I. Feed
Horses are basically herbivores. They spend 12 hours a day grazing on pastures or grasslands. It has a fermentation zone in the hindgut, and a large number of cellulose-decomposing flora in the cecum and colon. In the hindgut of horses, vitamin B and volatile fatty acids can be synthesized. Compared with ruminants with foregut fermentation zone, Mali's low-quality roughage has poor adaptability.
Therefore, it is very important to focus on the quality of forage ingredients in the diet and consider the problem of horse breeding reasonably. The forage can be clean grass without soil, leguminous hay, pasture, semi-dry silage or straw cake, and grass made into granules. For Malays, silage is more dangerous than other kinds of roughage, because semi-dry silage produced by improper eating methods may lead to botulinum poisoning. The leafy, green, thin-stemmed and dust-free forage grass grown on fertile soil can meet all the energy needs of relatively settled adult horses. Early harvested leguminous hay and alfalfa can meet the needs of almost all kinds of horses in protein, depending on the amount of low protein concentrate fed at the same time. In order to meet the needs of growth, activity, pregnancy or breastfeeding, it is usually necessary to feed concentrate mainly based on grains to maintain a completely good physical condition.
Table 1 horse's expected feed consumption 1 (calculated as a percentage of horse's weight)
Total feed concentrate
Adult horse
Maintenance needs 1.5 ~ 2.00 ~ 0.5.
Mare (third trimester)1.0 ~1.50.5 ~1.01.5 ~ 2.0
Mare (early lactation) 1.0 ~ 2.0
Mare (late lactation)1.0 ~ 2.00.5 ~1.52.0 ~ 2.5
active state
Small activities1.0 ~ 2.00.5 ~1.01.5 ~ 2.0.
Moderate activity1.0 ~ 2.00.75 ~1.51.75 ~ 2.5.
The activity is 0.75 ~1.5 ~1.0 ~ 2.0 ~ 2.5.
pony
Lactating foal (3 months) 0 1.0 ~ 2.02.5 ~ 3.5
0.5 ~1.01.5 ~ 3.02.0 ~ 3.5 are weaned foals (6 months old).
1 year-old horse (1February)1.0 ~1.51.0 ~ 2.0 ~ 3.0.
/kloc-horses over 0/year old (1 8 months old)1.0 ~1.51.0 ~1.52.0 ~ 2.5.
2-year-old horse (24 months)1.0 ~1.51.0 ~1.52.0 ~ 2.5
1 air-dried feed (about 90% dry matter)
Table 1 lists the estimated range of forage and concentrate consumption of various types of horses according to their age, activities and different stages of production. It is not surprising that the values in table 1 are different. For example, horse racing with a large amount of training activities will consume more than 3% of the body weight every day. For all kinds of horses, it is usually recommended to feed at least 1% of body weight every day to maintain normal hindgut function and reduce the possibility of colic or hoofitis. Some experts suggest that forage should account for at least 50% of the horse's diet, but for some horses with high performance requirements, limiting the amount of grain in their feed may make it difficult for horses to maintain a good posture.
Straw cake (or grass block), whole hay or grain feed block and whole grain diet are other ways to provide feed for horses. The main reason for adopting the above feed is that it can be stored, loaded and unloaded conveniently under the condition of limited space. In addition, reducing the waste of feed and reducing the dust in the case of poor ventilation in the stable is also the reason to consider adopting the above feed. Because the content of nutrients in the complete feed can still be accurately determined under the condition of providing enough roughage, people are happy to use it as a supplementary diet for fast-growing foals and even as a diet for horse racing with high performance requirements. It is reported that after the horse trainer uses the full-price hay-grain feed, the horse eats the full-price grain feed slower than when eating the grain alone, but there are no anorexia and health problems. The observation in the whole feed research is consistent with the above situation.
Two. Nutrition and environmental impact
Facilities designed for stables often consider the comfort of the owner more than the needs of horses. It is well known that the stable is poorly ventilated, and in some cases it is even airtight. So horses can only breathe bad air. In this case, special emphasis should be placed on using high-quality, dust-free and soilless hay, or using crushed or granular forage or mixed feed of hay and grain.
