Growing sheep at home is one of the most promising and profitable areas of the livestock business. Animals have endurance, unpretentious care and nutrition. The process of breeding sheep also includes the insemination of animals, the period of pregnancy, lambing and caring for newborns. When sheep reach reproductive age, as well as what methods of insemination exist, see the article for more details.
Reproductive age of sheep
When raising sheep, many farmers are faced with the need to increase the number of livestock. However, in order to get a healthy and strong offspring, you need to know some of the subtleties of mating animals, insemination methods and features of the pregnancy period.
Reaching reproductive age in sheep and rams
Reproductive age in the female occurs at the age of seven months. However, experts do not advise to have it with a ram at this time, since the immature body of the animal is not yet able to bear the fetus normally. The most suitable age for the first pregnancy is one year, provided that the female reaches a weight of 40-45 kg.
As for the ram, its puberty occurs at 5-7 months. But for the reproductive function of the male, they begin to use it from the age of 16-18 months, after they bring it to good fatness.
Age at which it occurs
As already noted, the first mating of females is recommended not earlier than she reaches the age of one year. The male is ready to mate at the age of 1,5 years. Before letting animals into mating, they should be brought to a certain fatness.
A sheep is prepared for the mating process in about 1–1,5 months. For this, first of all, lambs are weaned, and milking sheep are no longer milked. Sheep are recommended to be allowed to mate when his body is fully formed and stronger. Upon reaching sexual maturity, such males have fully developed genitals, the quality of sperm is much higher.
Selection of sheep and rams for breeding: basic principles
To get a healthy and strong offspring, sexually mature, fully developed, strong individuals should be selected for reproduction.
Important! Well-fed animals do not mean obese. Sheep that are too fat, as well as malnourished, do not mate well, remain unfertilized or produce weak offspring.
Ram’s Choice
For the mating process, you need to select a strong, strong, sexually mature ram, which is distinguished by good fatness. The fertilizing qualities of an animal will largely depend on the quality of care for it and the conditions of detention. Before the mating process, males should be provided with a complete, balanced diet, be sure to include vitamin and mineral complexes based on vitamins A, E, phosphorus and potassium in their diet.
During the mating period, rams are allowed to females only in the daytime, while at night they are taken to a separate room so that they can gain strength and rest. You can do the opposite – mate animals at night, and give them rest during the day.
Did you know? Sheep are used not only in animal husbandry, but also in science. The most famous sheep is a female named Dolly, who became the world’s first clone among mammals. Scientific experiments on cloning were carried out in 1996.
One strong ram is enough to fertilize 10-15 lambs. With proper care and a balanced diet, the male is able to cover up to 20 females. However, experts recommend having two rams on the farm, in case one cannot cope with the task, for example, due to illness.
sheep selection
In most sheep, sexual hunting is seasonal, starting from the end of summer and lasting until the middle of winter. However, the main aspect influencing the maturation of sexual arousal is the natural and climatic conditions of the region in which the animals are raised. The exception is the sheep of the Romanov breed, which are ready to mate for all twelve months.
Often mating is carried out from August to October. To activate the onset of the hunt, experts advise the sheep to be placed in a dark room for a couple of hours during the day for 2-3 weeks.
You can recognize a female who is ready for mating by her behavior and some physiological features.
Important! If during mating the insemination of the female did not occur, then after 16–20 days she again comes into the hunt.
Sheep hunting is accompanied by such signs:
- estrus is a characteristic mucus that is secreted from the animal’s genitals. At the first stages of sexual arousal, the discharge has a transparent color, then it becomes more cloudy and thick, gradually turning into the consistency of a thick slurry. It is by the structure of the mucus that farmers can determine the stage of estrus and the period of ovulation;
- redness and swelling of the genitals;
- restless behavior of the female, in which the sheep begins to jump on other females;
- lack of aggression towards the ram.
As a rule, the hunting of a sheep lasts 2-3 days. At this time, it is recommended to let the male approach her for mating.
Sheep insemination methods
When breeding animals, natural and artificial insemination is used.
Important! Today, harem and manual mating is not used in the production conditions of animal breeding.
Natural
The natural method of insemination of sheep is divided into several types:
- Cool case. With this technology, rams-inseminators are launched into the flock of sheep for 30-40 days, at the rate of 2-3 males per 100 females. At the same time, during the day the animals are together, and at night the rams are placed in a separate sheepfold.
- Free incident. It is considered the most backward method of insemination to date. Its essence lies in the fact that the male is kept together with the sheep, which is why their lambing continues for quite a long time. With such an organization of mating, many of the females remain barren.
- Harem mating. Mostly, this method is used only in relation to breeding herds. In a group of females, numbering 30–40 heads, a selected breeding male is launched, which is separated from the harem at night and fed with special, highly nutritious feed.
- Manual pairing. It consists in the fact that rams happen to specially selected queens that are in a state of hunting. At the same time, the male is kept isolated from the sheep and allowed to make 2-3 cages per day.
Artificial
The artificial technology of insemination of a sheep is based on the introduction of ram sperm into its genitals, into the uterine cavity. This technique makes it possible to use much less sperm material than with natural mating.
Did you know? To date, there are about 600 breeds of sheep. At the same time, long-livers among them are bighorn sheep, which are able to live up to 24 years.
