Indeed, we are so accustomed to cows that the lambs have turned into something exotic and the question arises: "What?".

Of course cows are the scale. One cow weighs more than 500 kg, and a lamb is 10 times less.
Scale advantage:

• one hundred cows eat like 1000 sheep. This is beneficial only to feed producers, and they are our contractors;
• a housing for a hundred cows a large building has rehearsed projects. This is beneficial only to builders, and they are our contractors;

• equipment for milking and keeping one hundred cows is striking in variety and price. This is beneficial for suppliers, and they are our counterparties.

Thus, raising cows is beneficial to everyone except livestock breeders. Because no amount of even the largest milk can compensate for the "overheating" of fixed assets. So they sit on the farms and wait for the bailiffs. Then, when all the cows are taken away, they begin to look in the direction of the lambs.

What are the advantages of sheep breeding?

You can start from the bottom, namely, to take into account such factors as using deep bedding for sheep is more beneficial than for cows due to the structure and moisture of the manure. In cows, it becomes strongly compacted, and the litter turns into a swamp.

One beef cow consumes feed like 10 sheep, but the bull gives 1.5 kg of weight gain per day, and young animals from 10 ewes are twice as large. We can slaughter a goby in a year and a half, and lambs in six months. That is, the money is frozen by cattle breeding for a year and a half in work in progress, and this is a loss of 20% of income. You can only sell a bull in bulk or go out to the meat row yourself. And the lamb can be sold directly to the consumer and get the maximum revenue.

A sheep has such a structure of the cutting apparatus (average between a cow and a horse) that a cow is not a competitor to it in the field. The herbarium of eating plants in a sheep is three times that of a cow. Sheep can be, it is perfectly chopped and digested, and the cow has big problems with this. Sheep extract 10-12% more nutrients from their feed than cows. Due to the more careful processing of food, due to its small size.

Moreover, one should not oppose cows and sheep. So if the ewes have twins, then it is economically expedient to solder it with cow's milk, a liter per head per day. And thus, an internal market for the sale of whole milk for 20 rubles is obtained, and the lambs will not lag behind in development from their peers, who are alone with their mothers. Also, sheep are better at sorting out the remains of hay from feeding it to cows. And ensure its complete consumption.

In conclusion, I can add that livestock breeders are more drawn to sheep, they are safer than cows and accumulate past labor well in themselves, but plant breeders to cows, because they eat a lot and it is good to write off failures in feed preparation on them. Sheep do not forgive this, already on the third day of feeding with rotten hay, mortality begins.

Velichko Vyacheslav.

Best of ZOOTEHNIKOFF:

Adaptive reactions of sheep and beef cows

New technology for raising sheep

How to catch a ram Watering cows and sheep in severe frosts. Comparison of capitalist and socialist forms of management.

Modular (container) cattle slaughterhouse this is a completely ready-to-use building with all engineering communications.

First of all, the slaughterhouse is intended for installation in a stationary position for enterprises or private farms that are unable to equip their own premises for slaughtering poultry.

The modular slaughterhouse is supplied complete with all internal engineering systems: electricity, ventilation, water supply and sewerage. Only an external source of water and electricity is needed. As an option, we can supply a tank or septic tank for collecting waste water. All that is required at the installation site is the presence of a flat platform and columnar supports. The installation of a container slaughterhouse can be done with the help of unskilled workers following our instructions.

Indoor areas workshops are fully equipped in accordance with the requirements of Rospotrebnadzor, building codes and regulations (power wiring, RCD circuit breakers, protective loop grounding, a line for supplying air, cold / hot water and drainage). The container is lined on the inside with 80mm thick gray sandwich panels, which provide the necessary thermal insulation and are easy to clean during disinfection. The floor is designed with a slope and provides a gutter for water drainage after washing. Doors and windows are made of aluminum and plastic with energy-efficient double-glazed windows. Mandatory, as for any ordinary slaughterhouse, there is a division into "dirty" (slaughter) and "clean" zones.

The equipment of the module and the manufacture of technological equipment are used only materials permitted by SanPin!

