Let's Look at our Different Feeding Practices *SHEEP*

[soarwitheagles]

I am a sheep newbie and not so sure what and how to feed the sheep. In fact, I will write a new post in this section, asking for help.

Right now, we are daily feeding unlimited hay [dried grass I believe], 3-4 times a week we feed the sheep grain from our local mill, then I have been cutting the newly planted pasture and feeding the sheep a daily combo of fresh cut mixture of clover, brom, rye, chicory, turnip tops, birdsfoot trefoil, etc.

It's a lot of work!

I would like to turn them out to pasture and let them do all the hard work. So next week, I will begin the wonderful task of installing 2,000 feet of woven wire and T-posts to make these so called paddocks.

Sure hope it works!

Soar

 

[L J]

question...does anyone supplement any amount of alfalfa with grass hay or pasture?

I have Barbados Katahdin cross ewes and ram. They get timothy hay pellets along with timothy hay. but They just seem to need more and sometimes just don't appear to even like the grass hay. I feel like we waste more that ends up on the ground instead of in their "bellies"

 

[Mini Horses]

I find that almost every load of hay is different. The richness & palatability changes with age of the cut bale you buy, what the farmer sprayed on it -- from fertilizer to herbicide to drying agents -- and the time of day it is cut, time of year, how dried, maturity of grass when cut, and even the variety of the grass planted, etc. Yes, they often waste more than they eat.

Generally fresh graze is their preference and a mix like you have is preferred. Your own pastures can vary from week to week due to weather (hot, cold, rain, or not), maturity and what is still growing well in that mix. A large outer fenced pasture divided with hot wire may work well for you.

When I'm ready to buy a large supply of winter hay, I like to get 2-3 bales and let them eat it that day, to see reaction. Then I buy or not. Even what feels, smells, looks great, can have something they don't like. I generally chew a few pieces myself to test for taste, bitterness, etc.

Having fun yet? YES farming is hard work!

 

[soarwitheagles]

question...does anyone supplement any amount of alfalfa with grass hay or pasture?

I have Barbados Katahdin cross ewes and ram. They get timothy hay pellets along with timothy hay. but They just seem to need more and sometimes just don't appear to even like the grass hay. I feel like we waste more that ends up on the ground instead of in their "bellies"

LJ,

Mini Horses shared some excellent info and I keep learning a lot from people like him/her!

For what it is worth, I was told by several local ranchers that during the coldest part of the season, feeding alfalfa was absolutely crucial to help the sheep generate more body heat. Hence, I purchased a couple of bales of the alfalfa for the Dec.-Jan. portion of the year and I did feed them alfalfa during the coldest of the days in the winter [in the high 20's Fahrenheit]. At the time, my American Blackbellies did not have an overhead structure to keep them from the cold, nor was there a suitable pasture for them to browse/graze, so I was feeding them exclusively with hay. They did quite well, so I am happy that I used the alfalfa.

You mentioned Timothy Hay. May I ask where do you live? We live in the central valley part of California. A lot of the grass that grows well here is the annual rye grass.

Barbados Katahdin cross ewes and ram? Wow, I am all ears and I am also very interested! Could you post some pics of these sheep please, and may I ask why you cross bred with these specific breeds?

 

[Bossroo]

I have seen quite a few Barbados rams crossed on Ramboulett, Corriedale, Suffolk and Southdown ewes... the resulting lambs were a downgrade on the ewes' production capabilities.

 

[L J]

LJ,

Mini Horses shared some excellent info and I keep learning a lot from people like him/her!

For what it is worth, I was told by several local ranchers that during the coldest part of the season, feeding alfalfa was absolutely crucial to help the sheep generate more body heat. Hence, I purchased a couple of bales of the alfalfa for the Dec.-Jan. portion of the year and I did feed them alfalfa during the coldest of the days in the winter [in the high 20's Fahrenheit]. At the time, my American Blackbellies did not have an overhead structure to keep them from the cold, nor was there a suitable pasture for them to browse/graze, so I was feeding them exclusively with hay. They did quite well, so I am happy that I used the alfalfa.

You mentioned Timothy Hay. May I ask where do you live? We live in the central valley part of California. A lot of the grass that grows well here is the annual rye grass.

Barbados Katahdin cross ewes and ram? Wow, I am all ears and I am also very interested! Could you post some pics of these sheep please, and may I ask why you cross bred with these specific breeds?

I live in the northeast part of Washington state, near Idaho and about 90 miles south of Canada.

Long story short, I ended up rescuing a katahdin bottle ram over a year ago. (he is actually a hybrid of goat/sheep see the Geep thread :0 )) and needed to get him a a few pals. I wanted to stay with the same breed and/or hair breed in general. The gal I purchased them from was the one who cross bred. Posting a pic of the 3 sheep, the ram is the chocolate brown. One ewe looks mostly barbados and the other ewe looks mostly Katahdin. Both are due any day, so will be super interested in how the lambs will look.

