Raising sheep at home is a huge challenge for beginners. Many farmers buy animals for the sake of subsequent profit, because the benefits brought by the flock are great - milk, meat, skin and fleece. But not everyone is able to raise good livestock. Although sheep and rams are not picky, they also have characteristics and needs that must be fulfilled.

Right choice

Before breeding animals, you should decide on the purpose of sheep farming:

• If you want high-quality wool, then you should buy:

1. Stavropol;
2. Altai;
3. Caucasian;

• if you dream about food and wool, then the following are suitable:

1. long-haired: North Caucasian, Kuibyshev, Tien Shan;
2. shorthair: Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian.

If livestock is bred to obtain maximum benefit, Balabas, Karachay and Tushino are ideal for this. Among the fat-tailed breeds they differ:

• edilbaevskaya;
• Gissarskaya.

The most profitable for breeding are Romanov sheep. They show remarkable results in terms of product quality, grow quickly, easily tolerate various diseases and are distinguished by high offspring. Even inexperienced farmers can cope well with animals of this breed.

Breeding rams and sheep should begin with the construction of a sheepfold

Breeding rams and sheep should begin with the construction of a sheepfold. They will be there throughout the cold season, so it should be warm, light, spacious and dry.

The best housing for livestock is wooden or brick. The material is determined based on the breed of animals. When building a sheepfold, it is necessary to take into account a number of requirements:

1. Lighting. Natural light is achieved by cutting through windows. The quantity depends on the area. They are installed at a height of more than one meter from the floor. For light in the dark, light bulbs are placed above the ceiling.
2. Space. The total area of ​​the sheepfold depends on the number of animals. One adult ram needs to be provided with about 3 square meters. meters. Lamb requires at least 0.7 sq. meters. The parameters of free space affect the development of young livestock. It is also worth considering that the cubs are with their mother for up to three months, so it is necessary to allocate a separate area for their stay together.
3. Floor quality. Hardness and warmth are important indicators for the floor of a room. It is made of adobe or wood. The first type is popular because it better meets regulatory conditions: the bottom of the room is filled with clay, then the flooring is laid, and straw is laid on it. The height of the floor should be 20-30 cm from the ground surface.
   Dry grass bedding needs to be replaced periodically. To provide comfort for one animal, up to 150 kg of straw is needed.
4. Ventilation. Dampness in the sheepfold contributes to the emergence of diseases. To avoid the death of animals, the premises must be equipped with a ventilation system. Additionally, the building needs regular ventilation - this helps get rid of moisture and heavy air.
5. Gates. For large livestock indoors, two types of gates should be made:

• tall double doors - placed at the entrance. Their dimensions are, on average, 3 by 2.4 meters.
• internal ones are small (about a meter wide), separating the vestibule from the main room.

In small sheepfolds you can cope without wide gates, as long as the door is insulated with tarpaulin or similar material.

Sheep cannot stand the cold, so the temperature in the sheepfold should be at least +7 for adults. Young offspring are uncomfortable in such conditions. The optimal option for lambs is +15 degrees. If the heating of the building is insufficient, additional heat sources can be placed in it.

Seasonal sheep keeping

Sheep and rams are not picky animals, but they require certain conditions to produce healthy and strong livestock. Depending on the time of year, the care and maintenance of animals changes.

Summer time

With the onset of warm days and the appearance of the first vegetation (at least 7 cm), animals should be released for walking. Pasture keeping of sheep is the basis of their productivity. This should under no circumstances be ignored. By denying the flock access to walks, the farmer faces serious costs.

IMPORTANT! In bad weather, heavy dew or high humidity, sheep must be protected from getting wet. Wool dries very poorly and provokes the occurrence of various diseases.

On hot days, animals should be sent to pasture early - there they will be able to please themselves with the most juicy and delicious grass. It is necessary to take care in advance and equip a shed for the flock, which will contain drinking bowls, pieces of lick salt and chalk. Under the roof, the sheep will be able to wait out the hottest hours and be protected from weakening.

In addition to pasture feed, animals require:

• mineral supplements;
• hay;
• fodder vegetables;
• corn silage.

Don't forget about water. Even in the absence of sun, the livestock needs liquid, so animals should be offered a drink twice or thrice per walk. If possible, it is better to graze the flock in an area with a nearby watering hole.

The total walking time for animals is about 14 hours per day. In the meadow, sheep and rams can be tormented by blood-sucking insects. They not only bite, but also lay eggs on wounds. In this regard, after grazing, you should carefully inspect, clean and treat all damaged skin areas of animals.

What if there is no pasture?

It is important to know how to keep sheep when there is no pasture nearby. For the normal development of animals, it is recommended to equip a walking area by fencing off areas of land. As the vegetation becomes depleted, ungulates should be moved to neighboring territory.

The presence of tall grass is not necessary. Sheep are able to bite plants lower than other animals, so even in meager areas they will find something to please themselves with.

The lack of adequate walking should not affect the health of the flock. Sheep and rams need a little exercise. To do this, they are briefly released from a confined space and allowed to frolic in the wild. Also, sheep should not be raised without pasture grass. It is necessary to add it to the diet in mowed form.