Sprut-12M module. Overall dimensions: D12192 X W2438 X H2896mm.

The line for slaughtering cattle / small cattle includes:

Stunning and slaughter of cattle and small cattle;
- hanging the carcass on a hanging track;
- exsanguination;
- skinning of cattle and small cattle;
- gutting (removal and sorting of viscera);
- cutting into half carcasses;
- quartering;
- weighing the net weight;

The equipment of the modular cattle workshop includes:

N / a	Characteristic	Meaning
1	Dimensions, mm	D12192 X W2438 X B2896mm
2	Weight, kg	7 700
3	Electrical connection (dry contact)	380/220 V 50 Hz L, N, PE
4	Power consumption summer (winter), total. kWh	6 (15)

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Technological characteristics of a typical workover line

N / a	Characteristic	Meaning
	Maximum carcass weight, kg	1000
	Maximum productivity, g / hour	3 / 5
	Water consumption per 1 carcass, l	80 l
	Water consumption for cleaning the line, m3
	Disinfectant	Any non-chlorine
		disinfectant
	Sewerage	With jet burst
		Septic or cesspool
	Workplaces	1 to 3 people

The container is provided with:

Certificates of conformity for equipment.

Sanitary and epidemiological conclusion on materials used in the production of slaughterhouses and equipment.

Operational documentation

For a more complete and balanced equipment of your production, as well as obtaining the current cost, we recommend that you consult with our specialists. To do this, you must click on the button below and fill out the form or send us a request by e-mail: [email protected]- we will do the rest! .

Since ancient times, people have been raising cows as well as small ruminants. For each type of animal, it is necessary to create certain conditions of detention. With proper livestock management, the farmer manages to increase the available livestock several times in a short period of time.

Features of animal husbandry

To breed large and small, you must have a large enough land plot. Livestock farms lease large plots of land for this purpose. In home breeding, livestock is housed in the existing area. At the same time, the cows must be provided with a sufficiently large stall, a walk. Goats and sheep need less land.

The issue of lack of space determines which cattle and small ruminants will be raised.

Livestock breeding

Livestock includes large and small cattle. The first includes different breeds of cows. Small ones represent goats, sheep. Before breeding any kind of animals, you need to assess your capabilities.

A very profitable business. Only two animals are able to bring good income and fully recoup the costs of their maintenance. Before introducing animals, you must:

1. Find out what breeds exist, what are found in a particular region.
2. Decide on the place where the animal will be kept. If it is planned to graze a cow in the summer, then it must be provided with a place to sleep: a shed, a barn. For winter maintenance, you will need a warm room and a walk.

Having decided on the place of detention, they decide on the choice of the breed. This is not easy because there are many different types of cattle.

Breeds of cows

Those who have never dealt with cows are advised to select a breed that will be unpretentious to the climate. However, do not forget that the cow must give a lot of milk.

1. Hereford cattle. It is famous all over the world, as it is unpretentious to the climate. The color of the animals is red, they have white spots all over the body. This breed is growing rapidly and has great reproduction. After 1.5 years, young animals reach sexual maturity.
2. The Limousin breed also has a red color, but it is more hardy, unpretentious in care. Limousine cows differ from others in high fertility: they can bring up to three calves at one calving.
3. Animals acclimatize well and gain weight quickly. In the warm season, they have a smooth coat, and in winter it becomes curly and thick.
4. The most common breed is the Simmental. The profitability of its content is almost one hundred percent.

There are other breeds of cows that are great for keeping in different climates.

MRS: goats

One of the very first animals that humans have tamed is the goat. These animals adapt perfectly to any climatic conditions, are unpretentious in keeping.

Goats provide different products: down, meat, milk, skins.

Among the downy goats there are:

• Breed near the Don. From one animal, you can get up to one and a half kilograms of fluff, about ten centimeters long.
• Orenburg goat. This is the largest downy animal. thin, long, but not firm and elastic enough. Because of this feature, the fluff from the Orenburg breeds is mixed with the products of other goats, most often the Don ones.