Three. reproduce
Male and female horses began to breed at the age of 3. When mating in small groups, use 3-5-year-old stallions, with the male-female ratio of 1: 10-20 and1:25-35; Individual stallions can still maintain good reproductive ability before the age of 20. Under grazing conditions, the mare was artificially inseminated, and the conception rate was about 80%. Finally, the mare gave birth to 10 ~ L2 foal. The estrus cycle of mares is 17~2 1 day, and the gestation period is 323~337 days.
At birth, the foal's height is more than 62% of that of an adult horse, its tube circumference is 56.79% of that of an adult horse, and its body length and foot circumference are more than 45% of that of an adult horse. The body height, tube circumference, body length and chest circumference of one-year-old adult horses are 87.98%, 82.74% and 76% respectively. At the age of 2, the body height and tube circumference reach 94% of that of an adult horse, and the body length and chest circumference reach 89% of that of an adult horse. By the age of 4 ~ 5, the growth and development are basically completed.
Four. raise
Relationship between horse heredity and living conditions
One-stop culture time: 2010-1419: 52: 58 [horse culture technology]
"Materialist dialectics holds that external cause is the condition of change, internal cause is the basis of change, and external cause works through internal cause." Horses have the property of being able to pass on traits to their offspring, which is called heredity. Different varieties have different heritability. Reflected in different morphological characteristics (such as horse height, body length, weight, back and waist length, coat color, etc.). ) and characteristics (such as good operation and sensitive activity ability, rough feeding resistance and resistance to various adverse environmental conditions, etc. ), this is due to their different internal "basis", that is, different heritability. To understand and master its inheritance, it is necessary to know the origin of each stallion or a group of horses used for horse breeding and improvement, what breed it belongs to, whether it is hybrid or purebred, foreign or local. If they are purebred horses or local horses with a long history in China, their heritability can be said to be relatively stable, at least more stable than hybrids or exotic breeds with a short history. Of course, this stability is only relative, not absolute. The so-called stable heritability means that you can pass on your good characteristics to your offspring through breeding, and you can also pass on your bad characteristics to your offspring. How do you know whether a horse is good or bad? The master will evaluate its advantages and disadvantages through appraisal and pass it on to future generations. If there is a variety pedigree, we should also examine its pedigree. Bloodline is very important for stallions. If there is no pedigree to check, we can also know the fine quality and genetic stability of the foal's parents through observation and identification.
However, in the long-term cultivation process, due to the influence of the local natural environment and the change of feeding and management conditions, "external factors play a role through internal factors", these stable rhymes often have various variations in the process of reproduction and improvement. However, it depends on whether these external factors are beneficial or unfavorable to the development of horses. To improve a horse breed, we should not only meet the favorable conditions needed by horses, but also adopt correct improvement methods to promote the development of foals in the direction needed by people. Otherwise, even if the stallion used to improve local horses is of better quality, the opposite result will be obtained. In the same way, if the improved horse breed has many shortcomings in some aspects, but the correct method is adopted to improve it, the ideal result can finally be obtained.
It can be seen that in the work of improving horse breeds, we should not only pay attention to the heredity of horses, that is, emphasize the selection of horses and ignore the role of their living conditions. For example, to cultivate a foal, we should not only have good nutrition, but also let it withstand the cold and heat and hard exercise. Only in this way can the expected improvement effect be achieved. Especially in hybridization, the interaction of genetic characteristics and dominance (dominance) law are more likely to see the improvement effect. For example, the influence of some genetic characteristics of male and female horses (parents) on their offspring depends not only on the side with strong heredity, but also on the reproductive conditions of foals (offspring). For example, if the breeding conditions of local horses are basically the same as those of local horses, the size and shape of hybrids will be dominated by local horses, but sometimes it can be seen that hybrid offspring have shapes such as big head and thin neck, long limbs and short body, and poor muscle development, and such horses often lose their tolerance and adaptability to local rough breeding. The importance of culture conditions is also illustrated here. On the contrary, if the breeding conditions of hybrid foals are close to or similar to those of improved varieties, the characteristics of improved varieties are easier to show, that is, the effect of hybrid improvement is usually good. On the theory that mature horses are superior to young horses and old horses, in addition, the inheritance of mares will be dominant, which makes it easier to show its genetic characteristics. Such problems should be expected in the improvement of horse breeds.