Sheep grazing

Winter care

Sheep spend the cold season in the sheepfold. Before the onset of severe frosts or in early spring, you can feed the flock in an open paddock - fresh air will be beneficial. The daily diet of animals should include:

• hay;
• root vegetables in a crushed state;
• silage;
• concentrates - a tenth of all food.

In addition to the above, animals require useful supplements: lick and chalk.

It is better to start feeding with roughage. For good growth and rapid weight gain, it is recommended to treat sheep with hay made from cereals and legumes. A continuation of the diet is a juicy snack - fodder beets, carrots, turnips. For greater benefits, it is recommended to add bran. Sometimes root vegetables can be replaced with silage. The next stage is drinking. Finally, the animals are offered feed.

Caring for sheep in winter does not pose any particular difficulties. The flock quickly gets used to the diet and feeding schedule. It is important to prepare a large amount of feed in advance in order to protect the livestock from exhaustion.

Lambing and baby care

Insemination of the female occurs in two stages:

1. natural, when a desire arises;
2. repeated - after 12 hours, the sperm of the inseminating ram is injected into the female’s body.

A pregnant sheep requires special care. The diet should contain only high-quality food. About a month before lambing, reduce the portion of dry grass, replacing it with mixed feed. The daily menu must be supplemented with concentrates and salt.

Pregnancy lasts up to six months. A couple of weeks before giving birth, the sheep is clipped under the tail and around the udder. This procedure is necessary to open access to the nipples, because weak lambs will not be able to get to the milk through dense wool.

The young generation may appear in winter, early or late spring. Lambing lasts about an hour. If there are several cubs, then the intervals between their births range from 10 to 45 minutes. The female lambs standing or lying down, so there should be a thick bedding under the sheep - it will protect the babies from injury. Sometimes lambs are born in a tight bladder. In such a situation, you should immediately help him free himself, otherwise the cub may simply suffocate.

IMPORTANT! Immediately after lambing, it is necessary to bring the lambs to the ewe so that she can lick them.

Babies consume food from their mother for about two months. In the fourth week of life, you can offer concentrated food in small portions. If a lamb is born for slaughter, then it is separated from the sheep at three days of age, and then fed artificially. Such measures are necessary for the best quality of lamb.

Diseases

Sheep are often susceptible to disease. These include common lesions typical of farm animals and infectious pathologies. The most common non-infectious ones are:

• rumen flatulence is a consequence of poor nutrition. The sheep eats poorly, is nervous, and its stomach looks like a ball. You can help the female by making a puncture or inserting a tube into her mouth to remove gas;
• poisoning – caused by the ingestion of a poisonous plant. The stomach should be rinsed immediately;
• hoof rot - manifested by inflammation of the hooves. The sheep is in pain and has difficulty moving. You can get rid of the torment by trimming the hooves;
• bezoar disease - affects young lambs that ingest their mother's wool. The cub becomes restless, refuses to eat, and its temperature rises. The baby cannot be saved.

Infectious diseases are much more dangerous because they can destroy the entire livestock. The most common are:

• smallpox;
• listeriosis;
• hyperplasia;
• bradzot;
• agalactia;
• enterotoxemia.

The occurrence of various diseases can be prevented by following all the rules for breeding ungulates. Raising sheep in clean and warm conditions, as well as a balanced diet, will protect the flock from illness and death.

Sheep with lambs

Shearing and slaughter

The number of shears depends on the type of sheep:

• Fine-fleece and semi-fine-fleece are cut only once. The best time is warm spring days, when the threat of frost has passed.
• Coarse-haired and semi-coarse-haired dogs are cut in spring and autumn.
• Romanov sheep are processed three times a year, since the first shearing provokes rough matting and, in the future, shearing animals causes a lot of trouble.

Hair is removed using hand scissors or special electric striating machines. Working first is extremely unprofitable, since it takes a lot of time and effort, and the quality of the wool deteriorates. Haircutting with an electric clipper is much more convenient, while the fleece is longer, and the quality does not suffer in any way. Professionals have already developed a whole system for correct operation of the device - where and how to keep a sheep, and in what order to shear the wool to obtain a high-class product and maximum value.

After shearing, the fleece is cleaned of debris and contaminated wool. Then, in a certain order, they are rolled up and stored. The sheep themselves are examined for wounds, possible abrasions are treated and their hooves are trimmed. During the first week after shorn, animals should not be overcooled, so there should be no drafts in the room where they are located.

Ungulates are slaughtered when they reach one year of age. Meat from adult sheep and rams is considered unfit for human consumption. Sometimes culled queens are also sent to slaughter. The quality of the product depends entirely on the breed, sex and living conditions of the animal.
The meat of young lambs is in great demand. At the age of 4-8 months, they are ideal for slaughter.

Carrying out the procedure independently requires compliance with veterinary and sanitary rules. The animal must be killed while lying down. Through two incisions (along the throat and across the blood vessels located on the neck), the ungulate is completely bled. This approach is very important, since the quality of the meat and skin depends on it.