There are goats that are kept for milk. The most common breed is the Russian goat. It is light in weight, giving an average of about four liters of milk per day. Saanen goats have a higher milk yield. If kept well, they can produce up to eight liters of milk per day. These small ruminants have a large constitution and a fairly large weight.

MRS: sheep

Sheep are very early maturing animals. Their puberty begins by six months of age. For one lambing, a sheep brings from one to three lambs, in rare cases there can be four of them. Moreover, lambing occurs twice a year. Because of this feature of sheep, they pay back the costs very quickly.

Sheep are not just small ruminants that reproduce rapidly. These animals grow well. By the age of four months, young animals weigh about half of the weight of an adult. For example, if an adult sheep, according to breed standards, should weigh eighty kilograms, then the young at 4 months will weigh about forty kilograms.

All small ruminants are divided into wool and beef cattle. The first type has subspecies: coarse-haired, fine-haired, semi-fine-haired, etc.

Private traders and farmers most often breed the Romanov breed. It is distinguished by its versatility and high fertility. Professionals recommend starting the breeding of small ruminants with this particular breed, as it is unpretentious, perfectly adapts to any climatic zone.

Conclusion

Breeding any kind of animal is hard work. Animals need to be fed, removed wool, milked, removed manure, grazed. They need a place to keep them, they get food. All this is hard work, which not everyone can do.

Modern animal husbandry, based on size, differentiates all cattle into large and small, for convenience, assigning them abbreviated nicknames in the form of "cattle" and "MRS". The small-sized representatives of the barnyard include sheep and goats, which, despite their compact constitution, sometimes reach impressive dimensions. Breeding of small cattle, judging by the volume, has recently become a worthy competitor to cattle due to the unpretentiousness of animals and the relatively low labor costs required for their maintenance. Since small ruminants spend most of their time on pasture, the cost of purchasing industrial feed is negligible, and the docile nature minimizes the number of staff required for care.

The farmland abounds in many worthy specimens, diligently serving for the benefit of their owner: from pigs and rabbits to chickens, ducks and turkeys. The most frequent inhabitants of the yard are cows, sheep and goats. It is possible to discern all the advantages of small ruminants only by first studying the specific features of large-caliber inhabitants of estates.

The origin of cattle

Scientists rarely use the capacious term "cow", preferring to use a more global definition of "cattle". The substitution of concepts is due to the fact that in addition to the cows, leading their ancestry from the wild tur, in the process of domestication, other members of the bovine clan were also tamed: the gaur, the Indian buffalo, the banteng, and the yak, for example. Since they perform the same tasks and have similar external data, a generalized classification was adopted.

The founder of the clan - tour became a friend of man more than 8000 years ago. The first to dare to tame the ferocious animals were the ingenious ancient Greeks. Gradually, breeders squeezed the genetic potential of this bull to the fullest, delighting humanity with more than one productive breed, which gives almost half of all meat eaten on the planet and most of dairy products. Cattle skins are invaluable raw materials for the production of footwear and other wardrobe items. In the 21st century, the number of cows reached a record 1.3 billion heads. The populations of other relatives are significantly smaller in number and cannot boast of such a vast geography of residence.

Advantages and disadvantages of cattle

Among herbivores, cows need a huge amount of feed, which significantly increases their maintenance costs. However, high productivity and high lethal yield sweeten the bitter pill of food costs. Nevertheless, not everything is so bad in the ruminant kingdom of artiodactyls: the digestive system of cattle reacts better to roughage, assimilating the maximum possible amount of useful elements contained in them. At the same time, a significant disadvantage is the large volumes of drinking water consumed.

If we consider stag beetles from the position of draft force, then one can hardly find more reliable carriers of animal origin. They are distinguished by their high carrying capacity and are tough enough for long-distance “races”.

Breeding of small ruminants in importance is not inferior to their larger colleagues in the workshop, sometimes even surpassing them in importance. Sheep and goats provide nutritious milk, tasty meat and warm wool.

