sheep nutrition

[tucknjill]

Thanks guys! I will look for that book. I dunno I will get my pasture tested...It looks pretty good to my novice eye, but hey what do I know...and the sheep look pretty good as well, so I think I will start on the pellet plan as you suggest. Poor Tommy and Florence, they are in for one long phone call when they get back. Brain pickin time!

 

Yeah Bill you need to come down and set me up! The trouble is my conflicting intrests, I need to keep the dogs formost in mind, but now want to do the sheep properly as well. Me thinks it is almost time to move again! I need more pasture.... Just what I need more grass to mow.

[Howdyjabo]

When you get your results back-- I'll run it thru my rations program and give you an idea what you need.

 

I can do a least cost formulation if you can get me the ingredients available to you and their cost/100lbs or ton(if you have the storage).

Look into whole cottonseed -- its one of the best flushers--- if you can get it without buying bulk.

[tucknjill]

Great! I will work on that this week and thanks. I am going to call the Co Op and see what is available. I was rather suprised (and not in a good way) at the co op in Farmville, they were just as expensive as southern states...

 

Are you familiar with Tractor Supplies all stock feed? I think it is 12% but I have to look at it again, been since last year..it is a sweet feed pellet marketed for all types of stock. It has copper (will check how much) thing is, it is 4.25 per fifty pounds..so am just wondering how good it could possibly be? Just curious if you were familiar with it.

[Howdyjabo]

Ahhh.. the mystery pellet

 

Look on the feed tag

in the ingrdient list look for urea or ammonia

and check the fibre levels.

 

They can make a real good looking pellet out of cardboard, grain dust and urea.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

We use their All Stock for our ducks. Ducks thrive on cardboard as long as they can also eat grass and bugs. They have both a 12 with copper (non-supplemental levels) and a 10 without. The 12 pellet is specifically marked Do not feed to sheep or animals sensitive to copper but I'm not sure whether the sweet feed is.

 

Do you have a Southern States near you? They might be able to give you other options, too. We source the Bartlett through them.

 

We mixed our own for a while and then a couple ingredients got too expensive to get in small amounts. Buying in bulk and mixing yourself is best if you can set it up. It gives you more control and of course you can get the optimum bang for the buck. I'm in constant envy of KillerH's setup. (c;

[Howdyjabo]

Yeah-- I can make cheap feed

But you would have a heart attack if you knew how much I had invested in storage and handling equipment.

Have to have ALOT of animals to make it pay out.

 

Not to mention that I have 1000's tied up in ingredients .

 

So be happy you can pay more for a bag of feed so you don't have to invest that much

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I think you told me about what you were investing back when you were getting the mixers! Like I said, IF you can set it up and make buying in bulk pay.

 

Yeah, I'll stick to my Bartlett. They give me a discount by the ton and I've had very good results with it. Maybe someday I'll bring a label and you can tell me what I'm REALLY paying just for the fun of it - but I'm not sure I want to know!

[Bill Fosher]

I'd be very wary of "stock pellets." Even most maintenance sheep pellets are pretty low-energy feeds, and stock pellets are usually worse. You'll notice that most commercial pellet manufacturers won't even tell you what the TDN is of their feed, and in some cases I think it's because they don't know.

 

I sent some Blue Seal Shepherd 16 (a locally-manufactured sheep pellet that would be as widely available around here as your Southern States is down there) off for analysis a few years ago and found that it was only slightly higher in energy than good hay -- in the mid 60 percent range for TDN I think.

 

The sheep love it and gobble it up, but in order for them to get a maintenance-plus ration, you have to be feeding them two or three pounds a head per day plus good quality hay or pasture.

 

See if you can get a TDN or net metabolizable energy figure from Southern States on their pellet. You might be surprised how expensive it really is.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Actually the Bartlett is a sweet feed with whole grains - that's why I like it. I'm got enough sheep now where I do need to look into such things but I've also been doing it long enough that I know pretty much what I have to do to "make it work" here without getting surprised by huge feed bills or sudden drops in condition. What I need to know is WHY, which is where science helps. Kind of like a Border collie that's not quite up to speed and then you have his hips done and find out he's mildly dysplastic.

[Howdyjabo]

The cheaper stock pelletts are made to a least cost ration formula--- so it can have completely different ingredients from batch to batch- depending on the market.

So its actuall performance can vary greatly batch to batch.

 

I have a formula that can estimate TDN off of feed tags if anyone is intersted-- But Bills suggestion of getting it tested is the best.

 

Basically the feed with the highest Protien, lowest fiber, and highest fat -- have the higher TDN

 

There is a guy here in NC that was making his own cattlefeed that makes feed for sale now--

I have been VERY impressed with the feed he makes and the cost. He does least cost rations- but he doesn't use any junk as ingredients.

Carolina Stockyards sells it-- Performance feeds-

And they will deliver bulk to anywhere.

 

The best investment you can make if you have enough animals is getting a feed bin and buying bulk. PS-- I have several for sale

[tucknjill]

Want to email me privately about cost? Also do I need the feed auger for cycling the grain down? Concrete pad? Any estimate on total cost?

 

Yes, I wasnt thinking of feeding that all stock feed, I was just surprised it was so low per bag and figured it must be crap.

 

Just in from the dog trail and gonna sit for a bit...been a long day, but very fun!