Excellent meat, rich milk, sheepskin and the warmth of quality wool are the main reasons for their breeding.

The products that are obtained from these animals directly depend on the breed. Let's take a closer look at keeping sheep, their breeding, care and feeding diet.

Keeping sheep in your own backyard is not difficult. These are hardy animals, they are unpretentious and get sick in rare cases, and are quite fertile. If sheep are compared with other livestock, they are distinguished by their high precocity. Sheep are not demanding of capitally constructed structures:

• On summer days, animals have enough paddocks and areas for grazing.
• On winter days they are kept in sheepfolds, where the temperature is slightly above zero.

For individuals, even the slightest vegetation is enough for growth, hair growth and weight gain. They grow excellently on food that other types of animals will not have enough.

With proper care of animals, breeding them will not be a difficult and difficult process even for inexperienced breeders. Competent care, compliance with feeding and maintenance rules are guaranteed to result in high rates of meat products, excellent milk and warm wool even in the early years.

Biological characteristics

Among all the individuals living in the farmstead, they became famous for their gregariousness and sclerosis.

Often, farmers are forced to face a problem, because individuals who have gone to pasture are unable to find their home.

Therefore, it is advised to release rams onto pastures accompanied by smart goats or cows.

In such a company, as soon as one sheep follows the “leader”, everyone else will follow it.

The life span of sheep reaches up to twenty years. But, kept in a private farmstead, only breeders and purebred females are able to live up to eight years. Young animals raised for meat are slaughtered for up to a year, and representatives of the wool line are kept for a little longer.

The main indicator of the advantage of a breed or an individual animal is the number of lambs per year and the number of cubs produced. Often, sheep bring a brood once a year towards the end of winter or the beginning of spring days. The gestation period lasts approximately five months; as usual, the birth of one baby is the norm for most breeds. But there are also special cases.

For example, the Romanov species is very relevant among Russian breeders due to the frequent birth of several cubs at once and the possibility of lambing twice a year. This thoroughbred feature and precocity of individuals in general makes it possible to draw up a successful, actively paying off business plan for livestock breeding.

Keeping sheep in the summer season

Sheep are a grazing type of animal and must be grazed in pastures during spring and summer. In particular, pasture greens form the basis of their diet during these periods. Pastures are distinguished by the following options:

• artificial type, when the soil is sown with herbs
• natural natural look
• with the presence of perennial plants
• with the presence of annual plants

Not all livestock breeds actively transition from the winter feeding season to the summer period. This means that animals need to be switched to green food gradually. And not all types of herbaceous vegetation growing on pasture are suitable for. Damp and marshy areas are not suitable for grazing, because unbalanced feeding provokes the appearance of various ailments in animals.

Due to the fact that sheep are not particularly agile, and they have a particularly developed herd instinct, herding them is quite difficult.

Their slowness and disorientation in space are associated with low vision, so the sheep try to stay close to each other.

It happens that after grazing, cattle still find their way home, if they are fed there.

On summer days, sheep consume up to ten liters of water, so it is necessary that a drinking bowl or pond be located not far from each pasture. The animal housing system implies a clear grazing schedule. Namely: from 5-6 am to 8-9 pm. If we raise them for fattening, we keep them in stalls both in summer and winter.

Keeping sheep during the winter season

On winter days, animals stay in stalls. They tolerate cold well, which means they are not demanding of special conditions. Feeding sheep in winter at home is practiced on the basis of feeding hay prepared in the summer, and also by adding a variety of purchased feeds. During the winter, an adult animal consumes at least five hundred kilograms of hay, at least five hundred kilograms of silage and other succulent food, and fifty kilograms of concentrates.

If there is a shortage of hay, thirty percent of it is replaced with oat and spring wheat straw, as well as legume straw. Animals also eat well twig food, which is prepared on summer days from young shoots of trees with foliage.

Almost everyone feels much more favorable if they stay in dry climatic areas.

They must be out and about constantly throughout the year.

Only in our latitudes this cannot be achieved.

Although these animals tolerate confined spaces worse than others, you need to build them a shed or sheepfold.

This is exactly the place where cattle will come from grazing, spend the winter, and also lamb.

Sheep housing needs to be as close to the natural environment as possible. Wooden walls, clay floors, there should be good ventilation, but no draft winds.

The room must be dry, equipped with lighting, which means the presence of windows and an additional light source. The interior of the barn suggests the presence of mangers, feeding troughs, and partitions. We will determine the total area based on the calculation: four hundred square meters per two hundred head of cattle. An adult needs two square meters of free space, a lamb needs one square meter. As usual, the layout of the building is angular with windows for a normal amount of light.

We will divide the room into two parts (for those who lambed and for those who did not lamb). We will have a staff room in the middle of the building. It would be more successful to build an additional outbuilding; it would be possible to place rams in it separately so that they would not attack females during the period of decline in sexual activity.

The warmth inside the premises on cold days is maintained by the animals themselves. In winter, depending on the temperature, the stall must be lined with insulation if the temperature is below -10. It happens that a stove is installed so that the lambs do not freeze, because their coat is not yet sufficient to heat themselves.

