The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Bramham Wiltshire Horns on December 24, 2019, 09:45:51 pm
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Can anyone recommend a lick bucket that can be used by horses and sheep
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Not a bucket, but we use Himalayan rock salt for everyone :)
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What are the benefits using the rock salt for sheep
There is some of that in the field (horses don’t belong to me)
Thanks
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If you don't own the horses then do not put out a lick bucket. When my lot have had access to any they just devour them and sheep would not have a chance of them. My equines are greedy beggars.
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Crikey, didn’t realise the horses weren’t yours. In which case, definitely talk to their owner before putting anything out. Some of the minerals that are fine for sheep can be toxic to horses. :o
And licks with molasses in may well be an absolute no-no; they certainly would be for my Fells, they put on weight as soon as look at a grain of sugar ::)
If you are wanting feed licks for the sheep, rather than just mineral licks, you may need to create a creep area where the horses can’t get at them.
The red Himalayan rock salts contain a huge array of minerals, so depending on what you are wanting from your lick, the salt blocks may well contain everything you want.
Since we started putting them out in all fields, we’ve had far less problems with sheep’s feet. In fact, I think I haven’t looked at a sheep’s foot for twelve months. Mind, we also don’t breed from sheep which need their feet looked at - or whose offspring have needed their feet looked at - so we have been doing both things in parallel.
Are you looking to address a specific, known deficiency, or feed in-lamb ewes, or what?
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Unless you have very small horses it should be possible to create a sheep creep area. I tend to create a sheep 'refuge, anyway with a strand of electric tape when they are mixed grazing, to give them the sheep a safe zone should they feel they want it!
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Crikey, didn’t realise the horses weren’t yours. In which case, definitely talk to their owner before putting anything out. Some of the minerals that are fine for sheep can be toxic to horses. :o
And licks with molasses in may well be an absolute no-no; they certainly would be for my Fells, they put on weight as soon as look at a grain of sugar ::)
If you are wanting feed licks for the sheep, rather than just mineral licks, you may need to create a creep area where the horses can’t get at them.
The red Himalayan rock salts contain a huge array of minerals, so depending on what you are wanting from your lick, the salt blocks may well contain everything you want.
Since we started putting them out in all fields, we’ve had far less problems with sheep’s feet. In fact, I think I haven’t looked at a sheep’s foot for twelve months. Mind, we also don’t breed from sheep which need their feet looked at - or whose offspring have needed their feet looked at - so we have been doing both things in parallel.
Are you looking to address a specific, known deficiency, or feed in-lamb ewes, or what?
Hi that’s why I haven’t put anything out for them, I wouldn’t put something that could be dangerous to other animals
Also that’s why I asked for advice on here in case anyone had a recommendation
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You won't get a lick that is nutritionally suitable for both species. Horses have similar dietary requirements to goats (need a good source of copper) which is toxic to sheep in most locations (there are a few exceptions such as my area where the sheep often get a copper bolus due to tie up by molybdenum resulting in deficiencies). So if you get a mineral bucket for the sheep, the horses will either ignore it or use it but suffer imbalances that need to be corrected, if you get one for horses, you risk poisoning the sheep! Best option is to segregate them and/or feed in a way that the other species can't access the wrong lick!
Thanks for the advice