[Howdyjabo]

Talked to hubby-- and he said ours weren't in good enough shape and are too wide(oversized load) to be worth hauling very far- even if we gave them to you.

 

But you would need a concrete pad and a flex auger along with access to electricity.

I forgot how much a new bin costs.

 

Make sure you check with your potential delivery person and find out what size loads they will deliver- make sure you get one(or two) big enough to hold a whole load.

Mine will hold a whole load of pelleted feed-- but it takes two to hold a load of soy hulls(fluffy).

 

I'll ask hubby about costs

 

Look around your neighborhood for ex hog and chicken farmers- they usually have a bin or two sitting around

[Bill Fosher]

We have two bins. One is a 21-ton and the other is a 6-ton. The 21-ton will hold a full semi-trailer load of corn or pellets. Feed can be either blown or augered into the big bin, but must be blown into the little bin, which sits under a roof.

 

If you can possibly manage it, I'd recommend getting a bin large enough to take a full trailer load. We have received discounts as high as 6 percent for taking delivery of FTLs -- they make the grain mill's logistics that much easier because they're no need to make a complex delivery route for that truck. It leaves the yard full, makes one stop, and returns empty.

 

If you're going to get into mixing commodities, you'll need at least three bins, and I'd say four would be better.

[tucknjill]

Somehow I just KNEW there would be more money involved! No wonder farmers are broke! There are tons of chicken farmers around here, I will see what I can scare up.

[Bill Fosher]

Hey Sam,

 

Of course you should subject all these ideas to differential cost analysis and payback projection. There's no sense in buying a bin that will last 15 years if it would take 20 years to pay for itself.

[Howdyjabo]

Around here- you can pick up a decent one for 1-2 hundred.

You are doing the farmer a favor by taking it-- saves them having to dispose of it which isn't easy or cheap.

Look for one that has little rust and look inside on a sunny day and check for spots with light getting thru-- and MOST important make sure the top is solid without any major dimples.

 

Its a pain- but you can buy replacement tops-- but you have to put them on while the bin is lying down.

 

A junky one will work for a long time-- but its not worth the investment of moving and setting up -- and then disposing of.

With you keeping feed for a long time getting one that is totally moisture secure is valuable.

 

And if you do buy one keep in mind that feed is cheaper towards the end of summer. Demand is down and Supply is up.

[DeltaBluez Tess]

Hey...here is another idea...

 

 

I use the 55 gallon drums...each holds up to 300 lbs of grain. I get the lids and screw them down. It works great. Seven of them hold about one ton of grain. That way I can get one ton of crushed oats and barly for $130.00

 

I also use one 55 drum for my dog food since I buy 10 bags at a time.

 

Diane

[tucknjill]

Yes I will, I also have to weigh the factor in that my husband is ALREADY talking about moving. I might just have to make do with the 55 gallon drum idea for the short term...

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

We have the drums too. Only thing I don't like is diving down into them to scoop out the last. They take up a lot of space in our teeny barn, too.

[Bill Fosher]

Also hard to get a delivery truck driver to deal with them. Around here, if you want bulk grain, it pretty much has to come on a delivery truck. They're usually fine about augering it into the top of a bin or blowing it in from the bottom, but they really don't like having to handle containers, and they don't like it if you have to be present for the delivery.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I can either buy feed in bags or bring the barrels to the mill. The folks at the mill are extremely nice and flexible about the size of batches they would mix, as long as I pick it up there. And believe it or not, they were the ones who pointed out to me when the cost of the soybean meal (and something else, don't remember now) had gone up to such an extent that it didn't make sense to buy it in small batches.

 

That was when I hunted around and decided on the Bartlett. I think part of the reason the Bartlett is less expensive is that it is made right in Statesville and their delivery policies are very customer-oriented. Dealers can order as little as a half-ton and still get bulk prices.

 

The 18 I use is a custom formula that a very large sheep producer near me gets ordered, and I get a half ton or ton when he gets his ridiculously large order. However, some years I lamb a lot earlier than he does and I can still put in my order for half or full ton and they'll give me the same price.

 

So I hope it really IS a cost effective feed. (c;

[Shoofly]

Hey Sam - i have some of those drums if you want them. I'm not using them for anything.

[jimahall]

We raise Icelandic sheep. No grain is needed. We have overseeded the pasture with annual ryegrass. Should be green all winter here in Oklahoma and most states. As for flushing, we just opened a new pasture with lots of browse and grass. They should be more than ready at breeding time. Though Icelandic is a grass based breed, the annual ryegrass is great for all breeds. It will remain green till about mid june and then die out. Will not harm your current pasture. We are expecting to have no need for hay this winter. Even with a large snow, the Icelandic will still graze.

 

In the spring I will close off one paddock until the grass is about 2'+ tall and turn them in for lambing season. The Icelandic will pasture lamb with no assistance. Then raise their lambs on the pasture. I plan on adding a spring overseeding with a better variety of permanant pasture. Definetly check with your county extension agent. Mine knows nothing about the Icelandic breed, but lots about sheep in general. Thus they suggested Gulf annual ryegrass. It will do excellent here. On the "old" farm we would always overseed in September for winter pasture. Usually annual ryegrass and hairy vetch. Cut our hay need down greatly. In most areas fall overseeding should eleminate at least 60% of your hay need.