The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: moprabbit on December 12, 2018, 04:23:47 pm
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I just want something to give my sheep when I catch them, literally just one pellet. I thought these Dengie grass pellets would be fine as they're just grass with nothing added eg molasses. But have read they need soaking before using. Just wondered if anyone has had any experience of using these for sheep? Thank you.
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I feed grass pellets to my sheep. When putting in a trough I do damp them but only because I have one greedy sheep that stuffs her mouth full, does not chew and then gets choke. However just a single pellet does not need soaking for sheep.
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Thanks Buttermilk! I'll give them a go. I've got 4 greedy girls, that's why I shall only give them 1pellet as a treat!
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We now use these exclusively, for all the stock (except the pigs).
When we start to feed them to a bunch of sheep, we do dampen them, as they can cough if they stuff them in dry too greedily. After a week or two, we don’t need to dampen them any more.
You won’t have any problem feeding them singly as treats.
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Could I ask a little more about the grass pellets..
I have used them for horses for many years, but always soaked them into a mash, then used the mash to mix in the rest of the feed (HappyHoof and a powder supplement) I haven't used them dry, as they seem to expand a huge amount, and I have always treated them like sugar beet, and assumed they would cause bloat/choke if fed dry.
For those feeding dry ( or dampened a little ) do you find they are deemed more palatable, and have you had any problems in doing so ?
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We feed very little, so no likelihood of bloat. As I said above, the sheep can cough a bit at first if they’re dry, so we moisten - moisten, not soak - for the first week or so.
They seem very popular with ponies, sheep and cattle alike. We don’t need to do anything to make them palatable. But as I said, we feed very small amounts. If you’re wanting to feed a pound or two, as we sometimes do for the dairy cattle, mixing with soaked sugar beet seems to work well. The grass pellets do fluff up a bit, but not massively.
ETA. The pellets we use are the Dengie All Stock ones.
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The horses have them soaked for the rare times they need feed (got one on bute for an abscess at the moment). If I'm using them dry as training treats for the horses or as a hand-feeding treat for the sheep, then it's only one or two and they're fed dry with no problems. The sheep don't get them in bulk.
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When I feed grass pellets to the horses I mix a cup of water in just to moisten the outside of them. This helps them get chewed easier, I do the same with horse fibre nuts too. If I am feeding a tooth challenged/aged equine then I will soak them to a mush for ease of eating.