Sheep breeding in Russia has its own long-standing traditions. These domestic animals are bred in all regions of the country where there are pastures. Animals are unpretentious, but very sensitive to high humidity. This is taken into account when choosing pastures and arranging a home sheepfold. Existing breeds of sheep are selected for meat, milk or animal wool. Large farms are specialized. For home breeding, universal breeds are used.

Animal wool is used to make fabrics, warm clothes are knitted from it and felted shoes are made. Sheep cheese is prepared from milk, and lamb meat is a dietary product. The life expectancy of sheep at home can be from 20 to 25 years. For so long, no one has kept them in peasant farmsteads. Animals intended for meat production are fattened up to a year or 1.5 years, and queens for breeding offspring are used for breeding purposes up to 10 years.

Meat and wool breeds are the most widespread in domestic sheep breeding in Russia. The most popular of them is Romanovskaya. She is universal. Such animals are capable of giving meat, milk and wool to humans.

Well suited for home breeding and other universal breeds. Among them are Balabas, Tushinskaya, Karachaevskaya. In total, 39 main breeds of animals suitable for home breeding are cultivated in the country.

To obtain fat, meat and wool, going to felt, fat-tailed breeds are bred. The most popular of them is Hissar.

They buy animals for growing and breeding in breeding farms that exist in various regions of the country. To date, there are 175 of them in the country. Of these, 98 are breeding fine-fleeced breeds, 28 - semi-fine-fleeced, 45 - coarse-haired, 4 - semi-coarse-haired and 2 - meat.

Each region of the country is focused on breeding certain breeds of sheep. This is due to local climatic features. The main areas where domestic sheep breeding is widely developed are the North Caucasus, the Southern Federal District, the Volga region, the Central Black Earth strip of Russia and the Southern Urals. Sheep are also raised in other parts of the country, but this is not widespread.

Table 1. The most common breeds of sheep in peasant farms in various regions of the country

Region	Sheep breeds suitable for growing in the region
middle lane	Romanovskaya, Tsigayskaya, Volgogradskaya, Kuibyshevskaya
South of Russia	Tashlinskaya, Koridel, North Caucasian, Romanovskaya
North Caucasus	Karachay, Tushino, Ossetian
Desert regions and steppe regions	Edilbaevskaya, Romanovskaya
Siberia and South Ural	Tuva fat-tailed, Tsigai, Gorky, Lincoln, Kulunda, Northern short-tailed, Siberian short-fat-tailed, Edilbaevskaya

When buying sheep of any breed, you must carefully examine the animals. A healthy sheep or ram should have a good constitution, thick skin and a thick, shiny coat. The hooves of a healthy animal have a shine, do not have cracks, and the teeth do not stagger. You should not buy an animal that has inflammation of the mucous membrane, epidermal formations and growths.

Building a home shepherd

Sheepfolds are built to keep sheep during the cold period of time. They should be warm enough, light and dry. The temperature in the room for keeping lambs must not fall below +10°C and for adult animals +7°C. As a material for the construction of the walls of the sheepfold, wood or brick is used. The choice depends on the place of animal breeding and its climatic conditions.

Room for adult sheep

Good illumination of the room is achieved by the arrangement of windows in it. They should occupy an average of 1/15 of the total wall area. They are located at a height of at least 1.2 meters from the floor surface. At night, the shepherd is illuminated by lamps placed under the ceiling.

A huge role in keeping sheep is played by gender and the size of the space intended for keeping one animal. For the normal development of lambs in the sheepfold, 0.7-0.8 square meters are allocated. meters for each. An adult ram needs at least 3 square meters. meters. Up to 3-4 months, the lambs are next to their mother. For their maintenance in the sheepfold, a separate corner is fenced. The normative area for keeping animals includes a place for placing a feeder and a nursery.

The main requirement for sheepfold floors is hardness. They can be of various types. The most common - adobe floors. They are made of clay, on top of which a wooden flooring and straw are laid. The floor of the sheepfold should be 20-30 cm above the ground in the area. Straw bedding should be changed periodically. Dampness of the premises can lead to illness and death of animals. For bedding per animal, up to 150 kg of straw is required. Ventilation is installed in the shepherd room. With its help, supply and exhaust air circulation is provided, which allows you to get rid of the accumulation of excess moisture and unpleasant odors in the shepherd room.

In large sheepfolds, two types of gates are installed. Large, double-leaf, gated gates are installed at the entrance. Their width can be 2.5-3.0 meters, and the height is 2.0-2.5 m. The width of internal doors rarely exceeds 1.5 meters. They are installed in the opening separating the vestibule of the sheepfold from the premises for animals. The optimal size of the vestibule is 1.2 * 3.5 meters. For small shepherds, one door 1.5 meters wide is enough, which can be covered with tarpaulin or other material as insulation.

