Recommended Breeding Season for Sheep and Goat and its Preparation
A.Yasotha
Department of Livestock Production Management
Veterinary College and Research Institute, Udumalpet
Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University
Corresponding author: dryasotha@gmail.com
Females that are in good condition should have high pregnancy, twining rates, milk production and good colostrum quality. When the animals are bred in poor condition will increases the incidents of morbidity, birth of weak and unthrifty kids/lambs and sometimes the does/ewes (adult female) may abort their fetuses. The doe/ewe may have low milk production and even the doe/ewe may produce kids/lambs with low birth rates (Noble, 2004). Therefore, it is of the paramount importance that animals are in optimum condition prior to the breeding season.
Flushing
It is a practice of feeding of extra grain or lush green pasture, two or three weeks prior to the breeding season. Breeding ewes should be provided with special grazing or feeding starting a fortnight before is to begin and this can be done only where mating is controlled. It increases the number of ova shed from the ovary and increase the incidence of twinning. A ewe that gains in body weight just prior to and during the mating season can produce more lambs of better weight. Feeding about 250 grams of grains daily to each ewe result into increase in lamb crop of 10-20 % and higher twinning is reported where flushing is carried out (Banerjee, 1998).
Points to be considered during flushing period
- The breeding flock should be treated for internal and external parasites before starting the flushing period.
- Flushing should be done two weeks before mating.
- Provide good quality green and dry roughage.
- Provide 125 to 250 gm of concentrate for flushing.
- During pregnancy the ewes should gain 4 to 8 kg in body weight depends on the breed.
Benefits of flushing:
- It helps to prepare the ewes for pregnancy.
- It increases ovulation rate.
- It aids to get lambs of better weight.
- It supports to get higher lambing percentage.
BREEDING SEASON
The annual change in day length (photoperiod) definitely has an effect on the initiation and termination of the breeding season in goats and sheep. Because the eye is the sensory organ in mammals, it can detect changes in environmental lighting (Bearden and Furquay, 1984). The nerve impulses resulting from the photic signals to the eye gland produces melatonin, a hormone that is secreted from the pituitary gland of the brain. Melatonin secretion promotes cyclicity, the induction of the reproductive processes in goats and sheep.
Sheep
Sheep are seasonally poly-oestrous in their breeding behaviour in temperate regions. In other words, they will come into heat many times during a season (Neary, 1992). However, in tropical climate the sheep can breed around the year. The breeds in which the breeding is practiced throughout the year are called non-seasonal breeds. These type of breeds can be manipulated to produce lambs first in January second in September and Third in May (Sastry et al, 2019).
In the farm condition commonly two breeding periods are followed each of 45 days to cover 3 estrus cycle for effective breeding management. The two breeding and lambing seasons followed are
| Breeding season | Period/Duration | |
| From | To | |
| Main breeding season | September | October |
| Off season breeding | March | April |
| Off season breeding | August | September |
(Sastry et al, 2019).
Breeding season for sheep in India (Prasad, 1996)
Summer – March to April
Autumn – June to July
Post-monsoon – September to October
Winter – October to November
However, the length of the breeding season will also vary with the breed of the animal. In general, higher fertility is observed in autumn season in the plains and in summer season in the hilly areas
Breeding policy of sheep in India (Prasad, 1998)
- Crossing of local breeds with foreign breeds specially the Merino in hilly areas
- Selective breeding in recognised breeds
- Grading-up the non-descript sheep with rams of recognised breeds specially in plains
Goat
Majority of the goat breeds are non-seasonal in breeding activity. The breeding of goats can be carried out throughout the year at and the kids are obtained in all the months of the year (Sastry et al, 2019).
Generally, males and females should be separated before 16 weeks of age in goat. It is possible for fertile mating to occur at ages between 4 and 6 months. Well maintained kids can be sexually mature when they reached 40% of the mature body weight of their doe during breeding season. Although goats are seasonal breeders as their reproductive cycle responds to changes in day length, the does are more or less continuous breeders. It is recommended to breed the female once a year. Some goats may deliver the kid twice in 18 months (Acharya and Kumar, 2008)
There are two peak breeding seasons in Goat (Chakarbarty et al., 1995)
- March to May
- September to November
Most does come in heat in September and March. The buck is sexually more active in winter and spring.
References
Noble, R.C., 2004. Effect of Condition Scores on Late Pregnancy Does Subsequent Performances. Reproduction Management of Beef Cattle and Goats.Goat Workshop.Florida A&M University.
Bearden, J.E. and J. Fuquay. 1984. Applied Animal Reproduction. Pp. 40- 130. Reston Publishing Company, Inc. A Prentice-Hall Company, Reston, Virginia.
Neary, M. 1992. Sheep and their Sex Life. Purdue University, Sheep Extension.
Sastry, N.S.R, C.K.Thomas, R.A.Singh, 2019. Livestock Production Management. Reprinted edition. Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana
Acharya.R.M and P.Kumar, 2008.Goat Production in India.CBS Publishers and Distributors Pvt Ltd.
Chakarbarty,A., Kumaravelu,N.,and S.Sudhir.1995.Management of goats. Pasudhan.10(2):3
Maurya, V.P., S.M.K. Naqvi, J.P. Mittal, 2004. Effect of dietary energy level on physiological responses and reproductive performance of Malpura sheep in the hot semi-arid regions of India, Small Ruminant Research. (55): 117-122.