Selection and matching of horses
One-stop culture time: 2010-12-3016: 53: 56 [horse culture technology]
Whether it is breeding method or hybrid improvement, attention should be paid to seed selection and matching. The so-called seed selection refers to the selection of horses and mares with good performance in all aspects. As for mating, it actually belongs to the category of seed selection, which refers to the purposeful selection of male and female horses for mating, so that they can produce excellent offspring, so seed selection and mating cannot be separated.
Breeding work 1. Generally speaking, it is more important than stallion, not that we don't pay attention to the breeding of mares, but that stallion has a great influence on horses. If we don't pay attention to breeding, we will have the disadvantage of expanding some bad heritability of stallion, so choosing stallion is the main aspect of contradiction. It can be done in accordance with the Interim Measures for the Unified Identification of stallions formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture 1952. The content includes five items: appearance, body shape, service ability, pedigree identification and offspring (descendants) detection. In the process of improving horse breeds in various parts of China, it is necessary to follow the actual situation.
It is also necessary to try to complete these projects step by step. For body identification and body measurements, please refer to the section "How to Choose Horses" for service ability identification. At the very least, you should measure the weight a horse can bear, how many kilometers it has walked, and the speed it has traveled every hour, and observe whether it is tired, whether it meets the requirements of local production, and if conditions permit, you can also measure its tension. If the registration system has been established, genealogy identification and offspring test can also be carried out. According to these competitions, under the evaluation of the masses, the stallions of different grades, such as excellent or good, were finally selected. In order to make the selection more comprehensive, several local mares can also be selected for similar identification.
As for the matching requirements, it is more specific, that is, it is decided to match some mares with a stallion. In the process of improving horse breeds, it is not appropriate to breed at first sight, but to follow the pre-planned breeding plan. The general principle of selection is: a good stallion with a mare will have a good offspring, a good stallion with an ordinary mare will have a better offspring, and a bad stallion will never be allowed to have a good mare, so as not to reduce the quality of the herd. For example, if you want to breed a larger horse, you have to choose a larger male-female horse; If the offspring are physically strong, they must also choose a spouse with the same physical strength. In addition, we can also learn from each other's strengths, that is, combine all the excellent genetic characteristics and characteristics of male and female horses, so that this improved horse breed can obtain new excellent qualities, which is more important for improving our horse breed. For example, our horses are short of size and weight, but they are resistant to rough feeding and hard work. Therefore, it is necessary to use a heavier and bigger stallion, and you can get offspring who can tolerate rough feeding and bear hardships and stand hard work, but don't take extreme measures to make up for it. For example, a mare with too thin and too narrow constitution is matched with a stallion with too heavy and too wide constitution, but a mare with strong constitution is chosen as a spouse. In appearance, don't use slender limbs to overcome short limbs; Or use the arch back to overcome the concave back, that is, it can't be corrected by the shortcomings of the opposite side, because an unqualified body shape can't be corrected by the opposite body shape. This choice is wrong, and it is impossible to get the offspring you want.
Breeding of local horse breeds
One-stop culture time: 2010-12-3016: 54:18 [horse culture technology]
This mainly refers to the method of breeding and improving this variety in Maliang producing area of our country, which should be paid attention to, and is also called "soil species breeding" customarily. The breeding of this variety is not to let them mate freely at will, but to strictly start with seed selection and breeding to improve the feeding level. The so-called breeding is to choose a good horse as the basis for the improvement of this breed, and to raise offspring better than its parents, which can not only retain the inherent excellent performance characteristics of this breed, but also improve it from generation to generation. However, using this method has its conservative side, and it is generally impossible to see immediate results in a short time because its heredity is relatively stable.
The necessary condition for breeding this breed is that a large number of horses have been produced locally for a long time, and there are also many good horses. The local living environment is very suitable for the development of these horses The stallion used at least exceeds the local average horse in size, which is the most basic requirement for selecting and retaining stallions. All horses that have crossed in their early years and are now close to meeting the requirements of new breeds should be sorted and selected, and the bad ones should be eliminated. In order to consolidate their improved quality and avoid the gradual degradation of their already good quality after a long time, it is necessary to adopt the method of cultivating this variety. In areas with poor climatic conditions and feeding management, if the hybridization method does not work, the local horses have adapted to the local conditions and can be bred with this breed.
The so-called pure breeding is actually the same breeding method as the breeding of this variety? 10？ Law, but it is customary to apply to thoroughbred horses with more blood. For example, for foreign breeds, in order to increase the number of horses of these breeds, make them further adapt to the natural environmental conditions in China, and prevent the inbreeding of horse breeds.