Near the sheepfold they arrange bases (a yard for sheep), placing it necessarily on the leeward side

What to feed the sheep?

The diet of sheep consists of plant foods. In the summer, animals are driven out to pastures. They feed on grass, which during this period of time grows everywhere in sufficient quantities. Sheep eat all herbs, including weeds and thorns. Water meadows and swampy areas are not used for grazing. Sheep are not driven out to pastures in dew and after heavy rain. Pastures for them are selected only in arid places.

Small-grass and legume hay, as well as straw made from cereals such as oats, millet and barley, are considered the best food for feeding animals in a paddock. They are best absorbed by animals and contribute to their good growth and development. Diversify the diet of sheep with root crops. Sheep eat pumpkin, potatoes, beets, carrots and zucchini well. At the end of summer, there comes a period when the grass begins to lose its beneficial properties. At this time it is necessary to start feeding the animals. Their diet includes greens of cereals specially grown for these purposes. It can be oats or rye. Corn, alfalfa and peas are added to the feeding ration.

Silage mixed with roughage or bean hay perfectly increases the meat and milk productivity of animals. Every day it can be fed to a sheep from 3 to 4 kg. The nutritional value of hay depends on the conditions of its storage and the composition of the herbs included in it. The best hay for sheep is harvested from contains a lot of vitamins, sugars and protein. All of them are very important for the growth of animals.

Of the root crops, sheep love most of all fodder beets, pumpkins, zucchini and carrots. Beets and carrots are especially important, as they improve the digestive processes that occur in the animal's body. These vegetables contain a lot of coarse fiber, vitamins and other trace elements necessary for the growth of sheep. The diet of pregnant and lactating females must include gourds. This contributes to an increase in milk production in the animal and the bearing of healthy offspring by the uterus. This food improves the quality of their coat. Significantly increased tension. A sheep can be given no more than 4 kg of such vegetables per day.

A special role in the nutrition of sheep belongs to concentrated feed. They represent a balanced diet and are prepared from barley, oats, wheat, beans, peas, corn, as well as cake and bran. They contain a large amount of nutrients, starch, protein, fat and minerals. Concentrated feed is indispensable in the nutrition of highly productive breeds of sheep, but the high cost limits the possibilities of its use.

Table 2. Seasonal diet of sheep

Queen feeding diet

Pregnant queens are fed only high-quality, balanced feeds. Four weeks before lambing, the amount of hay consumed by animals is reduced in the diet. It is replaced by feed. The daily diet consists of cereal hay, which is given to the uterus in an amount of up to 500 g, legumes - 300 g and straw - 500 g. concentrates and 12-15 g of mineral salt. After lambing, the amount of hay in the sheep's diet can be increased up to 1 kg, vegetables up to 4 kg, and concentrate up to 500 g.

Diet for young animals

For the first five days after their birth, lambs feed on uterine colostrum. If for some reason such feeding is impossible, then the lambs are fed during this period with special mixtures or cow's milk. Milk feeding continues until the lambs are two months old. By this time, they should switch to a two-time feeding regimen. Until the lambs reach the age of one month, they are given 50 g of concentrated feed daily as bait, after two months this rate increases to 150 g per day.

What is wrong with sheep?

Dampness and draft can cause animals pneumonia. The cause of this disease is often the gases of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which accumulate in the shepherd room. You can identify the disease by characteristic signs. With pneumonia, the animal coughs, loses its appetite, breathes with difficulty, and has a fever. Sometimes the disease is accompanied by a purulent runny nose.

The main way to prevent pneumonia is to ventilate the sheepfold and maintain a dry and warm microclimate in it. The disease is treated with antibiotics such as:

• benzylpenicillin;
• bicillin-3;
• streptomycin;
• neomycin;
• oxytetracycline;
• biovit-80.

Give drugs to the animal along with food and drink. It is better to isolate him from the herd during the illness of the animal.

Very often, sheep suffer such a non-contagious disease as scar flatulence. It is associated with the poor functioning of the stomach of the animal and is the result of improper feeding of the animal.

Symptoms of the disease:

• bloating;
• loss of appetite;
• increased anxiety.

In order to alleviate the suffering of the animal and improve its well-being, a special gas outlet tube is inserted into the mouth. If this does not help, then the scar is punctured. This treatment is best left to the veterinarian.

