Lambing
When breeding sheep, sooner or later, you will have to face issues related to pregnancy and childbirth. Consider how the lambing of sheep occurs, what problems can be encountered during pregnancy, and how many lambs a sheep brings per year.
Sheep lambing process
The right time for mating
From a physiological point of view, a sheep can become pregnant as early as 7 months of age. However, zootechnicians at this age are highly discouraged from driving a sheep with a ram. Despite the fact that the animal has reached puberty, its body is still not strong enough, and pregnancy and childbirth is a complex process that takes a lot of energy. The optimal age for mating is 18 months. Some zootechnicians are inclined to believe that a sheep is capable of bearing viable lambs at the age of 12 months, but it is highly undesirable to mate before this period.
Sheep
Mating takes place during the sheep's hunting period, which is characterized by extremely restless behavior of the animal. The skin in the genital area swells and turns red, mucous discharge appears. Also, a characteristic sign of the onset of sexual heat is the aggressive behavior of the female in relation to other sheep. Aggression manifests itself in the fact that she begins to jump on them. But the sheep reacts calmly to rams during this period, does not try to run away.
Sheep hunt lasts no more than 48 hours, so it is very important to bring the sheep to the ram in a timely manner.
Many keep one goat in the flock, because the sheep graze better with it. But the goat will not cover the sheep, so it should not be separated from the flock during the females' sexual hunt.
Sheep pregnancy signs
A sheep does not become pregnant after every covering of it with a ram, so it will be useful to learn how to determine pregnancy in a sheep. First of all, you can judge that the mating was successful by the absence of the next sexual hunt. However, the absence of sexual prey does not always mean that the animal is carrying lambs. Sometimes this sign indicates a health problem.
Currently, there are several methods for determining the pregnancy of animals:
- reflexological;
- palpation;
- internal research.
With the reflexological method, you need to run a ram into a pen with sheep. This is done 2.5-3 weeks after covering the females. The ram will have no interest in pregnant animals. This method is not the most accurate. But it is applicable, especially if there are other signs of pregnancy in sheep.
Sheep pregnancy
The palpation method will help to answer the pregnancy question only 60 days after the mating of the sheep was performed. Before feeling the stomach, and this is the essence of the method, the animal is not given food for 12 hours. Then, standing behind the sheep, they feel it. In pregnant animals, the right side is larger than the left. Also, when feeling at this time, you can already distinguish the outlines of the lamb.
Internal testing as a method for diagnosing pregnancy can be used 65-70 days after coating. Its essence lies in the fact that pregnant animals have vibrations in the posterior uterine arteries. But to be sure of their presence, you will have to insert a hand into the rectum of the animal.
Duration of pregnancy
A sheep should be closely monitored during pregnancy. On average, a sheep gives birth on the 146th day after mating (this is an average of 5 months). But sometimes an individual gives birth to lambs earlier or later than the due date. Basically, how much a pregnant sheep walks depends on the nutritional quality and health of the animal. With improper nutrition, the fetus develops poorly, and the animal carries the offspring longer. The lambing date is also postponed if the animal is in poor health. Suagosity does not in any way affect the behavior of the sheep and does not change their usual way of life.
Malnutrition should be understood as a lack of minerals. During pregnancy, the diet of sheep should contain mineral supplements such as bone meal, table salt and chalk ground to a powder state.
The quality of nutrition affects not only how much pregnant sheep walk, but also the number of lambs. Also, the number of offspring depends on the characteristics of the breed and the state of health of the mother. As a rule, sheep give birth to 2 lambs. In rare cases, 3 lambs are born from one sheep. The average weight of newborns is 5 kg. Some breeds are fertile. So, for example, Romanov sheep can produce 5 viable lambs during lambing.
Lambing
The lambing of a sheep is not difficult. Often, animals do not need outside help. Complications during childbirth are extremely rare, but pregnancy of a lamb should not be allowed to take its course. You need to properly prepare for lambing and lambing.
Determining the date of birth, lambing process
The duration of pregnancy is about 5 months. This time is quite enough to prepare a place in the shed for newborns who are housed separately from their mother. The gestation period of the sheep is determined by the date of mating, which is advisable to produce in the fall: this period the animal is most ready for pregnancy. Accordingly, the birth of a sheep takes place in late winter or early spring.
Sheep lambing process
Lambs born in winter lambing, as practice shows, are stronger than lambs born in spring. In addition, winter lambs have a higher survival rate. But during winter lambing, fewer cubs are born than during spring.
Lambing from a sheep lasts no more than 60 minutes. If more than 1 cub is born, then the interval between their birth is about 15 minutes. Longer delivery is a deviation from the norm, they indicate the presence of problems. In this case, you need to help the animal. It is not always possible to do this on your own due to the lack of certain knowledge and skills. Therefore, it is advisable to call a specialist before giving birth to supervise the process.