Domestic goats

Goats were “introduced to the court” about 9000 years ago, being in the schedule of domestication between dogs and sheep. It is curious that their genesis is polygenic: the line comes from many species of wild ibex.

An invaluable contribution to the "formation" of goats was made by the Bezoar goat.

Asia Minor became the epicenter of the hobby for these animals, then this agricultural epidemic spread to the ancient Greeks, who saw in them an invaluable source of milk. A little later, they were seen in the farmsteads of African farmers and oriental peasants, who perfected the technology of growing these cute creatures. The largest livestock population was recorded in the countries of Africa and Asia, which have a specific climate and high air temperatures, which lasts almost throughout the year. In such conditions, not every animal is able to maintain high productivity and delight the owners with tasty products. As of 2008, their number has reached over 15 million dairy goats and about 5 million meat goats.

Appearance characteristics

There are more than 100 breeds of goats, which can be conditionally classified as follows: meat, dairy, downy and wool. Among milk producers, Alpine, Welsh, Nubian stand out. The main supplier of meat is the Boer breed, the Angora breed proudly heads the catalog of wool species, the Kashmir downy breed, and decorative ones.

Despite the fact that sometimes goats can be confused with sheep, the surest way to distinguish between animals is to look at the tail: in goats it will always be short and, as a rule, looking up, while in sheep it hangs down and is large.

Dairy goat breeds

The forces of selection have bred odorless goat breeds. Want to know what these goats are? Read the article ““. In the article: how to choose a goat, a detailed description of goat breeds, especially their maintenance.

Exterior features:

1. Beard. Almost all varieties of goats and goats are decorated with a hair accessory.
2. Earrings... This picturesque detail of the skin was wisely thought out by nature: it performs a protective function similar in purpose to the tail of a lizard: when a predatory beast grabs an imprudent goat by the throat, in most cases, "clips" remain in the teeth of voracious animals, and the animal manages to avoid the sad fate to be eaten alive.
3. Horns... The assortment of corneous processes is represented by many interesting figures: from spiral to folded in rings at the back of the head. There are also hornless representatives, but they are an exception to the general rule.
4. Ears. In the queue for the distribution of ears, goats, apparently, were the first: small, large, sticking out to the sides, wide, long, hanging down - on the heads of animals you can contemplate all the beauty of the flight of fantasy of Mother Nature.
5. Wool. There are both short-haired and overgrown goats, the length of the wool cover of which reaches 20 cm.
6. Muzzle... Despite the well-known long-faced standard, if you look into a goat's filing cabinet, you can also find owners of narrow chins, shaped like a bulldog's face.

Character traits

Despite the fact that there are many sayings denouncing goats of ignorance and negligence towards the garden, in essence they are amiable and rather diplomatic creatures.

Summarizing the typical features of their temperament, the following can be distinguished:

1. Curiosity... The inquisitiveness of animals knows no bounds: at any opportunity, they devote all their free time to the study of new objects or phenomena. For example, when they see a plastic bag, they will feel it their duty to taste it.
2. Sociability... Goats, especially kids, willingly make contact with other representatives of the animal world. Situations can often be observed when babies climb on the backs of donkeys or horses.
3. Easy to learn. Horned animals lend themselves well to training, they do not hesitate to walk with a leash and quickly remember the way to the barn.
4. Purposefulness... In search of food, animals can climb rocks and even climb the tops of small trees.

Goats quickly get used to their owner and sometimes do not allow themselves to be milked by anyone else.

Goats are distinguished by excellent milk production at low maintenance costs, which made them frequent guests of farmlands.

Main factors:

• puberty: 2 to 6 months;
• final formation of the body: 3 years;
• average life expectancy: 8 to 10 years;
• mating period: from 1 to 1.5 years;
• duration of pregnancy: 143 to 155 days;
• the number of kids in one lamb: from 1 to 2, sometimes reaching 6;
• duration of lactation: up to 300 days a year;
• average daily milk yield: from 0.5 to 7 liters.