Eating poisonous herbs in pastures causes sheep to poisoning, which is accompanied by diarrhea, loss of appetite, vomiting and stoppage of the stomach. They cleanse the body of a sheep from poisons by washing the stomach with vegetable oil and Glauber's salt. They are mixed with warm water. For 0.5 liters of water, 100 g of oil and 50-100 g of salt are taken.

During periods when the sheep does not have enough food, it begins to eat its own wool. It leads to bezoar disease. The essence of the disease is that the gastrointestinal tract of the animal is clogged with a ball of wool. Very often, such a disease can be found in small lambs, the uterus of which has poor milk productivity.

Animal hooves can infect purulent bacteria that cause pulp inflammation. This makes it difficult for the animal to move and can cause lameness. The rot that has formed on the hoof must be cut off.

It is very important to monitor the composition of trace elements included in the diet of animals. The lack of vitamin E in it, as well as some other trace elements, can cause dystrophy of the muscles of the animal's skeleton. A very effective means of preventing this disease is a vitamin complex, which is introduced into the diet of the ewe. Small lambs should also be given vitamin E.

The most dangerous for animals are infectious diseases. They are the most difficult to deal with and are very quickly transmitted from one sheep to another.

The worst infection for sheep - listeriosis. It is caused by bacteria that are very resistant to environmental influences. The nervous form of this disease causes 100% mortality in animals. This disease is practically not treated.

No less dangerous bradzot. It is a general poisoning of the body. This disease leads to 100% loss of livestock. As a preventive measure for this disease, animals are vaccinated and they are not allowed to walk on wet pastures.

Pulmonary adenomatosis or hyperplasia causes coughing, frothy nasal discharge and difficulty breathing in animals. When a disease is detected, the animal is immediately removed from the herd, eliminated, and the case of the disease is registered.

Another unpleasant infectious disease for an animal is mastitis. The udder of the animal with this disease becomes inflamed and pus can be released from it. The most common cause of this disease in sheep is improper management and improper care. The disease is treated, but it is necessary to start fighting mastitis immediately after its discovery.

Timely vaccination is an effective prevention of such infectious animal diseases as smallpox and enterotoxemia.

The wingless fly causes melophagosis in sheep. This skin disease is accompanied by intense itching, which causes the animal to tear its fur. The disease can cause intestinal upset and a rapid drop in animal weight and milk production.

Improper care of sheep can lead to the appearance of worms in their body. The disease is treated with medicines. The dosage and type of drugs for the animal is determined by the veterinarian.

Book: Diseases of sheep and goats. You can download the file from the link.

1. To prevent scabies in animals, they must be bathed 2-3 weeks after spring shearing in a solution containing disinfectants.
2. Lambs for breeding do not need to be taken younger than 4 months. At this age, they require special care and feeding with milk.
3. After 5 months, lambs and ewes cannot be kept together. During this period, they begin puberty. Closely related mating, which can occur between animals, leads to infertility and the birth of weak, non-viable offspring.
4. It is better to mate animals when they reach the age of one to 1.5 years.

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Video - How to properly keep sheep

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Video - How to raise sheep

Lamb belongs to one of the favorite types of meat for Russians and the demand for it in Russia is growing steadily every year. According to statistics, one resident of our country consumes at least one and a half kilograms of lamb per year. The retail price of mutton is quite high and, as a rule, exceeds the cost of pork, beef and chicken meat. What is the reason for the constantly high cost of this popular type of meat?

The choice of breed of animals for breeding

Today in the world there are a whole variety of types of sheep, so that even experts in this field are not able to classify them all. Of all the variety of existing species, it makes sense to analyze in more detail those breeds that are most attractive from the standpoint of meat production for sale.

In the southern regions of Russia, as well as in other regions of our country and in foreign countries, where Islam is the dominant religion, the most popular are fat-tailed breeds. The fat tail itself is a fat deposit in the back of the animal, the energy and nutrients of which the ram uses to maintain its vital functions in adverse dry periods and in starvation. The hump of a camel performs similar functions, so the presence of a fat tail provides the ram with a certain supply of vitality in adverse conditions. Kurdyuk enjoys well-deserved popularity in many cuisines of the world; its additions give the prepared dishes a special taste.

The main fat-tailed sheep breeds include:

• Hissar;
• edilbaevskaya;
• Kalmyk.

Hissar sheep have a rather large body, long legs, dark brown hair and large hanging ears. Animals of this breed quickly gain weight, which in an adult animal can reach up to 120 kg, while the weight of only a fat tail can be up to 20 kg. The meat of such sheep has high palatability, so it can often be found on the menu of expensive restaurants.