In the event that walking animals is not possible due to lack of pasture, we acquire an enclosure. We are fencing off an outdoor area that will be adjacent to the sheepfold. Sheep do not tolerate humidity well. In order for them to have shelter from the rain, they need an additional covered building, and a watering hole can be organized in it.

Lambing sheep requires a specially equipped separate room where the female will not be disturbed. The air temperature in this room should not be less than ten degrees. The usual temperature range is from 10 to 18C. Therefore, during lambing on winter days, this compartment is heated additionally. It is better to take all these parameters into account when planning the construction of a sheepfold.

We save food for animals. Diet

Adequate nutrition takes into account the animals' daily intake of two kilograms of hay, about three hundred grams of concentrates, about ten grams of table salt, as well as feed chalk and a mixture of vitamin supplements. The basis of the menu should be hay. Its volumes in the Russian Federation are stored once a year for the entire period, this is the specificity of our livestock farming. In other words, hay will need to be purchased in the summer.

The duration of grazing on greenery varies depending on the regions of Russia. In one area, animals are recommended to be grazed for six months, in another - only three months. Based on this, calculations are made of the required volumes of hay. It is sold in the form of rolls of two hundred and fifty kilograms or in bales. The average weight of a hay bale is fifteen kilograms, but a lot depends on the strength of the hay press by the machine. The dimensions of a normal bale are usually 1.2 by 0.6 by 0.4 m. Taking into account the dimensions of the bale and our own ability to stack them in a pyramid, we are able to calculate the space needed to store the hay.

It is especially important to remember that it cannot be laid out directly on the ground; you need to place the food for your pets on cargo pallets and cover it with banners on top, providing protection from precipitation. The more compacted the hay, the less moisture it will absorb.

If a farmer pursues the idea of ​​​​improving the quality characteristics of meat, then the work of caring for the lamb would have to be taken into his own hands and he would have to be taken away from the female on the third day after birth. These should be fed artificially.

This variation is beneficial for a small subsidiary farm and provides the opportunity to wait for new offspring after a short time. To increase the number of individuals, both artificial insemination and natural fertilization are practiced.

Caring for sheep does not pose any particular difficulties. It only takes a few months to raise them for meat. From the age of three months, young sheep can be slaughtered. It is best to carry out this activity before reaching nine months of age.

The coat is clipped twice a year.

In the spring, most often, this is done from rams with a uniform coat.

If they have a mixed coat, then it is better to postpone the haircut until the autumn.

When breeding animals in the northern regions, when keeping individuals of the coarse-haired type, they are sheared three times a year.

If you miss this favorable period for shearing, then there is a risk of losing half of the wool as a result of the sheep’s molting.

Sheep breeds

A beginning breeder must decide on the purpose of breeding sheep and, based on this, make a choice in favor of a certain breed: meat, meat-wool, fat tail, etc. To obtain a wool product of proper quality, it is recommended to purchase the following breeds of animals: Merino, Stavropol type, Caucasian species, Altai species.

The wool-meat type of sheep produces moderately fine wool and is divided into representatives with a long coat and a short coat.
Long-haired representatives include the following varieties:

• Kuibyshev species
• Tien Shan species
• North Caucasian species
• View of the Romney March
• Russian longhaired species

The short-haired subspecies is represented by Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian sheep. They grow actively, and their meat is of high quality. To create carpets, cloth and fur of excellent quality, it is recommended to look at the Tsigean and Georgian sheep representatives. The fur subspecies also include the Karakul and Romanov species.

It is noted that Romanov sheep are universal: they have excellent meat and dairy products, and high offspring. The animals experience active growth, they hardly get sick and can be considered one of the best variations for inexperienced breeders.

Balabas, Tushino and Karachay varieties give excellent marks for meat, wool and milk. To breed fat-tailed individuals in order to obtain meat, lard and wool products from them to create felt, you should turn your interest to the Edilbaev or Gissar species. Such individuals are the largest among their fellows, their weight sometimes reaches two hundred kilograms.

Profitability of sheep breeding

An inexperienced breeder who decides to start breeding sheep is initially interested in whether he will benefit or not. To do this, we calculate the planned financial costs.

Sheep breeding - where to start a business + how to look for sales points + how much money is needed + what is the profitability of this idea + 5 tips from experts.

Capital investments: from 2,300,000 rub.
Payback: from 1 year.
Profitability level: up to 25%.

Sheep breeding- a popular way to generate income among village residents and farmers.

For some entrepreneurs, building a business in the livestock sector begins in this area.

Firstly, because of the unpretentiousness of sheep.

And secondly, these animals not only provide milk and fur, but are also used for tasty meat.

Some are put off by the long payback period and the fact that profitability, at best, reaches 25%.

However, with a competent approach, such indicators turn into the basis for obtaining stable profits.

Why is raising sheep a good idea?

Obviously, the less production waste remains in the end, the better for the entrepreneur.

Sheep are amazing creatures in this regard.

Almost everything goes for sale:

Let's take for example the fact that traditionally shish kebab should be made from lamb!

Of course, sheep meat can be used in completely different dishes.