During the mating period, the goats exude an unpleasant specific odor, which often serves as a reason for refusing to breed these representatives of the household.

Goat diseases

Goats rarely get sick, but accurately, so it is important to be able to understand in time that something is wrong with the goat. Read where all the most common diseases of goats are listed to be fully armed.

Advantages and disadvantages

The productivity of goats is legendary, so it is difficult to identify any significant flaws. A negative reaction to the humid climate and hostility to damp pastures can be noted, since such walks are fraught with the appearance of pneumonia.

Among the benefits inherent in goats are the following:

In addition to global advantages, there are also "local" advantages:

• the height of the goat at the withers is less than 1 m, so even children can take care of them;
• animals are absolutely unpretentious in the choice of feed;
• love to feast on tree branches and bark, which greatly enriches their diet;
• do not need a large amount of juicy feed and concentrates, which are so necessary for other farm animals;
• adapt to cold Russian winters.

In the piggy bank of merits, you can add the "muted" herd instinct, so strongly developed in sheep, and the courage that pushes the goats to protect their offspring.

Sheep are no less popular inhabitants of the courtyard. They descended from the wild mountain ram. These unique creatures are invaluable suppliers of wool, which the ancient Greeks made legends about, and the restless Jason, in the company of the Argonauts, even organized an expedition to find the golden fleece.

Breeding sheep at home

Thinking about starting a sheep breeding? Read to know all the subtleties. We will help you choose the breed of sheep with which it is better to start, tell you how to feed the sheep and how they get sick, give tips on keeping and caring for them.

Origin and domestication

All sheep living on the planet come from the same sheep breed - Mouflon, other participants in the process of creation were not noticed. The rest of the mountain sheep breeds never made friends with humans. Generally, the word "sheep" refers to all domesticated rams, regardless of gender. More locally, it is used to refer to females.

Sheep obeyed man a little later than goats. An event so significant for mankind took place about 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Out of habit, starting with the development of mountainous regions, sheep quickly getting used to everything new began to explore other territories. For a long time, Great Britain was the world center of sheep breeding, subsequently sharing its woolen wealth with the USA, Australia and the countries of South America. The green continent, together with its neighbor New Zealand, has become the new world center for sheep breeding.

Appearance

The variety of breeds is striking: the height at the withers of the smallest sheep is from 45 to 50 cm, and the average weight is within 13 kg. Heavyweights grow up to 1 m, and body weight often reaches 160 kg. The world's largest ram weighed about 250 kg. Large breeds of sheep are very comfortable when walking, because, due to their weight, they are not able to jump over the fence.

Exterior features:

Character traits

In the process of domestication, the sheep "relaxed": their brains became smaller, and the activity of animals decreased. There is a cliché that sheep are stubborn creatures. However, the notorious sheep's intransigence is actually caused by poor adaptability to everything new.

Among the many character traits that have become anecdotal, the following are especially striking:

Many of the sheep's personality traits have been widely replicated in the cartoon industry.

Herd instinct

In the direction of this behavioral phenomenon, a separate curtsy should be made, since it lifts the veil over the genesis of the stupidity that caused a lot of noise. It's all to blame for the feeling of security that arises in animals that are inside a large group. In large flocks, sheep feel like fish in water: “overpopulation” of the flock is their natural element. Loneliness is so difficult for the sheep that they can even get sick.

The need for a "companion" is so great that some individuals make friends among other animals. For example, one lamb managed to make friends with ducklings.

Productivity characteristics

Sheep are prolific creatures. Depending on the breed, they can produce offspring either year-round or tied to a specific time of year.

Performance indicators:

• puberty: 6 months
• duration of pregnancy: 142 to 155 days;
• offspring: from 1 to 2 lambs, sometimes their number reaches 5;
• maximum life expectancy: 15 to 18 years.

As a rule, sheep, upon reaching the age of 7, are replaced by younger individuals. Despite the fact that sheep become sexually mature upon reaching six months, only individuals who have celebrated their 1.5th anniversary are allowed to mate. Often the breeding season falls in autumn, and with the onset of spring, the sheep delight the owners with young shoots. It is advisable that the babies are born in late February or March, as they will have enough time to get stronger before the grazing season. At the age of 2 weeks they can already feed on grass, and from 4 months they become independent.