One-stop culture time: 2010-12-3016: 54: 47 [horse culture technology]
This variety may be inbreeding whether it is breeding or hybridization. As far as the improvement of horses is concerned, in a certain place, because several horses or an excellent stallion are highly utilized, their descendants are likely to have brothers and sisters, or grandparents, fathers and sons, relatives and the like. This situation is often due to the lack of new stallions. The old stallion died, so we can only choose stallions from the offspring to continue to breed with each other. After a long time, a large number of horses will be closely related to each other to varying degrees.
Inbreeding has both advantages and disadvantages, so it should be divided into two parts. Its advantage is that it can preserve and consolidate the fine qualities of one or several excellent stallions and some mares and pass them on to future generations. But this requires strict selection and matching, and the descendants of these close relatives cannot continue to be used for random breeding, otherwise it will be chaotic and more difficult to sort out. In the improvement of horse breeds, if this method is adopted, it must be used in a limited way. Therefore, the horse registration system is more important here.
However, due to blind abuse of inbreeding, it will inevitably bring disadvantages such as physical weakness, reduced production capacity and poor growth and development of offspring. This is because the difference of germ cells between parents is getting smaller and smaller during inbreeding.
Whether it is the breeding of this breed or the improvement of horse breeds by hybridization, especially in the final stage of breeding, if you see the bad tendency of inbreeding, you should stop doing so. The best way is to quote unrelated stallions of the same breed to participate in breeding instead of the original stallions. This is called blood renewal. Or eliminate those mares and mares with some serious shortcomings, stop breeding, just mate those mares with strong and mature stallions and observe its results.
Degraded ones should be consolidated and improved by pure breeding.
Various crossbreeding methods of horses
One-stop culture time: 2010-12-312:18: 37 [horse culture technology]
Crossbreeding is the mating between horses of different breeds. Cross breeding is a common method to improve horses, and it is also an effective way to improve horse breeds. Many excellent varieties in the world are bred through hybridization and finally through breeding. In China's animal husbandry, this method has been widely used and achieved good results. The reason why hybridization has its advantages is to make use of some excellent characteristics of a certain breed or even several breeds, and pass them on to future generations by mating with local horses, thus improving the quality of local horses. Generally speaking, hybrid horses are better in shape and performance than ordinary horses without improvement. If the correct hybridization method is adopted, it can not only retain some advantages of domestic horse breeds, but also absorb the characteristics of foreign improved varieties and achieve remarkable results. Why does hybridization have such an effect? Because the germ cells of different breeds of horses are quite different and contain significantly different genetic characteristics, after parents are combined, their opposites and contradictions are greater than those of the same breed, thus promoting development and making hybrid horses more vital. Moreover, because some characteristics that both sides can inherit are overcome by the other side with advantages, or displayed in the same place, the body shape and performance of hybrid horses can be improved from generation to generation through the process of hybridization.
The most commonly used hybridization method is to use thoroughbred horses with local mares, and the next generation is also called a first-generation hybrid. For example: Ahlden pulls the stallion again × Mongolian mare.
Amon hybrid mare (stallion castrated for service) is a hybrid horse, with half parents in blood. As far as physical measurement is concerned, it generally lives between these two varieties. For example, the height of the stallion is 150 cm, the height of the mare is 130 cm, and the height of the first generation hybrid can reach about 140 cm. If the feeding level does not match during pregnancy and foal breeding, the effect will not be significant. If there is enough nutrition and exercise, it may be higher. As for the bust and bones, they have also improved accordingly. In particular, hybrids are more viable than their parents. This is the dominant performance of the first generation of hybrid. If it is only improved to this extent, it is for the purpose of economic utilization and can be called economic hybridization. Table 4 Hybridization effect of heavy horse and horse riding with three hippos (unit: cm, kg)
As can be seen from the table, all the body sizes of Ahlden and Sanhe horses have been improved after crossing. However, the effect of hybridization with Tang hippo is not significant, and it has declined.