It is not as popular as chicken, but the demand is still high.

Most people agree that sheep's milk is much tastier than cow's milk.

And of course, store-bought food is in no way comparable.

In addition, expensive cheeses, cottage cheese, and feta cheese are made from sheep's milk.

Everyone knows about this - the warmest things are made from sheep's wool.

At the same time, sheep are very “fruitful” in this regard: up to 8 kg can be sheared from each sheep.

It is believed that clothing made with sheep's wool also has healing properties.

An entrepreneur who wants to scale up sheep breeding can later open his own wool production.

In addition to its direct use in cooking, it is popular as a traditional medicine.

This “cream” is used for hemorrhoids, bronchitis, and joint problems.

Sheep skins are widely used in making clothes and shoes.

But they can also often be seen even in the interior and even as covers for car seats.

This is not the most important product for which sheep breeding is organized.

However, it is the manure from these animals that is considered the best.

As you can see, really everything is used in business.

How to register an activity?

It is possible to legally engage in entrepreneurial activity and not have problems with the tax authorities only if the breeding business is officially registered.

The algorithm is simple:

• Collect a package of documents for registering an individual entrepreneur or LLC.
• Select OKVED code 01.22.1. It corresponds to the niche “raising sheep and goats”.
• Select tax form.

As you can see, everything looks extremely simple.

If you are still afraid of not being able to cope or simply do not want to waste time, you should transfer the solution to this issue to intermediaries for an additional amount.

Where to start raising sheep?

The sheep farming business starts with planning.

You should present in the form of a simplified diagram how you will act to organize the business.

The easiest way to visualize this is as a schedule.

Event	1 month	2 months
Purchase or lease of land
Tidying up the pens
Equipment with drinking bowls and feeders
Preparing food supply
Personnel search
Purchase of sheep
Beginning of work

Sheep are relatively easy to care for.

Sheep spend most of the day outside.

Unlike other animals, they do not need to be carefully hidden in the cold.

Nature rewarded them with personal warm “fur coats”.

This allows you to invest less money in equipping hangars for flocks.

They don't even need to be heated.

The main thing is to have a roof under which animals can hide from the rain.

Also do not forget about installing drinkers and feeders.

Use regular straw as bedding.

It is important that the sheep room is not damp or drafty.

Otherwise, you may encounter livestock diseases.

Sheep breeding personnel

For a start-up business, it is enough to hire a staff of 4 people.

The central character is a shepherd who alone can serve a flock of up to 300 heads.

But it’s still better to hire two people so that they can work in shifts and perform their duties better.

Moreover, after a while, the shepherd may quit or go on vacation, but you always need to be “in work mode.”

A shepherd combines all the necessary functions that sheep breeding is essential.

He grazes them, trims them, looks after them, and monitors their condition.

At first, the business owner himself can play the role of shepherd.

This will allow you to study the job from the inside and highlight the key requirements for an employee.

Usually the shepherd is not paid a rate, but is given a certain number of sheep to own, and bonuses and a percentage of the profit are added.

There is no need to save on this employee, because... Almost the entire business really depends on it.

How to look for points of sale for sheep products?

Sheep farming – that's only part of the story.

The entrepreneur must decide on the points of sale of the products.

It is better to do this in advance, because it is difficult to “set up” the sale of large quantities in a short time.

Moreover, lamb is not such a popular product on our shelves.

Let's look at product sales in detail:

The implementation method should be chosen based on volumes.

Most often it is sold directly - through points in markets or in.

In the latter case, you must have a quality certificate.

Skins and wool.

In recent years, the demand for these goods has begun to decline noticeably, which has affected the possibility of selling products.

This problem can be solved if you open your own production of clothing, shoes and accessories from this material.

Milk and dairy products.

Selling sheep's milk, cheese, and cottage cheese is difficult because of the special notes of taste and aroma.

However, a certain benefit from their use comes to the rescue.

The best option is to enter into a cooperation agreement with a dairy plant.

Or organize a personal eco-shop of natural, healthy goods.

How much money do you need to start sheep farming?

A business cannot successfully start and develop without.

The financial section is considered the most important in it.

After all, this is where the answer to the question lies: how much money does it take to raise sheep?

Profitability and profitability of sheep breeding

As a rule, they start a business with a flock of 200-300 heads.

Theoretically, with proper management, the investment will pay off in the first season.

But as already mentioned, the level of profitability is low and the pace of development is growing slowly.

It is possible to “recapture” the funds due to the active increase in the number of livestock.

There are prospects for this - one female can bear 1-4 lambs.

Thanks to this, you will double your livestock (and profit) within a year.

The features of caring for sheep are described in the video:

Interesting fact:
Sheep have a very good memory and are able to plan for the future.

Choose the right breed.

Analyze the market and distribution channels to understand which products to bet on.

Each breed of sheep has its own characteristics.

It is foolish to buy meat breeds if your main product is wool.

Assess age.

It's good if you are a seasoned shepherd.

If not, use the tips of the experts when you buy sheep.

The average lifespan of sheep in captivity is 6-7 years.

Therefore, an individual older than 5 years is already considered unsuitable.

