Economic Efficiency of Ensuring Accelerated Growth of Young Sheep

This study evaluated the effects of a specially formulated concentrate feed supplemented with a vitamin–mineral premix on the growth performance and economic efficiency of young sheep during pasture fattening in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan. The study involved 100 six-month-old young sheep divided into a control group (n = 50), consisting of Kazakh fat-tailed coarse-wool sheep receiving the farm’s conventional concentrate feed, and an experimental group (n = 50), consisting of Kazakh fat-tailed semi-coarse-wool sheep receiving a formulated concentrate feed supplemented with a vitamin–mineral premix. During the 60-day fattening period, live weight gain was 9.10 ± 0.22 kg in the control group and 12.7 ± 0.35 kg in the experimental group, while average daily gain was 152.2 ± 3.68 and 211.2 ± 5.88 g/day, respectively. The differences between groups were statistically significant (P < 0.001). Thus, the experimental feeding system increased live weight gain by approximately 39.6% compared with the conventional feeding system. Economic analysis showed that the experimental group generated revenue of KZT 984,250 compared with KZT 705,250 in the control group, resulting in an additional economic return of KZT 279,000 for 50 sheep, or KZT 5,580 per head. The results demonstrate that supplementation of pasture-fattened young sheep with a nutritionally balanced concentrate containing a vitamin–mineral premix can improve growth performance and enhance the economic efficiency of sheep production under the conditions of the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan.