The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Jon Feather on January 02, 2017, 10:50:45 am
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We have 14 shetlands on rough coastal grazing (ewes, ewe lambs and a tup). There is still a far bit of grass but we have started giving them a few handfuls of feed every morning. We do this because that's what the previous owner of our starter flock did. I just wondering if this is right or should we be giving them hay instead???
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I give mine a little feed every morning. It make sure they are around for me to check that all are OK and they are much easier to handle. they only eat hay if there is no grass and hard frost or snow.
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If you hay to give them then that Is a good Idea depending on condition. What you need to do is feel the spine just above the hips and see how skinny they are, you can look at charts online if you type in "sheep condition scoring". If they are a bit skinny then I would advise giving them a wee bit of cake along with some hay. I f you do give them cake and hay introduce it slowly as last year I just started giving it to some lambs one day with no introduction and they ate too much, went of their food for a while and just looked sick but then picked up again after a week or so. Mine are hebrideans so much the same as shetlands just a different colour. As I've said see what they are like, when are the ewes due to lamb? The tups and ewe lambs don't need as much as the ewes who are in lamb but in the 6 weeks running up to lambing the ewes need more feed due to the lamb inside them growing rapidly.
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As mentioned, they won't eat hay where they have grass.
If you're happy that they have enough grass then they shouldn't need anything extra unless:
1. You're hoping to fatten your ewe lambs
2. You're lambing in the next 6 weeks.
I am assuming that neither is the case, in which case they shouldn't need any extra feed. but it won't do any harm to give them a minimum amount if you just want to keep them tame.
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I like to train everything, from sheep to peacocks, to come to call for food. I just makes it so much easier if you need to move or check something and don't have a sheepdog or poultry net handy. Stock being trained will get the smallest amount possible, say 50g for sheep, to get the desired effect.