Representatives of the Edilbaevskaya breed are distinguished by the absence of horns, a light shade of wool and high unpretentiousness. The weight of an adult ram reaches 100 kg, and according to this indicator, the breed is still inferior to the Hissar. But she does not care about semi-desert regions and poor food - she easily adapted to life in the Kazakh steppes.

The Kalmyk breed was bred in Kalmykia and was originally adapted for long hauls across the Kalmyk steppes. Sheep have a black and white color, curly hair, are themselves strong, stocky, with rather long ears. The weight of an adult animal of this breed reaches 112-115 kg.

In other regions of Russia, non-fat-tailed breeds are most widespread: Romanov, Gorky, Kuibyshev, North Caucasian and Tien Shan.

Animals of the Romanov breed, bred in the 18th century in the Yaroslavl province, are one of the most popular meat species. For 6 months, the lamb of this breed reaches a weight of 30 kg, and in adulthood it reaches 90-100 kg.

The Gorky breed has a not so long history - it appeared in 1960. However, despite this, it is characterized by very large animals weighing up to 120 kg, which makes it very attractive for raising sheep as a business.

Representatives of the Kuibyshev breed are not so large - they reach no more than 95 kg in weight, but wool can be cut from them in very significant quantities.

The North Caucasian and Tien Shan breeds are almost white in color and quickly gain weight at an early age.

When starting a lamb production business, one should be guided not only by the characteristics and potential profitability of each of the breeds listed above, but also take into account the region of their origin, which should be either the region of business deployment or the closest one to it. With this approach, even at the preliminary stages, the task of acclimatizing the purchased livestock is cut off and the risks of mortality or underweight in the purchased animals are reduced. You should also approach the choice of a nursery with all possible care, make relevant inquiries, ask the seller if the seller has the required permits, certificates and guarantees.

Creation of necessary infrastructure facilities

Despite their unpretentiousness, sheep still require appropriate maintenance, nutrition and care. And above all, they need a place to sleep and stay in adverse weather - a stall.

The stall can be built from any available materials (wood, brick, all kinds of building blocks). The internal height of the stall should be at least 1.5 meters, and preferably more, for ease of care and maintenance. When determining the required area of ​​the stall, one must proceed from the fact that, according to regulatory requirements, one animal should have at least 3 square meters. m area. In addition, additional space should be provided in the stall room to provide the animals with a free approach to feeding. An important engineering element of the stall is ventilation (ventilation pipe). Windows should also be installed in the room to ensure the penetration of daylight and sunlight into it. The roof of the stall should have good thermal and waterproofing, protecting its interior from adverse environmental factors - rain and snow.

The floor in the stall can be either wood or concrete. However, it is necessary to provide appropriate bedding on the floor so that the animals do not experience discomfort and cannot catch colds and get sick. As bedding, you can prepare straw or special sheet bedding made of polymeric material on the market. The issue of insulation and heating of the stall should be addressed in each case individually, depending on the climatic characteristics of the region in which it is planned to expand the business. In principle, according to experts, the internal temperature in the stall should not be below minus fifteen degrees. In this regard, in cold regions it is better to make additional insulation of the walls of the stall and provide for the possibility of additional heating of the animals in the harsh periods of winter. In any case, the walls of the stall should not have any gaps, and the possibility of drafts should be excluded in the stall.

Pasture for grazing animals

For normal development and good weight gain, it is imperative for animals to stay on open pasture as long as possible (except for cold periods of the year). The pasture should be selected with grass having a height of 12-15 cm. The pasture area can be determined at the rate of 10 animals per 1 hectare. It is necessary to pick up several pastures and drive animals from one to another so that the food supply can be updated and restored. For a pasture, you can either rent a plot of land, or, if funds permit, purchase it to make several paddocks.

Necessary technological equipment

After the issues with the construction of the stall and the selection of pasture have been resolved, it is necessary to equip your enterprise with the following equipment:

• a truck for the delivery of feed, transportation of animals and their carcasses;
• feeding and drinking systems in the form of boxes, troughs, etc., including computerized systems that provide feed and water supply in a given mode;
• devices for shearing wool and butchering animal carcasses;
• refrigerating chamber for storage of butchered carcasses.

Maintenance and care of animals

In the summer, it is necessary to drive the animals out for grazing as early as possible so that they can hide in the shade until the midday heat, having satiated themselves with grass, which one sheep consumes about 9 kg. During this period, the herd must be on pasture for at least ten hours a day. The pasture must be in a dry area and there must be no clover, colza or alfalfa, since these plants should not be categorically eaten by sheep. In summer, there is enough food in the pasture to feed the animals. As an exception, top dressing should be given only to rams-producers.

