Microelement feeding efficiency to pregnant balbas breed ewes in the conditions of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic

The study was conducted on a farm in the Ordubad District of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. The purpose of research is to study the effect of cobalt, copper and iodine on the productivity of pregnant sheep. A herd of 200 sheep was chosen for the experiment. The animals were kept under the same conditions. They were fed the same diet. However, in contrast to the control group, 5 mg of cobalt chloride, 5 mg of copper sulfate and 5 mg of potassium iodide were added to the feed of the sheep of the experimental group. At the end of the experiment, the weight of sheep, in the diet of which microelements were introduced, decreased by 0.35 kg, or 0.8 %, and the weight of the control ones decreased by 3.2 kg, or 8.3 %. If we compare the percentage of weight loss by the end of the experiment (in relation to the live weight at the beginning of the experiment) in ewes of the control flock with the percentage of weight loss in animals of the experimental flock, it can be seen that by the end of the observation this indicator in the control flock was 7.37 % more. The positive effect of feeding with microelements was also reflected in the wool productivity of sheep: during spring shearing, the average wool shear per sheep in the control flock is 2.32 kg, in the experimental flock - 2.43 kg, that is, the excess wool shear compared to the control flock is 8.3 %. The length of the wool in the sheep of the experimental flock was 18.2 cm, and in the control flock - 17.1 cm. As can be seen, the length of the wool in the sheep of the experimental flock exceeded its length in the sheep of the control flock by 1.1 cm, or by 6.4 %. The number of dry sheep was higher in the control group (8 sheep). In the experimental group, the fertility of queens increased by 4.6 % compared to the control group. The heaviest, similar in weight and more viable lambs were also born from the sheep of the experimental flock. The weight of lambs at birth from queens treated with microelements averaged 3.33 kg, and lambs of the control flock - 3.15 kg, i.e. 180 g, or 5.7 % less. It should be noted that the lambing of sheep in the experimental flock was normal, and in the control flock 8 lambs were born dead and premature. To the beating in the experimental flock, lambs were raised by 9.7 % more than in the control.