If the improvement is to be continued, it is still necessary to mate the mares of these hybrid offspring with the original improved stallions (generally not the same stallions or related stallions to avoid inbreeding) to obtain the second generation of hybrids, and then continue to mate with the improved stallions from generation to generation to obtain 4-5 generations of hybrids. This hybridization method is called step hybridization or absorption hybridization. If the local breeding and management conditions are similar to those of foreign varieties, step-by-step hybridization can be used. However, according to the actual situation of improved horse breeds in China in the future, it is not necessary to cross to the fifth generation. Excellent stallions and mares can choose from the hybrids of the second and third generations, and they can mate with each other, which is called "self-breeding" or "cross-fixation" in order to continue to consolidate it. If the level of progress is higher, the hybrid offspring will be more like foreign breeds, but it is difficult to retain the characteristics of domestic horse breeds, which may cause the problem of how to adapt to the living conditions and actual needs in this area. If the feeding level cannot keep up, the hybrid offspring may not develop well. Under the condition of meeting the requirements of hybrid horses, the body shape and performance of improved horses will usually increase from generation to generation with the degree of progress. The average body size of the offspring of China Arabian horse and Mongolian horse is as follows:
To choose excellent mares among hybrids, the body size of hybrids must be significantly improved. In addition, some third-generation hybrids are basically close to foreign varieties in size and have stronger adaptability than foreign varieties.
In addition, it is also possible to cross three or four varieties to combine their advantages. This hybridization method is commonly known as complex breeding hybridization. There are some differences in the practice of improving horse breeds in different places. For example, the number of varieties selected, hybridization algebra and the arrangement order of different varieties have changed greatly. Therefore, the practices of various places can be used for reference, and it is not necessary to apply them rigidly, but can be used flexibly. More importantly, it is very important whether the selection of stallions is suitable for the requirements of the region.
All parts of China are using this method to make various breeding programs to improve horse breeds. For example, Henan Qingmala, which is planned to be improved by the state-owned Huangpan Farm in Henan Province, is a representative example. Bad elimination of Mongolian mare× high blood stallion hybrid first generation mare to Ahlden stallion hybrid second generation mare× Ahlden stallion or Tory stallion' bad elimination of hybrid third generation mare and hybrid third generation stallion'
He' nan qingwanma
Through the observation of hybridization stage, the breeding work of Henan light horse is effective. It is reported that the three generations of hybrid horses basically meet the ideal indicators.
Northeast China is an area where horse crossbreeding was improved earlier, and there are various crossbreeding methods and different crossbreeding effects (Table 7).
At present, the breeding of "Tieling Wanma" and "Heilongjiang Wanma" is being carried out in Northeast China. For example, "Tieling Wanma" is a mare which is a hybrid of the original French breed and Mongolian horse, and later it is a hybrid of Ahlden stallion. The average body height of the second and third generations is 149.3cm, of which the body height is 150 ~ 18. Using these hybrid offspring to self-cross, after a certain period of reproduction and finishing, they can become varieties after reaching a certain number. According to the needs of farming and transportation in Northeast China, owning such horses can basically meet the needs. As for other areas, different aquaculture schemes must be formulated according to their specific requirements.
Preventive measures for horses
One-stop culture time: 2010-12-312:19:15 [horse culture technology]
This is a regular job. Preventive measures mainly include the following aspects:
1. To strengthen feeding management and enhance disease resistance, it is necessary to do a good job in horse feeding management according to the requirements put forward in the section "Horse feeding management knife".
2. Use horses rationally. This is an important measure to prevent horses from getting sick. Due to improper service, some injuries and other diseases often occur.
3. Do a good job in disinfection and hygiene. Disinfect stables, racecourses, feeding management tools, saddles, etc. At regular intervals. Stables can often be disinfected with 10 "-'20% lime milk (take 10 parts of quicklime and 10 parts of water, and then add 40 ~ 90 parts of water to make 10 ~ 20% lime milk), and 3 ~ 5% is used for horses and appliances.
There should be a disinfection pool at the entrance of the stable, and the feces should be concentrated in the cesspit about 100 meters away from the stable and used after fermentation and disinfection.
4. Vaccinate in time. Inoculate horses with anthrax spores in spring to prevent anthrax; Regular preventive injection of tetanus toxoid (5 ml subcutaneous injection each time) is used to prevent tetanus.
5. Quarantine and control infectious diseases. All newly purchased horses must be observed and quarantined in isolation to avoid bringing infectious diseases into healthy people. In addition, the original horse should also be quarantined regularly (such as gangrene and equine infectious anemia). ) in order to actively find sick horses early and deal with them in time to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.