, the whole flock can become ill with respiratory diseases.
When the lambs exit the barn, their movement must be controlled to prevent crush. At the time of exit from the barn, a surface examination of the animals is carried out in order to identify sick individuals. Throughout the daylight hours, the flock is grazing in a specially fenced corral. In the evening they are driven back into the room, while an additional examination is carried out. During winter maintenance, hygiene procedures are carried out:
- trimming of hooves;
- cutting hair around the orbits as needed.
Food
Feeding sheep in winter implies an increase in fortified feed. Silo and hay are added to the diet when grass is not enough in the meadows. Most often in winter, sheep are grazed on frozen log cabins.
Feeding the sheep in winter
It is recommended to feed in the fresh air. To do this, a nursery up to 4 m long is equipped on the walking area, at the rate of 1 nursery for 25 individuals.It is important to arrange the feeders and calculate the place so that all animals have free access to food, otherwise weaker representatives will starve, and as a result, an epidemic of colds will begin.
The body of the sheep in winter should receive enough food, therefore how the cost of heating the body takes more. Full adaptation to winter maintenance takes place in 10 days. The flock transfer to winter allowance takes place in turn for all individuals:
- repair young animals;
- males;
- sheep;
- representatives selected for slaughter.
Setting up feeders
So that the flock could calmly survive the winter, it is necessary to equip it for walking a few months before switching to winter mode Territory is a bilateral day nursery. Concentrated dry feed is put in one part, and hay is laid in the second. Separate feeders can be:
- nursery;
- trough;
- gutter.
The nursery is designed for hay , straw and silage. They are legs, between which the bottom of the boards, the grooved part and the lattice are fixed. The sieve is set at an angle to the inside, leaving a gap of 10 cm between them. The pan and trough are used for concentrated feed. Reshtak – an oblong trough standing on legs. To feed the lambs, the height of the legs should not be more than 120 mm.The gutter is a simple trough installed on the floor, 12 cm in depth, about 3 m in length.
It is very important to install drinkers. All equipment for drinking and feeding should be mobile, so that the breeder has the opportunity to rearrange it from place to place. In severe frost, you cannot feed and water animals on the street. They are only drunk with warm liquid, and they put as much food in the feeders as the animal will eat.
Feed rationing
One of the most important issues that interests all breeders – how much hay is needed for the winter. For 1 individual, you will need to prepare:
- 200-250 kg of dry grass;
- 300-500 kg of silage;
- 20-25 kg of concentrated dry feed.
You can buy ready-made feed. It is available in briquettes or in granules. On the one hand, it is convenient, but such feed will need 30% more than that harvested on its own. When feeding dry food you will have to give the sheep more water. The diet will depend on the breed, gender and physical condition of the individuals.
Content of pregnant females
Often during winter coagulation or childbirth occurs. The uterus should receive only high-quality balanced food. And after giving birth, the uterus needs special care and a sufficient amount of succulent feed to be able to feed its offspring.
A sufficient number of root crops must be introduced into the diet of uterus in winter. It is recommended to give sugar beets, potatoes, carrots and cabbage leaf. These vegetables contribute to accelerated lactation.
A nursing sheep needs special care
A lactating sheep needs enough warm drinking water. In conditions of winter detention before childbirth, it is important to provide additional heating to the room, which will contain lambs with a uterus. All walls and roofs need to be insulated in advance, and in the far corner a special place should be equipped for the kids, lined with warm rags.
Keeping young animals
When you give birth to lambs in winter, fattening times at the end of the winter period, so you need to think in advance about the feeding of young offspring and prepare separately balanced feed for it. For lambs it is customary to make special feeding troughs-canteens. For about 2 months, the sheep feeds the lambs with milk. In the first month, in parallel with breast milk, dry concentrates begin to be given little by little, gradually increasing their amount.
When transferring lambs to an adult food in winter, there may be problems with the daily routine, therefore it is best to teach animals to feed by the clock. First, the frequency of feeding is 5 times a day, from 2 months of age the lambs are transferred to 2 meals a day.Bean and cereal-bean dried herbs are gradually introduced into the diet of babies after compound feeds.
In winter, in good weather, you need to let the kids out. An important point is the vaccination of young animals. Preventive deworming is carried out in front of her.
The final part
At home, it is important to ensure free-range sheep. Feed the herd on the street in the corral. To do this, in the walking area equip nurseries and drinking bowls. All containers for feeding and watering should be portable, because in the cold it will not work to feed and water the animals on the street.
The diet will be directly depend on several factors that need to be considered when preparing food for the winter:
- gender;
- physiology;
- age.
On average, a sheep eats about 25 during a cold period 0 kg of hay, 500 kg of silage, 25 kg of concentrates. These, of course, are approximate figures, but for beginner cattle breeders it is an excellent help in the calculations. If the birth of lambs falls during the winter period, you need to leave the highest quality feed at the end of winter, because this time accounts for their fattening. In order for the sheep to tolerate and give birth to offspring, it needs to provide a complete diet, for the most part consisting of succulent feed, represented by silage and root crops. Root crops perfectly stimulate lactation.
In the first months of life, it is especially important that young animals receive full-fledged milk nutrition. In order for the flock to feel good in cold conditions, it is necessary to gradually accustom animals to the cold.To do this, the sheep are transferred to the stall, while providing them with a daily walk. The walking area is located on the leeward side of the building. For a more detailed review of the information, you can watch the video.
