winter feeding

[hillfarm]

What do you people in cold climates do to keep your sheep in their best working shape?

 

I live in SE Oregon and right now it is 11 degrees outside with below zero temps expected for the next few nights.

 

My sheep are on 20 acres of pasture (5 sheep) and are supplemented with good meadow hay and a concentrated pellet sweet feed daily.

 

I work them once a week with my pups and my older dogs which usually totals not even an hour of work for them a week. But they still seem to be thinner than I want them. They are Suffolk crosses and I do keep them wormed. What more do I need to do? Having come from a warmer climate i have never had to deal with these temp extremes with my animals before. Oh, they do have a nice barn and are bedded on straw at night to keep them warm.

 

Thanks ahead of time for the help!

[Bill Fosher]

What do the sheep weigh?

 

How much hay are you feeding them?

 

How much grain?

 

And most importantly, what is the analysis of these feeds?

 

Winter pasture can be excellent feed, but it can also be worthless other than as filler. Same is true of grass hay.

[hillfarm]

Well, 4 of them weigh 135 to 140, the smaller one is right at 100.

 

Hay is free choice we just cut the bale and let em go at it until the bale is pretty much gone then give them another. Pasture was tested at 13% according to the hay guy.

 

The pelleted feed is a complete feed for livestock and we give them each 1/2 pound a day. They certainly don't act like they are underfed, they play and romp when they are alone, but I am concerned that they don't seem to have any fat over their ribs. And with this cold that bothers me.

 

Our horse is on the same exact food regimen and is fat and sassy, of course she gets a little more grain.

 

Maybe I am just worrying unnecessarily?

[kajarrel]

Here are instructions about how to check the condition of your sheep: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/animal-sciences/bcs.htm

 

Another factor to consider is age/condition of teeth.

 

13% is pretty high quality - much better than the hay I feed and mine are in good condition, with lambs at their sides. How much hay are you feeding, on average? As a point of comparison, I feed about 1 bale/10 sheep/day (heavy square bales - what you feed, of course, will need to be calculated for your own flock). Is the pelleted feed for sheep? Be careful if it isn't -- sheep are sensitive to copper, which is found at toxic levels in many other livestock feeds.

 

Kim

[Bill Fosher]

Kim's link to body condition scoring is a good one. This is the only way to tell whether your sheep are in good shape or not.

 

It's a common mistake to assume that sheep given free choice access to hay will eat enough to keep them in good shape. They may, but they may not. The only ways to know if they are getting enough is to know how much you're putting out, minus how much they're leaving behind, divided by the number of days that they had access to it. Alternatively, you can adjust feed levels by body conditon score, using the concentrate to add or remove condition.

 

I have had hay that tested fairly high in crude protein (which is just one measure of quality by the way) that was not palatable. The sheep would eventually eat it, but they would not eat enough to cover their needs.

 

You might want to visit the forum on my website and look at the following thread: http://edgefieldsheep.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=264

 

Some of these issues were hashed out there recently.

[kajarrel]

The sheep would eventually eat it, but they would not eat enough to cover their needs

 

Absolutely. I find that a lot of the "hay producers" around here assume that sheep can eat low quality hay (and try to pawn it off on people). My experience has been that it's well worth it to pay a little more for hay that's not too stemmy, weedy or dusty, because they waste less (less to clean up, less $ wasted). I also have my hay tested every year to understand their needs - but I'm not so sure that this is necessary with 5 sheep. I'd probably check body condition and play around with the grain ration to get them in shape (assuming you're sure they're healthy). You want, of course, to do this gradually to prevent bloat . . .

 

Kim

[mbernard2424]

Can someone tell me what is considered good quality hay? Here in NC I have access to fescue, fescue/orchard grass mix, timothy (maybe) and possibly coastal bermuda grass. I was able to get some alfalfa which they love, but I can't find it now. Thanks!

 

Michelle

[Bill Fosher]

Hi Michelle,

 

I tend to think that what is in the hay is less important than how it's made. There's not much fescue grown for hay around here, but I know that it's not the most palatable grass in the world when grazed green. I've never seen coastal Bermuda grass. Orchard grass is a little more forgiving from the haymaker's perspective than timothy. If cut and dried properly both make excellent feed.

 

What you're looking for is bright green hay that smells good, has no (or very few) seed heads, and lots more leaf than stem. Hay producers looking for tonnage or waiting for weather will often let grasses head out at which point nutritional value and palatability both plummet.

 

Legume hays (alfalfa, clover, trefoil, etc.) are much harder to dry down than grass, and very much subject to leaf loss when windrowed, tedded, and baled. The same selection rules apply -- bright green, good smell, lots of leaf, no seedheads.

 

I also like to see a forage test on anything I'm buying. It might not be worth your time to sample it if you're only feeding a handful of sheep, but the producer should be willing to do it if he's selling to lots of different people.

[hillfarm]

Thank you all for the great information, guess I was worrying for nothing. I did increase their pelleted food, yes it is for sheep and added alfalfa pellets, 1/2 lb each daily. They are free fed good meadow hay and are gaining weight and look much better to me, not too fat not too thin. Thanks for the body scoring info!!

 

Lisa