A horse feed for sheep?

[secuono]

It says not for sheep, but is there anything listed there that is dangerous to sheep?

Ignore the copper.

 

[mystang89]

I see copper in there but not sure if those quantities are in excess of what sheep are supposed to have.

 

[Baymule]

It says DO NOT FEED TO SHEEP. So why would you?

 

[secuono]

It says DO NOT FEED TO SHEEP. So why would you?

That's not the question.

The question is WHY. What is in there that makes it not okay.

 

[Grant]

I took animal nutrition in college.....in 1985. I’m afraid it’s been too long to remember that much detail. But a Quick google search gave me this.

Sheep have a remarkable capacity to store copper in the liver, but should a 'crisis' occur, massive amounts of copper are released from the liver into the bloodstream. This results in the rupture of red blood cells leading to severe anemia and jaundice which is rapidly fatal.

You say to ignore the copper, you can’t it’s in there and sheep shouldn’t have it.

 

[Beekissed]

I disagree....sheep should have SOME copper, just like any other creature on Earth. Baymule feeds an all feed that has copper and her sheep do just fine with it. I feed kelp meal as my loose mineral for sheep and it also contains natural trace copper and they thrive on it as well.

 

[Grant]

That feed has a min of 16 ppm. They need 5 ppm, but excess will build up in the liver. If it is over 25 ppm and fed for any period of time it could cause issues. Sheep have a hard time excreting the excess copper from the liver. Feeding them 1 bag may not be an issued. Continuous feeding could be. This feed has more than natural copper, it has added copper sulfate. I suspect that is the danger for sheep. Again, it’s been a couple of years since I had animal nutrition.

 

[mystang89]

I didn't see her part where she said "ignore the copper."

Let's try coming at this from the standpoint that the copper is NOT in there. If the copper were not in there, are the amounts of the minerals in the feed safe and is there anything in itself which would be unsafe for the sheep to have.... besides copper?

Is that where you're coming from @secuono ?

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

I recently got horse feed from my sister in law to feed to my goats. I googled everything about it. It seemed the big difference was the protein...less protein. Perhaps you should check this feed for the protein ratio compared to what you feed your sheep? I’m using the horse feed, but only as a treat...since it was free.

 

[secuono]

I didn't see her part where she said "ignore the copper."

Let's try coming at this from the standpoint that the copper is NOT in there. If the copper were not in there, are the amounts of the minerals in the feed safe and is there anything in itself which would be unsafe for the sheep to have.... besides copper?

Is that where you're coming from @secuono ?

Yes.

I recently got horse feed from my sister in law to feed to my goats. I googled everything about it. It seemed the big difference was the protein...less protein. Perhaps you should check this feed for the protein ratio compared to what you feed your sheep? I’m using the horse feed, but only as a treat...since it was free.

All I find is 14% & 16%.
Then one store(mill) ONLY carries medicated. Wtf is up with that??

I'm planning on having the mill custom make me feed, 18 to 20% protein, but IDK if they'll drown it in molasses like they do most feeds. Find a way to add selenium and a touch of copper to it or to my loose minerals. Still in the planning, researching and testing phase.

Maybe have them make an alpaca feed, too. It's nearly double what a plain horse feed costs....