Salt must be included in the diet of livestock, which can also be added to bait.

Animals must have constant access to drinking water. The drinker should have high sides to avoid splashing water and spilling it on the floor. Water for drinking should have a temperature of about 15-18 degrees. One ram needs at least 2 liters of water per day during normal periods and much more during the hot season. The length of the feeder should take into account the fact that one animal requires at least 40 cm of its length.

Animals should be periodically subjected to veterinary examination. However, you can do some things yourself: file the horns, clean the hooves, remove thorns and other foreign objects from the wool that can cause discomfort to the animal.

The stall must be regularly cleaned, bedding changed, dirt removed.

slaughter

They start slaughtering livestock and cutting ink after they gain weight. If the wool is not subject to subsequent processing, then its shearing at slaughter is not required. In order to clean the digestive tract from food, one day before slaughter, stop feeding the animal, limiting yourself to drinking.

It is advisable to involve assistants in the slaughter of the animal. For slaughter, you just need to clamp the ram or hang it on the crossbar (in a suspended state, the blood comes out much faster). After slaughtering, I remove the skin from the carcass and cut the carcass. Since the carcass is perishable, storage areas must be prepared in advance for it, capable of accommodating all possible volumes.

Sales of finished products

Product marketing is one of the most important points in a sheep breeding business plan. Given the specifics of the product - fresh meat - the lack of pre-prepared sales channels can lead to its spoilage. The following objects can act as distribution channels for finished products.

Markets, farmers' fairs, individual customers. However, for a number of reasons, sales at such facilities are unstable. In addition, such objects attract competitors, which can lead to cheaper sales.

Catering establishments (canteens, cafes, snack bars, restaurants). These objects willingly cooperate with manufacturers. However, in this case, it will be necessary to pass the appropriate product safety checks (sanitary and epidemiological). Keep in mind that restaurants purchase whole carcasses at a wholesale price, which also leads to a decrease in overall revenue.

Retail stores, hypermarkets, chain retail chains. The specifics of delivery by the specified consumer lies in the fact that they need regular deliveries in the required volumes, while payment for the delivered products is made with a significant delay, and a whole system of fines is provided for non-fulfillment of the delivery conditions. If you create your own point of sale, then supplies for it must be regular throughout the year, which, in conditions of a limited number of livestock, will be almost impossible to ensure.

Intermediary firms. Such companies buy meat from producers and then resell it to the consumer. The peculiarity here is that intermediaries seek to maximize their margin, so they will always offer a very low purchase price.

Estimated project costs

To organize a business plan for the production of mutton meat, you will need to take into account the costs of the following list of items:

• selection of pasture (lease or purchase of a plot of land);
• construction of a stationary stall (farm);
• purchase of young animals (at least one hundred animals to ensure the profitability of the business). The cost of one individual can be 400 rubles. per kilogram of live weight;
• purchase of feed and feed additives;
• selection and hiring of working personnel: shepherd, driver, veterinarian (may be involved on a temporary basis);
• purchase of technological equipment;
• state registration of the enterprise, the cost of duties for the issuance of safety certificates for finished products.

According to average indicators, the cost of creating a business for the production of lamb is from 10 to 15 million rubles. In practice, it can be judged that this amount is quite enough for the business to get back on its feet and start generating income.

Payback period and profit

When determining the payback period, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the business and set a sufficiently long time interval necessary for the natural growth of livestock. At the same time, at the initial stage, almost all expenses are made to create a business, and only then, after a rather long period, the business will begin to generate income from the sale of the product.

When selling finished products in parts or carcasses, you can earn 100 rubles per kilogram of butchered carcass or 5-6 thousand rubles (on average) for one carcass. When selling 50 sheep, the income can be up to five hundred thousand rubles.

Thus, the payback, taking into account the initial investment, can be reached in 3 years. It should be added that not only adult animals can bring income, but also lambs gaining 30 kg of weight in 4 months. If you sell lamb, which comes at a higher price, you can get a good additional income.

Thus, on the attractiveness of lamb for people, you can build a fairly profitable and quickly payback business.

It remains only a little - to think it over, calculate, make a decision and start acting!

Now many farmers breed sheep. And I must say that the demand for them is quite high. There are more and more sheep farms.

They are bred not only for meat at home, although it is bought in large quantities. Someone is engaged in raising sheep to get milk or warm sheep's wool.

Such a business can quickly pay off, because the costs in relation to profits will be much less. Is it profitable to breed sheep, you can find out from the article below.

They begin to breed sheep, of course, from their purchase. You can buy these animals on farms that specialize in breeding them. Such a purchase is considered more reliable, because in this case there are certificates and you can check them before buying. These farms often leave reviews that you can read before an important purchase.

You can also contact the farms or make a purchase from a private person. These options are likely to be cheaper. However, there is a chance to stumble upon low-quality cattle. It is better first in such cases to properly inspect the place where the animals lived, as well as themselves.

When choosing sheep and rams, one should decide on the breed, and for what purposes the herd will be acquired, whether breeding sheep are needed or not. According to the productive qualities of sheep divided into several types:

If you are engaged in raising sheep as a business, then it is necessary to determine in advance the types and breeds that will be acquired. It is better to pay more attention to those species of animals that tolerate a variety of climatic conditions well, because not all sheep have a smooth going through the adaptation process.

It is also worth immediately deciding whether meat rams and sheep will be kept by farmers, because meat ones are kept only in stalls to gain weight, while other species need to graze on pastures.

How to feed and keep sheep

If sheep are bred in a temperate climate, then in keeping sheep farms and in sheep breeding in general, you can distinguish two periods:

1. Spring Summer. During this season, the herd spends most of its time on pastures. There, the rams receive the bulk of their food and are supplemented with various mineral supplements.
2. Autumn winter. At this time, domestic sheep are kept in stalls. For them, it is necessary to stock hay, they are given additional additives and root crops.

Sheep breeding as a business is becoming more and more popular and profitable in the modern world. The cost of creating your own business is relatively low, because depending on the possibilities, you can choose the optimal number of flocks. In addition to delicious gourmet meat, sheep provide excellent wool and milk. Consider the main stages of breeding sheep as a business.

The advantages of a sheep breeding business for meat are as follows:

• Animals are simply ideal for beginners: they are unpretentious in maintenance and nutrition.
• The required number of heads is chosen by the farmer himself, depending on the potential of his farm.
• Sheep can be bred almost everywhere.
• Animals are resistant to most diseases.
• They allow you to get several products at once: both nutrient-rich meat, and wool, and milk, and offspring.

Such an impressive list of benefits led to the widespread use of sheep breeding for meat as a family business.

Purchase

The first step to create your own business for raising sheep for meat is this is the purchase of a flock.

Important! Experts strongly recommend purchasing livestock on special breeding farms, this will allow you to be sure of the breed and health of the animals. In addition, serious manufacturers give buyers the opportunity to get acquainted with certificates of conformity.

However, often sheep for breeding can be purchased at a lower price from private traders. It is very important before purchasing to find out as much as possible in what conditions the sheep are kept, and to be careful.

To avoid mistakes at the stage of planning your own business, it is extremely important to decide on the breed of sheep. All breeds can be classified as follows, depending on productivity:

• meat-sebaceous;
• woolen;
• meat-wool;
• wool and meat;
• meat-fur coats;
• meat-wool-milk.

If you plan to breed sheep for meat, then you should opt for meat and tallow breeds. You should also consider the ability of a particular breed to feel comfortable in the climatic conditions of your region.

Beginners can stop at the sheep of the Romanov breed, they are surprisingly unpretentious and are highly prolific. The advantages of the breed are:

If the business plan involves getting more meat, the choice should be stopped on fat-tailed breeds that came to us from Central Asia. Among these breeds are the Hissar, Kalmyk, Edinbaev. The advantages are:

• The body weight of a ram is up to 190 kg, while the meat yield is 60%.
• They perfectly adapt to living in dry climatic conditions, so the maintenance will not cause difficulties.
• Wool, of course, is of low quality, but can be used to make felt.

Also popular are such breeds of meat direction: edilbaevskaya, gorkovskaya, belt-march. They are more capricious in maintenance and care, they will not be able to gain weight normally in dry conditions, therefore they are only suitable for the middle lane or southern latitudes, but they allow you to get a lot of meat. Foreign breeds that are also suitable for beginners:

• Zwartbles. Fragrant sweetish meat is the advantage of this breed.
• Dorper. Possesses surprisingly tasty delicacy meat.
• Vendee.
• Texel. It has a peaceful disposition, gets along well with other breeds.

It is important to decide what exactly will be the main goal of the business - breeding or fattening for slaughter, the choice of breed also depends on this. If the task is to slaughter the animal for meat as soon as possible, then it should quickly gain weight - from 300 to 600 grams daily, but if breeding is more important, then less attention can be paid to this characteristic.