Sheep are bred for many purposes: they are so multifunctional from a consumer point of view that the division into meat, wool and other categories is rather arbitrary. Wool, meat, fur, fat, skins, milk, lanolin - sheep help humanity in solving many global problems.

Advantages and disadvantages

The tremendous interest of breeders in sheep breeding is evidence that this species has many advantages:

1. Unpretentiousness... In the rider of these curly creatures, absolutely no gastronomic delights are registered: the animals are happy to eat almost everything that the owner offers them.
2. Omnivorous... Their herbal menu contains more than 500 types of herbs, and for dessert they like to feast on twigs of shrubs or thorny plants. In addition, sheep do not hesitate to graze in meadows after they have been used by horses or cows.
3. Moderate need for water... In order for the sheep's body to digest the feed, it needs a fairly small amount of life-giving moisture.
4. Health... Despite the sensitivity and many phobias, they are practically not susceptible to physiological diseases.
5. Endurance... Animals easily cover considerable distances during the drive from one pasture to another.
6. Obedient character... Sheep do not need special attention, they are simple enough to manage, and they are completely non-aggressive.
7. Cold resistance... Curly coats keep them warm in winter. In warm regions, they can be on the pasture all year round, and in "winter" countries one shed is enough for their placement.

A honey barrel of sheep's virtues is slightly diluted with the tar of flaws, but their percentage is minimal:

Diseases of sheep

Unfortunately, helminths are not the only health problem for sheep. And, of course, the likelihood of catching a serious illness with good care is extremely small, it is better to be able to recognize the malaise in advance. Read the article "" on our portal and learn all about sheep diseases, symptoms and prevention.

Compared to goats, sheep are less agile creatures: they do not conquer hard-to-reach steep areas and do not jump long distances. In addition, they have one unique ability, or rather the inability to stand on their feet from a supine position. This phenomenon can sometimes even cause death: an inverted animal can suffocate after a few hours.

Among meat breeds, Texel is popular, meat and greasy - Turks, wool - Border Leister, Jacob, Karakul, Merino, dairy - Ost-Frisian, and decorative ones are represented by the beautiful breed of Najda.

Keeping small ruminants

After the decision was made to start breeding MRS, you should be puzzled by several points:

After meeting these minimum requirements, you can safely start buying animals. It is advisable to purchase MPCs from trusted sellers who have all the necessary documents and have managed to acquire a grateful clientele.

Containment systems

For both cattle and small ruminants, 2 main management methods have been developed. The choice of any placement technology depends on the climatic conditions of the area and the capabilities of the farm.

In areas with extremely low temperatures or lack of suitable pastures for grazing, a stall technique is practiced, which excludes staying in the meadow.

Features of feeding small cattle

Despite the fact that animals mainly get their own food on their own, it is advisable to adjust their diet with nutritious food, especially in the cold season.

Table. The structure of the diet of small ruminants,%

Name	Males	Females	Young growth	Lambs and kids
Winter period
Roughage	25	35-40	30	30
Fodder straw	-	10-15	10	-
Silage, root crops	15-20	25	35	30
Concentrated feed	55	25	25	40
Summer period
Green forage	70	90-100	90-100	60-65
Concentrated feed	30	0-10	0-10	35-40

Growing young small cattle

For babies to grow up healthy and strong, they need to be supported in the first days of life. There are 2 options for keeping young animals, but often farmers use only the latter:

1. Maintenance with mom... This technique assumes full maternal custody of the offspring, thanks to which the animals quickly gain weight. However, it is fraught with the rapid exhaustion of females, since babies injure the nipples and exhaust mothers.
2. Koshar-basic way... In the daytime, babies are kept separately from females, sending them on dates to mothers only as they need food: in the first days of life, meetings take place three times a day, gradually narrowing to 2 times. At night, animals are next to their mothers. With this method, queens are better fed and produce more milk.