Watch your diet.

It's good that you have people on your staff who are involved in sheep health.

But you, as a manager, must monitor the quality of this care and purchase high-quality feed additives.

Fertilize the soil.

The main food for sheep is still the grass that grows on the site.

Don’t forget to look after it, fertilize it, clean it of excess.

Create a business plan.

Whatever they say, this document is necessary in any case.

The resulting expenses, by the way, should be increased by 20-30%.

The numbers will definitely turn out to be higher.

Sheep breeding is a business that has its own risks, relatively low profitability and many subtleties.

Why then contact him, you ask?

For those who devote their lives to sheep farming, this is not just a way to make money, but a matter for the soul.

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Breeding technology - basic issues

Under no circumstances should the terms “sheep for breeding” and “sheep for fattening” be confused.

Sheep for fattening, as mentioned above, are kept in stalls. Sheep for breeding can be kept either in stalls or in pastures. And in some cases, stall-pasture. For example, if we take central Russia, the climate here is quite different. In winter, due to snow and low temperatures, naturally, the sheep will have to be kept in a stall on dry feed, and in the spring, thanks to the massive grass, they can be driven out to pasture. This is the simplest and most reliable method of keeping sheep - in a stall in winter, in a pasture in summer.

Breeding and raising rams and sheep may well become a good home or family business. The first important factor here is the greatest adaptability of this particular type of farm animal to a wide variety of climatic conditions. The second is, again, their greatest lack of pickiness when it comes to food. On the territory of Russia, sheep and ram breeding is carried out almost everywhere - in high-mountain, desert and steppe zones.

At the same time, among the many plants growing in different climates (about 800 species), about 400 are edible for rams and sheep, while only about 150 species are suitable for cows and goats, and less than 100 for horses. Today, raising rams and sheep is profitable and in terms of the quantity of the final product. Among domestic animals, there is not a single species that, like sheep, would serve as a source of meat, milk (including products made from it), and high-quality wool and fur. At the same time, sheep's milk is digested much better than cow's milk and surpasses it in the content of dry substances, proteins and fats, and meat is the least saturated with cholesterol.

Where to find young animals for breeding

If you decide to buy rams for breeding, you can do this either on professional sheep farms, or from closed collective farms selling their herds, or from private individuals. Of course, the first method is preferable, and the second and third will simply be cheaper. You need to understand the difference in terms of “sheep for fattening” and “for breeding”. Those animals that are fattened for slaughter are kept in stalls, because the most important thing for them is to quickly gain marketable body weight. The requirements for breeding sheep and rams are different. The main thing from them is to get healthy offspring. Therefore, the conditions of detention are different - in winter they are kept on dry food, and in summer - on pasture grass.

Subtleties of sheep breeding

It is best to learn how to breed sheep from specialists. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to study specialized literature. Video can also provide some assistance in the science of sheep breeding - after all, according to the saying, seeing 1 time is still more effective than hearing 7 times. And, of course, you can’t do without a whole range of advice from professional veterinarians, livestock specialists and shepherds - at least if you intend to breed rams and sheep mainly on your own.

There are no fundamental differences in how to raise rams (compared to raising sheep). However, it should be remembered that the main purpose of the former is to inseminate sheep in order to produce offspring. In this regard, rams must be kept separately from sheep, and brought together only during the mating period. To obtain healthy, high-quality offspring, rams need good health, high-quality sperm and normal sexual activity - for which in the spring and summer it is preferable to keep them not in closed pens, but on pastures (of course, under the supervision of an experienced shepherd). In this case, matings carried out in the fall will be successful and will subsequently produce good offspring. But even in this case, breeding rams require fairly long walks twice a day.

Features of sheep breeding

Breeding and keeping sheep is also a long, complex process that takes into account (to obtain effective results and profits) many different factors. These include knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth in sheep, the most important components of their proper nutrition, organization of pens and fences, diets at different times of the year, grazing techniques, hoof care, rules for washing and trimming them, wintering features, mating, milking and a few dozen more nuances regarding how to raise sheep.

Raising young sheep also stands apart in this matter. Immediately after birth, the lamb must drink its mother's colostrum. If this does not happen within 2 hours, it is necessary to milk the ewe and give the lamb milk from an ordinary mug. Newborns should be kept warm, in the same stall with their mother, for several days. Then it is possible to unite with other sheep and their offspring - until, after 3 months, the young sheep and lambs begin to graze on their own.

It would be a good idea for anyone who has seriously decided to devote themselves to breeding rams and sheep, but is not planning on purchasing a large professional enterprise, to get acquainted with some practical advice from an experienced sheep breeder - taking into account our Russian realities.

A close-to-ideal option for the initial stage is to rent or buy land - with pasture and ready-made premises for sheep. Their ideal quantity for a small family business is up to 1000 heads. Of course, they will need a shepherd and several workers. Having organized the work, all that remains is to deliver everything you need to your farm every week.

This approach can produce up to 700-800 units of offspring by the fall, the sale of which will make it possible to pay off hired personnel, make repairs to the shed, and survive on the proceeds until the next annual cycle. But this is the ideal option. Real ones, as a rule, differ slightly (or not at all) from it.