Content organization

When purchasing a livestock, it is necessary to make all vaccinations to the sheep and in the future strictly adhere to the vaccination schedule. A new animal is mandatory placed in quarantine until it receives all the necessary vaccinations. It is very important to organize constant visits of the veterinarian to the flock, this will help reduce the risk of mass diseases.

When operating in moderate climates it is very important to observe two periods.

• In spring and summer, it is necessary to drive the flock to pastures, and in order for the animals to receive the necessary vitamins and microelements, root crops and specialized additives should be added to their diet.
• Autumn and winter are the time that the flock spends in the camp. Sheep feed at this time on pre-prepared hay, and in order for the diet not to lose its usefulness, do not forget to continue feeding with vitamins and minerals. Juicy food will also be useful in winter: carrots, pumpkins, potatoes, turnips, beets.

For the most comfortable breeding of sheep for meat, it is necessary to have pastures on which grazing will be carried out. There are several most common types of pastures:

• Natural. In order for sheep to gain weight faster, alpine or semi-alpine meadows will be most suitable for them.
• Artificial. Grass is sown by people to create conditions as close to natural as possible.
• By growing plants, pastures are divided into annual and perennial.
• By fenced off - with and without a fence.

Each sheep breeder chooses the type of pasture that suits him best, but it is very important that there is a river or a lake nearby so that the sheep always have access to clean water. When choosing a pasture, it should be taken into account that about 1 ha of land is needed for 10 heads.

Important! So that sheep do not get sick, grazing in wetlands or pastures with high humidity should be abandoned.

Having chosen a place for grazing, it should be prepared - remove holes, branches, if necessary, sow with grass. It is also important that the chosen pasture has trees nearby, in the shade of which the sheep will take refuge from the intense heat.

What buildings will a novice sheep breeder need?

• Wooden paddock with feeders and drinkers.
• Koshara. Here the flock will spend the night, as well as raise young. If possible, it is desirable to organize heating in the room.
• Auxiliary premises: sheds for storing tools, equipment, straw, grain.

Everything needs to be arranged before buying a livestock.

In order for the sheep breeding business to give positive results, grazing should be clearly organized:

• At 5 am, the flock is driven out to pasture.
• By 21 o'clock the sheep are driven into the stall.

If grazing is properly organized, the animals will be healthy, active, quickly gain weight and be resistant to diseases.

It is important to provide animals with clean bedding, constant access to water, good nutrition in advance prepared hay with vitamin and mineral supplements. Also, in the “menu” of sheep, if possible, root crops, silage, bran, and oats should be included.

How to raise lambs

For raising offspring, it is very important that the producer receives all the necessary vitamins and nutrients, therefore, one cannot do without summer grazing on the pasture, only in this case the animal's sperm will be of high quality, and the young animals will be healthy.

Important! In order for the mating process to take place under control, sires should be isolated from other herds.

The uterus after childbirth should be surrounded by special care and attention, so the room where they are located should be dry, clean and warm. In the first months of a lamb's life, the queen with offspring is sent to graze on the best pastures in order to provide full-fledged rich nutrition. With the mother, the babies are kept until they reach 3 months, then the young are sent for grazing.

Very important! At the age of six months, lambs need to trim their hooves..

Realization of lamb

You can sell the resulting meat to restaurants and cafes, barbecues, shops and hypermarkets, markets and private individuals, meat processing plants. It is very important to establish distribution channels in a timely manner and arrange a small advertising campaign for your business, since the most important stage of a successful business is having a satisfied customer. Sale of mutton is possible both in separate parts and carcasses. To provide a place to store carcasses before sale, a special refrigerator will need to be purchased.

You can also set up sales channels for wool in advance, which will become an additional source of income.

Sheep breeding business plan

To write a good business plan, you should first of all calculate the expected costs, the amount of which depends on the livestock. Each novice sheep breeder can choose for himself the optimal number of sheep that he can grow on his farm. The average number is considered to be 300 goals, but deviations up or down are allowed. The amount of expenses for the purchase of sheep will also depend on the number, the average cost of which is about 4000 - 5000 rubles. Do not forget that the activity must be legal, the legal form must be registered, the best option is a farm.

If you do not have your own pasture, the business plan must definitely include the cost of renting it, equal to 200 thousand rubles. in year. In winter, grazing is not carried out, so you will need to prepare food. On average per year with a population of 300 sheep this will require about 50 thousand rubles.

Thus, the costs of the project can be summed up:

Project profitability

The implemented business plans make it possible to predict that, with a rational organization of the business, the project will pay off in 2-3 years. The demand for meat and wool is now very high, so you can not be afraid to remain in the red. The average rate of return per year is 25-40%.