The introduction of sperm during fertilization must be accompanied by absolute sterility, strict adherence to the rules for the procedure and dosage of sperm. For insemination of queens, both pure material and diluted are used.
There are several methods of artificial insemination:
- Cervical. It is carried out with the help of special catheter syringes, which are inserted into the uterine cavity of the female. As a material, undiluted sperm in a volume of 0,05 ml and diluted – 0,1–0,15 ml are used.
- Cyclic. This method makes it possible to fertilize a large number of females in a short time. It is carried out in certain cycles: daily, 200-300 queens are selected from the flock and fertilization is carried out, then they are deposited in a separate room. In the following days, another batch of sheep is sampled. The procedure is carried out until all the ewes on the hunt are fertilized. As a rule, the cyclic method of artificial insemination is used on large, mechanized farms.
Video: Artificial insemination of sheep
Calculation of lambing time and ways to accelerate / decelerate hunting
The hunt for mating in a female occurs when germ cells mature in her ovary. As a rule, the duration of the hunt will depend on the age of the animal, breed, general health, seasonality and ranges from 12 hours to 3 days. At the same time, ovulation begins 30–32 hours after the appearance of estrus.
You can calculate the lambing time of sheep if you know the gestational age. Pregnancy of animals lasts about five months, approximately from 143 to 153 days. In most cases, the mating of animals is carried out in the fall, so that the moment of lambing coincides with favorable natural and forage conditions.
Sheep belong to the category of polycyclic animals, in which the sexual season is extremely pronounced from August to October. The duration of the cycle varies from 14 to 19 days, the stage of excitation is 3-6 days. As noted above, in order to activate the onset of sexual arousal in a sheep, it is necessary to close the animal in a shaded room for several weeks during the daytime. A similar method is called light and it is able to accelerate the onset of hunting by 1–1,5 months.
Farmers also practice another, more efficient and faster, method of stimulation of hunting – hormonal, which is based on the use of special hormonal drugs, for example, Ovogen, Ovarotropin. For greater efficiency, hormonal agents are used together with vitamins and cow colostrum.
To inhibit the onset of sexual arousal, hormone-based drugs are also highly effective.
The number of offspring per year for one sheep
Sheep are precocious animals and already at the age of one year are ready for insemination. Pregnancy lasts about 5 months and, in most cases, ends with the birth of one or two lambs. But there may be exceptions.
What does it depend on
The number of lambs a female can bring will depend on several important factors:
- Pedigree belonging. Mostly, the average number of babies per lamb in ordinary sheep is one or two. An exception are animals of the Romanov breed, which are capable of giving birth to up to five lambs.
- Diet. With a balanced diet supplemented with vitamins and minerals, the ewe can fully endure and give birth to up to two babies. Exhausted females have difficulty carrying even one lamb.
- Health status.
As a rule, a healthy sexually mature female in a year can give offspring from one to two or three times every two years. Some ewes are able to lamb up to four times in two years.
When is it possible to have a sheep again after lambing?
The postpartum period in sheep, that is, the time after lambing and before the restoration of the genital and internal organs, lasts about two weeks. At the same time, the labia and ligaments of the pelvis return to normal on days 3-4, the vaginal mucosa – on days 6-7, discharge and suckers are restored after two weeks. 14-15 days after birth, the cervical canal closes, and all anatomical changes in the genital organs completely disappear after 24-28 days. The first sexual cycle in a sheep occurs 1,5–2 months after lambing, it is at this time that the female is ready for a new mating.
Did you know? Until now, scientists have not been able to create an artificial analogue of natural sheep’s wool, which would not be inferior to the original in quality and ability to retain heat.
Newborn care
In the process of lambing, the female may give birth to one, two or more lambs. Within 30-180 minutes after the birth of the last fetus, the afterbirth comes out, which, together with the litter, is removed and disposed of. If the uterus does not lick the baby on its own, then farmers need to clean his nasal passages and mouth from accumulated mucus. Newborn lambs are taken away from the female and allowed to approach her only during the feeding procedure, which is carried out every 3 hours in the first days.
In case of successful lambing, After 15 minutes, the newborn can move independently and reach the mother to receive the necessary portion of milk. It should be ensured that the child drinks colostrum as soon as possible, as this will strengthen his immunity and protect him from a number of dangerous ailments.
It should be noted that only two lambs can provide the female with good nutrition. If more were born, it is necessary to feed them. The period of feeding by the ewe of babies is 3 months. But if farmers need to get a second offspring in a year, then the babies are separated from the female at the age of one week and fed artificially.
Important! The fact that the female licks the lamb is of great importance, since it has a direct effect on the release of the placenta.
Young growth, with high-quality nutrition and comfortable living conditions, quickly gains weight, grows stronger and by the age of 3 months gains weight up to 30–40 kg. As a rule, lambs feed only on mother’s milk for 15–20 days after lambing. Then they begin to feed them with special concentrated feed and hay.
Reproduction of sheep at home is not accompanied by enormous time or physical costs, however, it requires certain rules and careful preparation from the farmer. The most important thing is to provide the animal with high-quality food, comfortable living conditions, and, if necessary, the timely conduct of certain veterinary procedures.