Emerging problems and issues that need to be addressed by a sheep breeder

1. Money for starting a business. Their quantity will be needed in direct proportion to the number of purchased heads and the size of the future farm.
2. Location of the sheepfold. Which today exists in the Central zone and the Black Earth region of the Russian Federation. But it is practically absent in Kalmykia, the Astrakhan Territory, the North Caucasus region, or the Stavropol region - here all the lands and pasture places have long been occupied/divided. True, the advantage is lower grain prices - with somewhat worse pastures.
3. Livestock. There may not be money for 1000 - and in this case you should focus on at least 200 animals (the minimum amount, according to experts, that can bring profit in an amount sufficient for existence and development during the year). Otherwise, you can start with 5 sheep - but do not count on full payback until the above figure is reached.
4. Shepherd. Alpha and Omega have a prosperous existence. Sheep farmer, not just a shepherd. Speaking in modern language, this is a real top manager who has the knowledge of a livestock specialist/veterinarian/haircutter, etc. This must be a person who knows how to find understanding with sheep - and therefore is literally worth his weight in gold. SUCH a shepherd can really make money for you. At the same time, usually taking as payment the right to own 50 sheep and a percentage of the profit - but guaranteeing a significant offspring, the safety of each sheep and, above all, valuing self-confidence. In the case of the option described in paragraph 3 with the number of heads less than 200, the best option would be to learn to be “your own shepherd.” The complexity of this for a beginner is very high - but the effectiveness of knowledge on how to breed rams and how to raise sheep will return a hundredfold after a few years.
5. Workers. In our Russian reality, they most often belong to the “homeless” class, who do not shy away from dirty work (and indeed there will be such). Who, under the command of a shepherd, will feed, graze and care for the livestock. But the main problem you will have to face will be vodka. In this connection, it is necessary to count the money and hire workers from a different class - as soon as the amounts allow.

According to historians, the sheep was domesticated approximately 8,000 years ago. It is assumed that mouflons and argali initially acted in this capacity.

Mouflon is a wild sheep that today lives on the islands of the Mediterranean Sea in rocky, inaccessible places. Mountain mouflons are very agile and agile, and can reach a weight of 70 kilograms. Mouflon wool is coarse, consisting of thin and short down and long and hard overcoat. Mouflon is the ancestor of the northern short-tailed sheep.

The steppe mouflon, the so-called arkar, lives in the steppes and semi-deserts of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, a larger animal with reddish hair. Fine-fleeced, fat-tailed and long-lean-tailed sheep breeds originate from the arcara.

In ancient times, Kamchatka, Alaska and Southern Altai were inhabited by argali - a high-legged wild variety of mouflon with short, coarse, dark gray hair.

In the process of long-term selective crossbreeding, livestock breeders received many new domestic breeds of sheep. For breeding animals at home, meat and dairy breeds are selected, such as:

1. Askaniyskaya;
2. Altai;
3. Prekos;
4. Kazakh;
5. Georgian Fattail;
6. Vyatskaya;
7. Tajik;
8. Gissar fat tail.

In principle, meat products can be obtained from sheep of any breed, but the highest rates are obtained from specialized breeds of sheep. If a novice sheep breeder plans to get a certain amount of wool, then he will need to buy several lambs of the Romanov breed.

Buying sheep

Having decided to purchase several sheep, you should remember that how profitable their subsequent rearing and sale will be depends, first of all, on the choice of young lambs. It is better to make a purchase from sellers with experience in sheep breeding, who can provide useful advice to a beginner in this business.

Conditions for sheep breeding

Sheep are very unpretentious animals that are able to eat any pasture, regardless of weather and natural conditions. A sheep can find food suitable for itself, sufficient to satiate itself, even in scorched steppe spaces, since it can be content with dry grass, which other animals do not do. In order to raise sheep, no conditions are required; in the summer, animals can be kept in large pens, while in winter a barn is needed. In winters that are not cold enough, sheep can spend almost all daylight hours outdoors; thick wool prevents the animals from freezing.

At night, regardless of the time of year, sheep should be driven under a special canopy; this will save a small herd from foxes and wolves, and also, most importantly, from rain. The only thing these animals cannot stand is rain; the fur gets wet, becomes heavy and dirty, and becomes tangled. After the sheep have been caught in the rain, there can be no talk of any shearing for the purpose of selling wool. You should immediately cut off all matted wool and try to dry it, but due to the lack of special equipment at home, nothing will work.

So, sheep need a spacious paddock, grazing and a barn with a canopy - that’s all. It should be remembered that a sheep cannot find its way home on its own, so to look after a small herd it is necessary to enlist the help of the ancestral friend of all shepherds - a dog. A smart dog will definitely find the lost animal and bring it home, and also save the sheep from predators. A ram can also act as a guide, the presence of which in the herd is mandatory.

