A survey was carried out to diagnose the rates of mortality of lambs in the sheep farms of Kuwait. The survey results helped determine that the cause of high mortality rate in Kuwait of newborn lambs (≈35%) during the first three weeks of age is the certain infectious diseases affecting the sheep. Following the survey, a field experiment was carried out using a modified vaccination protocol (vaccination during pregnancy) to improve the immune status of the secreted colostrum. This new protocol has improved the immunity of newborn lambs after suckling the hyperimmune colostrum, and reduced mortality rate significantly, compared to the conventional protocol (vaccination before pregnancy). The results have proved the efficiency of the modified vaccination protocol. The experiment concluded that the vaccination during pregnancy has shown great promise to reduce the mortality rate of newborn lambs in sheep farms of Kuwait. Upscaling the tested vaccination protocol may set the scene for the betterment of sheep industry of Kuwait.

Background and Aim: A change in the livestock feeding strategy is of utmost importance for the stability of animal health and sustainable livestock productivity to overcome the problem of subsiding the environmental effects of sheep production. Supplementing dietary feed with safe and efficient additives provides optimal animal performance and maximizes productivity. This study aimed to assess the effects of adding various feed additives to lamb rations for optimizing feed efficiency in weaned lambs for meat production in Kuwait. Materials and Methods: The feed additives, namely, ammonium chloride, urea, algae, fishmeal, and humic acid, were investigated on the physical performance of lambs for their effect on body weight, length, height, and waist length. The total feed consumption rate and feed efficiency were also measured. Each treatment comprising five healthy lambs was randomly allocated into six treatments comprising 30 lambs. The six treatments were the basal ration supplemented with ammonium chloride (50–100 g/day/head), urea (30 g/day/head), fishmeal (35 g/day/head), algae (Spirulina platensis) powder (50 g/day/head), humic acid (2.5 g/day/head), control group with only basal ration. The study was conducted for around 27 months and the data were recorded once in 2 weeks. Results: The results indicated a positive elevation in the physique of lambs with all tested additives, showing an affirmative insignia for lamb fattening. The growth parameters in terms of augmented length, height, and waist length of lambs' bodies amplified significantly with ammonium chloride and fishmeal supplement, while the other additives reported a non-significant increment. The feed consumption was significantly elevated for ammonium chloride, algae, and fishmeal supplementation, while humic acid was recorded the least. Concerning feed efficiency of young lambs, fish meal and ammonium chloride were reported best, followed by urea. In contrast, algae and humic acid exhibited a non-significant effect on feed efficiency. Conclusion: This study exposed noteworthy influence on a lamb body's performance with the addition of fish meal and ammonium chloride in lamb rations, trailed by urea and algae.

Sheep mortality is a common agenda noticed in sheep farms globally. The mortality rate of newborn lambs in Kuwait ranges between 35 to 50 per cent (~43 per cent), leading to low profitability or loss to the farmer. Vaccination gives a better remedy to withstand the infections and stresses. Vaccines are available at various rates and hence the feasibility of the farmers to afford for vaccines and the subsequent profit to be earned need to be clarified for vaccinating their sheep confidently. With this objective, an investigation was conducted to cost analyze vaccinated sheep production that includes their feed, drinking water and housing values. A cost benefit analysis is an imperative activity that includes break down of total cost of each component and synthesizing to reach a value to compare with the profit gain from such activity. The total cost was calculated by vaccinating 5 groups of 30 ewes each along with the cost of feed, water and electricity for a period of 1 year to raise ewes. According to the results, a very slight difference in vaccine cost which is very nominal is recorded suggesting to vaccinate the ewes for the combined vaccine (Pasteurella + Clostridia + Pest de Petites Ruminants (PPR)) to protect for multiple diseases causing high mortality rate.