Small ruminants: diseases

Despite the endurance and good adaptive abilities, unfortunately, the disease does not bypass the representatives of the MPC.

Table. Diseases of small ruminants

Name of the disease	Symptoms	Treatment
Foot and mouth disease	the formation of bubbles filled with liquid on the mucous membranes, udder and interdigital fissure; high body temperature; lameness; damage to the udder.	Treatment is carried out only in accordance with the recommendations of the veterinarian, self-healing is not recommended. Walking animals on the pasture is prohibited.
Brucellosis	miscarriage.	The disease is treated under the supervision of a specialist. Milk can be consumed only after pasteurization, and meat - well cooked. If a disease is detected, all personnel in contact with an infected animal should undergo a medical examination.
Mastitis	cracked nipples; udder damage.	Milking should be preceded and ended by wiping the udder with a cloth soaked in warm water and spraying it with petroleum jelly. Wounds on the skin must be lubricated with an antiseptic.
Necrobacillosis	softening of the horny parts of the hooves; deep ulcers, covered with dark films, on the surface of the hooves; damage to the tendons.	Affected individuals should be isolated and placed in an area with soft, clean bedding. It is necessary to thoroughly clean the wounds and remove the affected skin. Then treat them with a solution of potassium permanganate at the rate of 1 g of substance per 100 g of chilled boiled water.

Slaughter of small ruminants

The slaughter of livestock is carried out in accordance with the developed technology:

At the end of all the manipulations, you can proceed to washing, branding and inspection of the meat. MRS carcasses are left intact.

Breeding small ruminants is economically viable in many ways. Unpretentious care and maintenance, the ability to gain weight even with a meager diet, frost resistance, the possibility of year-round placement on pastures, high productivity - these indicators are attractive to most livestock breeders, so sheep and goats can often be found on farmlands.

Video - Where can you graze livestock?

Lyudmila Ivanovna Redkozubova, veterinarian consultant of the cattle department of the company "Vetprom"

Clostridia are spore anaerobic microorganisms. In the external environment, they are in a dense spore shell, and when they get into favorable conditions, they lose it. In this case, the process is accompanied by the release of the strongest toxins, which are easily absorbed into the bloodstream and reach vulnerable organs - most often the liver, intestines, kidneys, as well as damaged muscles and cells of the nervous system.

The scheme of development of clostridioses

The causative agent of clostridiosis is very dangerous for calves until they have a scar (3-4 months), for cows in the period after calving (breaks during calving) and during grazing on conventionally infected pastures. When clostridia enters the intestine, they multiply, after which they are again covered with a spore membrane and are excreted from the body with feces. It should be noted that the penetration of clostridia into the intestine does not always cause disease. Very often they pass through the digestive system in transit and leave the body in an unchanged spore state. The severity of the infection that has arisen depends on the amount of toxins that clostridia release when their spores enter a favorable environment, the digestive tract or a wound and lose their membrane. The increased content of these pathogens on farms reduces the body's defenses and the most common opportunistic microflora begins to activate, causing secondary bacterial diseases in animals (pasteurellosis, salmonellosis, colibacillosis, etc.). The more Clostridium spores are present on the object, the higher the likelihood of their ingestion.

Table 1

Twelve Toxins Determining the High Pathogenicity of Clostridia

Toxin	Toxic effect
	Toxins (main)
Alpha toxin (lecithinase)	Breaks down membrane lecithin; increases vascular permeability, destroys red blood cells; necrotizing activity
Beta toxin	Necrotizing activity; induction of arterial hypertension as a result formation of catecholamines
Epsilon Toxin	Strengthens the vascular permeability of the gastrointestinal tract
Iota Toxin	Necrotizing activity and increased vascular permeability
Enterotoxin	Violates the permeability of the mucous membrane of the small intestine
	Toxins (minor)
Delta toxin	Hemolysis
Theta toxin	Hemolysis, cytolysis
Kappa toxin	Collagenase, gelatinase, necrotizing activity
Lambda toxin	Protease
Mu-toxin	Hyaluronidase: increases tissue permeability
Ni-toxin	Deoxyribonuclease; hemolytic, necrotizing activity
Neuraminidase	Damages gangliosides of cell receptors, promotes thrombosis in capillaries

Clostridiosis cannot be completely eradicated, since the pathogen in a spore form is found everywhere in the natural environment (water or the body of an animal), waiting for ideal conditions for development, and at any time (stress, vaccination, spoiled feed) can manifest its pathogenicity, causing the development of the disease.

Treatment of clostridia with antibiotics and other drugs is not effective. In the place of reproduction of Clostridia, increased tissue breakdown occurs, which creates favorable conditions for anaerobic microflora. The process is constantly intensifying, toxins and tissue breakdown products enter the blood. In this case, the general intoxication of the organisms occurs and the blood supply is disrupted. In this case, the antibacterial substances used cannot get into the lesion sites, and the toxins, on the contrary, almost freely penetrate into the surrounding tissues, as a result of which irreversible processes develop. For animals with clostridiosis, the prognosis is almost always “unfavorable”.

As a rule, Clostridioses occur overly acutely, acutely or subacutely, which does not contribute to a positive therapeutic effect when taking medications and mobilizing one's own strength. By the nature of the release of the toxin, Clostridia are divided into the main (four) groups of diseases: neurotropic, muscle necrosis, infectious enterotoxemia, and liver diseases.

table 2

Types of Clostridia common in veterinary medicine and medicine

Causative agent	Disease	Signs
C. perfringens, type A	Anaerobic enterotoxemia of calves and lambs, malignant edema, gangrene and food poisoning in humans
C. perfringens, type B	Anaerobic dysentery of lambs
C. perfringens, type C	Hemorrhagic enterotoxemia in calves, sheep and pigs (necrotizing enteritis)
C. perfringens, type D	Classic toxic enterotoxemia (softened kidney disease) sheep and adult cattle
C. perfringens, type E	Enterotoxemia of calves, piglets, fur-bearing animals, wild animals and birds. Necrotizing enteritis
C. chauvoei	Emkar cattle Malignant edema (in association) in cattle, small ruminants, pigs, horses
C. septicum	Sheep bradzot, malignant edema of animals (in association)
C. novyi, type A
C. novyi, type B	The main causative agent in malignant edema
C. novyi, type C	Buffalo osteomyelitis
C. novyi, type D (C. haemolyticum)	Bacillary hemoglobinuria in cattle
C. histoliticum	Malignant edema (in association)
C. sordellii	Malignant edema
C. tetani	Tetanus
C. botulinum	Botulism

Clostridia cause significant damage to farms and require appropriate measures - compulsory vaccination of animals, disinfection of premises, control of feed, the principle of "everything is free - everything is busy", especially in the calf shed. Herd vaccination is insurance against illness. Any immunization does not guarantee protection against all losses, but it softens the blow from unforeseen problems. Vaccine protection against Clostridia depends on the number of agents in the vaccine.

MILLENIUM - vaccine against emkar, gas gangrene, enterotoxemia, bacterial hemoglobinuria and tetanus. It includes: Clostridiumchauvoei, Clostridiumsepticum, Clostridiumsordellii, Clostridiumnovyi type A, ClostridiumPerfringensA, B, C, D, Clostridiumsordelli, Clostridiumtetani, Clostridiumhaemolyticum.

Cattle: the vaccine is administered to calves from 40 days of age at a dose of 5 ml, after 30 days they are re-immunized at the same dose, and then once a year.

Sheep and goats: lambs and goats are immunized at 30 days at a dose of 2 ml, after 30 days they are vaccinated again, and then once a year.

Pigs: piglets are vaccinated at 30 days at a dose of 2 ml, again after 30 days, and then once a year.

Examples of immunization schedules with Millennium vaccine:

Other immunization regimens can be adopted under the responsibility of the veterinarian.

The vaccine is packaged in 50, 100 and 250 ml vials.