Baymule
Herd Master
Shred the stems and make a tossed salad with molasses dressing! LOL
SageHill Ranch Journal
- Thread starter SageHill
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- #142
SageHill
Herd Master
Ah - what a day. High was 57. Got 3 arenas dragged - they look so nice after they've been dragged 
. A bunch of herding lessons for tomorrow (gotta pay the hay bill ya'know ).
So,, the shredder. HOLY MOLY the thing works like dynomite. I popped the shred in one of the sheep feeders and ....
they liked it ...... until they got tired of the "newness" of it. Sigh. @farmerjan you pegged it - probably not an option to get them to eat more of the stems. Dang. BUT ! On the plus side it can take a huge pile and make a tiny pile. So score on reducing the bulk. Such is life.
Looks like the cool weather will stay with us, and no rain in the 10 day forecast.
A knee nibbler.....
. A bunch of herding lessons for tomorrow (gotta pay the hay bill ya'know ).So,, the shredder. HOLY MOLY the thing works like dynomite. I popped the shred in one of the sheep feeders and ....
they liked it ...... until they got tired of the "newness" of it. Sigh. @farmerjan you pegged it - probably not an option to get them to eat more of the stems. Dang. BUT ! On the plus side it can take a huge pile and make a tiny pile. So score on reducing the bulk. Such is life.
Looks like the cool weather will stay with us, and no rain in the 10 day forecast.
A knee nibbler.....
farmerjan
Herd Master
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Try @Baymule 's suggestion of adding a little molasses. Most feed store/mills that make a "sweet feed" will often sell you a gallon or something like that if you ask to buy it...
Do you feed any type of sweet feed/grain to the sheep? Mix a little in and see if you can utilize it that way a little bit.
If you had pigs you could add it to their "slop" wet feed of any kind and they would scarf it up. If you ever wet down your feed for any reason, you could add a little and it would be a little more palatable that way.
Do you feed any type of sweet feed/grain to the sheep? Mix a little in and see if you can utilize it that way a little bit.
If you had pigs you could add it to their "slop" wet feed of any kind and they would scarf it up. If you ever wet down your feed for any reason, you could add a little and it would be a little more palatable that way.
Baymule
Herd Master
Chef for sheep………
- Thread starter
- #145
SageHill
Herd Master
Busy weekend here - well, Thur-Fri-Sat. Had the herding lessons on Thursday and a friend I "share" sheep with came by to work his dogs. It was good to catch up and good to have other well trained and well handled dogs work with the sheep. I'm integrating one of the "new" sheep into the working group as I don't believe she was bred (the silver one - dang because there would be cute lambs from her). But such is life. She is working well and not crazy. YES!
Friday was pick up, tidy up and the regular chores getting ready for Saturday. One of the Bearded Collie clubs came out to do instinct testing. 6 total dogs and a group of wonderful people. Most have been here before, they enjoy coming out to the ranch and just relaxing (they relax and I work
- but that's ok - we are blest to have the ranch and like to share with good people). For the most part the dogs are pretty exuberant 
- but they readily adjusted to working. Got some comments that I "have pretty sheep" - that was a first! 
So all in all everyone had a good time and $ to offset the next hay bill.
On to the hay - I've been pulling apart the flakes and the sheep seem to eat more of it that way. It's definitely a learning experience trying to get the most out of what I have. I haven't added in molasses to the shred ---- yet. Somehow that just seems like it could be a bottomless pit of creating pickier eaters. It doesn't get that cold here that we need sweet feed.
The rain we got last week seems to be hitting the rest of you now! While we squeezed about an inch and a quarter out of it you all are better squeezers than we are!!
The two "weeds" growing fast - 5 weeks old tomorrow....
Friday was pick up, tidy up and the regular chores getting ready for Saturday. One of the Bearded Collie clubs came out to do instinct testing. 6 total dogs and a group of wonderful people. Most have been here before, they enjoy coming out to the ranch and just relaxing (they relax and I work
- but that's ok - we are blest to have the ranch and like to share with good people). For the most part the dogs are pretty exuberant - but they readily adjusted to working. Got some comments that I "have pretty sheep" - that was a first! So all in all everyone had a good time and $ to offset the next hay bill. On to the hay - I've been pulling apart the flakes and the sheep seem to eat more of it that way. It's definitely a learning experience trying to get the most out of what I have. I haven't added in molasses to the shred ---- yet. Somehow that just seems like it could be a bottomless pit of creating pickier eaters. It doesn't get that cold here that we need sweet feed.
The rain we got last week seems to be hitting the rest of you now! While we squeezed about an inch and a quarter out of it you all are better squeezers than we are!!
The two "weeds" growing fast - 5 weeks old tomorrow....
Baymule
Herd Master
Your ram weed needs to be weaned no later than 3 months, maybe sooner. They can be fertile at 3-4 months.
- Thread starter
- #147
SageHill
Herd Master
Thank you!! I read somewhere (God only knows where now) start weaning at 8 weeks. I know to keep him separate from mom and sis, but the others? I'd actually like to breed the other ewes. Thoughts on that?
I mean ya' know Auntie Barb is really a cougar
.
Baymule
Herd Master
It’s advised to not use a ram that young. They need their time to grow. I would recommend waiting until he’s at least 8-10 months old. 10 months would be better.
Show Sebright
True BYH Addict
Thats a fact. I can’t smell like animal crackers or my lamb won’t stop jumping on me.
- Thread starter
- #150
SageHill
Herd Master
Gotcha! Thanks!