The pic is from last year

 

[secuono]

Guess I should update to my current program!

Lambs are born March through April and are purely pasture raised.
Ewes are fed grain February through the end of April.
All sheep are pastured.
All sheep are given free choice grass hay from mid November through mid March.
Rams are never grained.
All sheep have access to pastured sheep mineral mix and fresh water.
Rams have a 0.5 acre pasture.
Ewes and lambs have 2.5 acres of pasture.
Horses now have roughly 1 acre, 2 minis and the pony.
Three Babydoll rams.
Eight Babydoll ewes.
One Cheviot ewe.
Ram lambs are moved to the adult ram pasture in August/September.
Ewe lambs stay with moms.
Lambs are pretty much mom-weaned. So they nurse up to about 7 months old, though, I've never seen them nurse past 4.5-5mo old.

 

[soarwitheagles]

I live in the northeast part of Washington state, near Idaho and about 90 miles south of Canada.

Long story short, I ended up rescuing a katahdin bottle ram over a year ago. (he is actually a hybrid of goat/sheep see the Geep thread :0 )) and needed to get him a a few pals. I wanted to stay with the same breed and/or hair breed in general. The gal I purchased them from was the one who cross bred. Posting a pic of the 3 sheep, the ram is the chocolate brown. One ewe looks mostly barbados and the other ewe looks mostly Katahdin. Both are due any day, so will be super interested in how the lambs will look.

The pic is from last year

LJ,

Beautiful sheep you have there! After reading Bossroo's comment that crossbreeding AB's cause a downgrade in production, I think we will not go that route! It sounds as if you are in real cold country up there! I have heard stories about eastern Washington being a bit brutal during the winters. But it must be absolutely beautiful up there!

 

[Gorman Farm]

I was just reading through this thread and I thought I would share what we feed our sheep here in FL.
We feed Golden Blend 14% sheep pellets, which we mix 75% pellet to 25% cracked corn. We also use Sweetlix 16:8 loose minerals which we put roughly a TB a day on top of each feed ration. We originally put the minerals in a tub for free choice but quickly realized that they were not eating any. In summer/spring and early fall the pasture grass is usually enough, although we have a small feeder that we always keep native coastal hay in, in winter we bump up the hay quite a bit as the pasture isn't very good, and we make sure there is always hay available.
We live right down the road from the University of FL cattle station, so we get a lot of good information on pastures & herd management from them. I discovered from the Univ. when we moved here that our area is deficient in selenium, which is why we want to make sure that they eat the minerals we provide.
All of our sheep get a small grain ration once per day (1 cup or so) so we can get the minerals in them, last trimester of pregnancy and through-out nursing lambs we bump up the grain ration to about 3 cups x 2 per day. The lambs start sharing the grain with mom pretty early on.

Things we discovered were that we tried another sheep grain mix but with our heat and humidity it molded before we could feed it all. I cannot remember the name of it but it contained molasses which I think was the culprit.

We tried to buy timothy/alfalfa mix hay for the better quality forage but our sheep would not eat it.
We tried straight alfalfa and they did not like that either.

We are so lucky that our vet did her internship on a sheep farm, she is a GREAT resource for us. I do fecals on my sheep 3x year, and FAMACHA monthly. We give CD&T vaccines to ewes about a month or so before they lamb. Then the lambs get CD&T at 2 months and a booster a month later.

Our sheep are in pasture daily from 5:30 am to about 6-7pm, then they come in to the barn for the nightly meal, we have a hay bin in there which we keep full for them for the night.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Gorman,

Thank you for sharing your feeding practices! Wow, you must have the healthiest sheep on the planet...and our sheep must be living on barely-get-by-street!

To be honest with you, I admire your care and diligence in tending your sheep. But it must also be quite expensive.

I followed the books like clockwork last year...grain, vitamins, shots, minerals, etc. but still lost two sheep to pneumonia...and also had a reoccurring challenge with upper respiratory infections.

So this year, I tried something new...nearly opposite of what most of the books say to do...

No shelters...stopped all grain for months...no dried baled hay, no dried baled clover, and no dried baled alfalfa, no deworming, no CD&T vaccines, no minerals, no vitamins, etc....most lambs were born during horrific rain storms and often when it was quite cold, newborns laying on the ground like ugly little very wet rug rats...

We simply left the sheep out in the field or the forest for the entire winter...and left them to fend for themselves for the great majority of the winter...

I think some people would call all this borderline animal cruelty....while others might call it organic and natural...all's I know, I am not sure what to call it but I am sure of the results!

RESULTS:

1. Healthiest looking lambs we have ever had.
2. Highest numbers of twins we have ever had.
3. No sickness or illnesses or diseases.
4. Happy looking sheep.
5. Bank account went up, not down this time.

Lesson learned and moral of the story: Don't believe everything you read...even the most well read sheep books!