There are several ways of content:

1. On pastures and pastures, all year round, in any weather. This method is suitable for areas with warm climates;
2. In the sheepfolds;
3. Sheep-basic method. In winter in a sheepfold, or stable, the rest of the year in the pasture

Reproduction techniques include insemination of sheep, mating period, lambing, and rearing of young animals. In order for mating to take place, at least one ram must be present in a flock of sheep. It is possible to use free and manual mating, as well as artificial insemination.

Free mating is possible only when females and mature males are kept together in a household. Experts in sheep breeding do not recommend using this type of mating, since the owner of the sheep loses the opportunity to calculate the number of mating females and, accordingly, will not be able to provide them with timely care and assistance during childbirth.

Manual mating involves keeping sheep separately, followed by monitoring the onset of the period of desire in females and the admission of rams to them. In order for a farm containing about 150 sheep to carry out high-quality manual mating, at least 10-15 rams are needed, the maximum load per animal should not exceed 50 sheep per year.

Many livestock breeders solve problems associated with the need to carry out regular matings through artificial insemination, which, among other things, has a beneficial effect on the quality improvement of the herd. This is due to the fact that wide opportunities open up for the sheep farmer to use the best rams, while the load per ram increases to 1000 sheep. Artificial insemination practically eliminates the possibility of sheep becoming infected with infectious diseases, as well as barrenness, which is common among these animals.

When choosing a method of insemination, it should be taken into account that sexual maturity of sheep occurs in different breeds at different times; some breeds of sheep become sexually mature at 4 months, others at 8 months. To avoid premature insemination, which almost always ends in the death of the offspring and the sheep itself, the animals must be separated for some time; this should be done as early as 4 months of the sheep’s life.

Breeding and raising lambs at home

In order for the mating to be as successful as possible, it is necessary to wait until the queens go into heat, which occurs approximately 1.5 months after the lambs have been weaned from the queens and milking has stopped. Mating requires lengthy preparation; the queens must be fed with concentrates, just like the rams. Females are inseminated twice, once at the beginning of the heat, the other after 10-14 hours. The main difference that is observed in the insemination of sheep is that the second time the uterus is inseminated with the sperm of the same ram.

The gestation period lasts approximately 145 days. 20-30 days before the start of lambing, the wool on the udder and near the tail is cut off from the queens. This is done for two reasons:

1.Firstly, newborn lambs will not be able to reach the udder because of their wool:

2.Secondly, after lambing, females usually undergo shearing, the purpose of which is to obtain clean wool of good quality.

Lambing of queens occurs in winter, early spring and late spring. A special problem is winter lambing, which requires the preparation of warm premises and provision of queens with a sufficient amount of high-quality feed. The lambing process must be monitored very carefully in order to be able to provide all possible assistance in time during a protracted and difficult birth.

The live weight of lambs at birth depends on the breed of sheep; on average, one lamb feeding on the milk of the uterus per day gains up to 200 grams in weight. Starting from the second week of life, lambs experience a great lack of vitamins, so from the age of 7 days the animals must be gradually transferred to concentrated feed.

During winter lambing, lambs are usually kept partly in a shed, and partly at a base - grazing, which involves separating the lambs from the females already at a week of age and visiting them during the daytime for grazing. Lambs are allowed to see the uterus only at night and are fed regularly every 2-3 hours.

In order to improve the production quality of lamb, lambs must be weaned from their uterus at 3 days of age, by transferring them to artificial feeding. With a small number of sheep - 3-6 pieces, such actions are very cost-effective, since they allow you to quickly breed again.

Feeding sheep

Sheep are fed using specially formulated fattening rations, which must include green feed and hay. Sheep quickly gain weight if you feed them legumes - clover and alfalfa, as well as cereals. To increase productivity levels, sheep should be fed concentrated feed daily at a rate of 200-300 grams per sheep.

Typically, sheep farmers feed sheep in groups of 7-12 sheep, but at home, group feeding is not cost-effective.

Sheep eat silage, root vegetables, corn, bran and cake well; the presence of mixed feed in the diet is welcome. Do not forget about constant mineral and vitamin supplements, without which sheep will not be able to lamb well and produce healthy offspring. To speed up wool growth, it is advisable to give sheep methionine, a drug that contains a large amount of sulfur-containing amino acid.

Pregnant and brood ewes, as well as breeder rams, must be fed intensively, making sure that all the food they consume is not only of high quality, but of the first degree of freshness, which is very important especially for ewes that can shed their lamb due to poisoning.

Sheep slaughter

Sheep are slaughtered at approximately 3-9 months of age; after the sheep reaches 1 year, its meat is considered unfit for consumption by gourmets. The slaughter is carried out in the same ways as the slaughter of other animals; generally, modern householders prefer to do it themselves - by simply cutting the artery, or they take the sheep to a specialized slaughterhouse, where the slaughter process is put on stream.

So, raising sheep at home is not at all difficult; you just need to have a pasture and a barn of the required size, choose the right lambs, mate and fatten the sheep. Feed today is inexpensive, and if we take into account the fact that sheep spend most of their time on pastures, eating pasture, then their cultivation can be considered the most profitable from the point of view of any livestock breeder who is tired of removing manure and monitoring the replenishment of feeders.

Video: home keeping and breeding of sheep