Breeding sheep for meat great option for family business, for newbies' own business. These unpretentious animals, with the right choice of breed, will not be demanding in care and feeding, but will quickly gain weight, bringing their owner a steady income.

Breeding Technology - Key Issues

In no case should the terms "sheep for breeding" and "sheep for fattening" be confused.

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

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 species of farm animals to the most diverse climatic conditions. The second - again, their greatest pickiness to feed. On the territory of Russia, the breeding of rams and sheep is carried out almost everywhere - in high-mountainous, desert and steppe zones.

At the same time, among the many plants growing in a wide variety of climates (about 800 species), about 400 are edible for sheep and sheep, while only about 150 species are suitable for cows and goats, and less than 100 for horses. Today it is profitable to grow sheep and sheep and in terms of the amount of the final product. Among domestic animals, there is not a single species that, like sheep, would serve as a source of both meat and 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 solids, proteins and fats, and meat is the least saturated with cholesterol.

Where to find young animals for breeding

If you decide to buy sheep for breeding, you can do this either at professional sheep farms, or from closing collective farms that sell the herd, or from private individuals. Of course, the first method is preferable, and the second and third will simply be cheaper. It is necessary to understand the difference between the terms “sheep for fattening” and “for breeding”. Those animals that are fattened for slaughter are kept in a stall way, because the most important thing for them is to quickly gain marketable body weight. For sheep and rams, the requirements for breeding are different. From them the main thing is to get healthy offspring. Therefore, the conditions of keeping are different - in winter, stall on dry fodder, and in summer - on pasture grasses.

Subtleties of sheep breeding

How to breed sheep - it is best to learn from specialists. Of course, the study of special literature will not hurt either. Video can also provide some help 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 are going to breed rams and sheep mainly on your own.

There are no fundamental differences in how to raise sheep (in comparison with raising sheep). However, it should be remembered that the main purpose of the former is the insemination of sheep in order to obtain offspring. In this regard, rams must be kept separate from sheep, and brought together only during mating. 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, mating held in the fall will be successful and will subsequently give a good offspring. But even in this case, rams-producers need quite 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 an effective result and profit) many different factors. Among them are knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth in sheep, the most important components of their proper nutrition, the organization of pens and fences, diets at different times of the year, grazing techniques, hoof care, washing and shearing rules, wintering features, mating, milking and a few dozen more nuances regarding how to raise sheep.

The rearing of young sheep stands apart in this issue. Immediately after the moment of birth, the lamb must drink the 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, young lambs and lambs begin to graze on their own.

It is not superfluous for everyone who has seriously decided to devote himself to breeding rams and sheep, but does not plan to purchase a professional large enterprise, to get acquainted with some practical advice from an experienced sheep breeder - taking into account our Russian realities.

An ideal option for the initial stage is to rent or buy land - with a pasture and a ready-made room for sheep. Their number, ideally for a small family business, is up to 1000 heads. Of course, they will need a shepherd and several workers. Having organized the work, it remains only to bring everything you need to your farm every week.

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

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

1. Money for organizing a business. Their number will be necessary in direct proportion to the number of heads purchased and the size of the future farm.
2. Sheepfold location. Which today is in the Central strip 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 Territory - here all the lands and pastures have long been occupied/divided. True, lower prices for grain serve as a plus - with slightly worse pastures.
3. Livestock. There may not be money for 1000 - and in this case, you should focus on at least 200 heads (the minimum number, according to experts, that can bring a profit in an amount sufficient for existence and development during the year). Otherwise, you can start with 5 sheep - but not counting on a full payback until the period the above figure is reached.
4. Shepherd. Alpha and Omega of a prosperous existence. Sheep breeder, not just a shepherd. Speaking in modern language - a real top manager who knows the knowledge of a livestock specialist / veterinarian / haircut master, etc. This should be a person who knows how to find understanding with the sheep - and therefore valued literally worth its weight in gold. SUCH a shepherd can really earn money for you. At the same time, usually taking as payment the right to own 50 sheep and a percentage of the profits - but guaranteeing a significant offspring, the safety of each sheep and, above all, appreciating trust in oneself. With the option described in paragraph 3 with the number of heads less than 200, the best option would be to learn to be "one's own shepherd." The laboriousness of this for a beginner is very high - but the effectiveness of knowledge on how to breed sheep and how to raise sheep will return a hundred years later.
5. Workers. In our Russian reality, they most often belong to the “homeless” class, who does not shy away from dirty work (and it will indeed be such). Who, under the command of a shepherd, will feed, graze and care for the livestock. But the main problem that 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.