Preparing for lambing
It is not difficult to give birth at home, but you need to properly prepare the room in which the birth will take place, and the mother giving birth. Preparation of the premises should begin 8-10 days before the expected date.
First of all, they are thoroughly cleaned in the barn. If lambing takes place in the same room in which the rest of the flock is kept, a place for giving birth is set aside and it is fenced. A dry litter is preliminarily covered in the cleaned area.
Preparing the room for childbirth
In order for lambing to be successful, over the past 2 weeks, the nutrition and drinking regime of the woman in labor is monitored. Include in the diet only those foods that are easy to digest. A pregnant lamb is watered at least 2 times a day. Over the past days, they have been closely monitoring the condition of the woman in labor.
Signs of impending lambing
In order to be there during lambing, you need to know what signs indicate an impending birth. The first sign that indicates that the lamb will lamb in about 3 days is an increase in the udder. Also, before childbirth, the belly begins to sag, the genitals swell. It is not possible to determine more precisely the date of lambing. It is necessary to focus exclusively on the behavior of the woman in labor.
When the above signs appear, it is advisable to place the woman in labor in a separate room. When it comes to winter birth, this room should be heated and dry. Pre-installed in a birthing room, which is conventionally called a hothouse, drinkers and feeders between farmers.
Lamb
As a rule, human intervention during childbirth is not required, but it is better to control the process. For example, if the fetus is not positioned correctly, difficulties arise. In this case, you cannot do without the help of a specialist.
As a rule, the newly-made mother gnaws the umbilical cord on her own. If this does not happen, a person will have to do this, so sharp and pre-disinfected scissors should be at hand. The umbilical cord is cut at a distance of 8-10 cm from the abdomen. The place where the umbilical cord was cut must be disinfected. It is best to use iodine for this. Next, the nasal sinuses of a newborn lamb are cleaned of mucus. In this case, one should not be zealous. In the absence of complications during lambing, the lamb will lick the lamb on its own, therefore, after clearing the sinuses, the newborn is placed next to the woman in labor. In the first hours after giving birth, the lambs can be left with the sheep.
Sheep birth
When giving birth at home, you should know that you need to give the newborns colostrum to drink in the first 40 minutes of their life. But the first milk must be expressed: its fat content is too high. The very same woman in labor is fed no earlier than 4 hours after giving birth. But the water should always be nearby.
We can say that the birth of a sheep was successful only after the afterbirth came out. And this should happen no later than 6 hours after lambing, otherwise you should immediately go to the doctor. The afterbirth and litter, on which the lambing took place, are buried.
Complications during and after lambing
Sometimes curled sheep cannot give birth on their own. This most often occurs when the fetus is positioned with its hind legs forward. It is advisable for a specialist to provide assistance in this case. If this is not possible, you will have to take delivery yourself. But before helping, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly. To help the woman in labor, they rupture the amniotic fluid, then release the fluid from it and unfold the lamb. This must be done very carefully.
Sometimes a sheep doesn't have enough milk. In this case, the newborns are fed with the milk of another sheep. If this is not possible, then use cow's milk. Milk from a cow is less nutritious than that of a sheep, so it should be given more than the recommended levels. A weight gain table is used to control the growth of the lamb.
The process of childbirth, as well as assistance with complications, can be viewed in the video. However, when watching videos, you cannot get the skills you need. Therefore, a qualified specialist should be involved in the provision of assistance.
First steps after lambing
If the lambing is successful in the sheep, no special action is required. The animal bounces back a few days after giving birth. Lambs are taken from the mother, as her behavior during this period can be unpredictable. The lamb is admitted to the sheep only during feeding. Newborns need to eat at least once every 3 hours. If several sheep give birth at the same time, then after lambing they can be kept together. During feeding, a sheep finds its young by smell.
Feeding the lambs
For a few days after lambing, the sheep should be closely monitored.Complications after a while can occur even if the birth was normal. Most often, farmers are faced with such a problem as postpartum paresis. This disease leads to the death of the sheep.
You can stop observing a sheep after 8 days after lambing. During this time, fluid is released from the genitals, which is not a deviation from the norm. If such discharge does not stop after a week, then the genitals are damaged.
The first time after giving birth, the newly-made mother walks and grazes reluctantly. The reason for this is concern about the lack of lambs. After a while, this anxiety disappears.
Conclusion
Pregnancy in sheep usually proceeds without any complications.
How many times in a year can a sheep bring lambs? In general, mating may occur during each mating season. But zootechnicians do not recommend covering the animal often. The recommended mating frequency is once a year. If we are talking about raising sheep as a business, then you can mate 2 times in 3 years.