The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: lizzypeg on November 08, 2013, 11:34:51 am

Title: can i use up pony foal mix on my ewes to save throwing it away?
Post by: lizzypeg on November 08, 2013, 11:34:51 am

was thinking of feeding an open bag of foal mix to my ewes once I start feeding them(they usually get nuts once weather gets worse) to save me wasting it by throwing it away as no ponies to eat it now...
is it likely to be bad for my ewes if fed in small quantities?

Title: Re: can i use up pony foal mix on my ewes to save throwing it away?
Post by: Foobar on November 08, 2013, 12:16:03 pm

Not knowing whats in a foal mix I had a quick google...from what I see they all contain copper, so I would not be giving that to sheep.  I suspect that most of the ingredients would in themselves be ok for sheep, but I would worry about the different levels of minerals that are in it (like the copper).


I'm sure someone else on here will know for sure...

Title: Re: can i use up pony foal mix on my ewes to save throwing it away?
Post by: sabrina on November 08, 2013, 01:58:05 pm

Cannot feed your foal mix or any other horse and pony mix to sheep. should say on the bag I would have thought .To do with the copper.

Title: Re: can i use up pony foal mix on my ewes to save throwing it away?
Post by: mowhaugh on November 08, 2013, 06:14:53 pm

Yes, agree with above advice, no feed designed for horses and ponies should be given to sheep, the levels of copper are likely to poison them.

Title: Re: can i use up pony foal mix on my ewes to save throwing it away?
Post by: zarzar on November 08, 2013, 09:00:39 pm

No all horse feeds have to much copper the one animal that seems to cope well with it is the pigs but would then only feed small quantities and not in bulk.