[ann_of_loxley]

When all the conditions are so some sheet nuts are needed - what do you feed your sheep....IF you are keeping them as pets?  A lot of the sheep food I have seen is designed for lambs or sheep that are....not pets.  The food is designed to make lambs good meat...or for ewes to have more lambs...etc.  But what would you suggest for the sheep that is just gonna...live a long time?  They shouldn't need it for most of the year as they have pasture to graze but then this summer was horrible for the pasture animal because of how dry and dead everything got.  But my sheep will be pets and they will live a long time and they will never breed.  I know they can be prone to getting fat so I just wanna make sure they stay healthy. 

[bj_cardiff]

For pet sheep I don't think you would ever need to feed them nuts, if your grass is limited over the winter (or summer) feed them hay and give them a mineral lick/bucket. I suppose the only time I would consider it is if they were very old sheep that have lost their teeth and were struggling to maintain their weight. Non-breeding, healthy adult sheep shouldn't ever need nuts, unless your feeding a handful at a time as a treat, just to keep them tame.

[Womble]

I know they can be prone to getting fat so I just wanna make sure they stay healthy.

If they're going to be friendly pet sheep, it should be easy to keep them tame with a pocketful of ewe nuts or supabeet when you go out to check them. Then you can get into the habit of feeling their backs to condition score them, and you'll soon know whether they're getting too fat or too thin (a score of around 3 is nice and healthy BTW).


As BJ says, a mineral lick is a good idea to make sure they're getting everything they need. If you buy one without molasses in it so they're not tempted to eat more than they need, and keep it out of the rain so it doesn't all wash away, a bucket will last for ages with just a few sheep.

[Anke]

YES, definitely hay only and a lick without molasses. You can also use something like grass nuts to keep them tame without gibing loads of calories.

[SallyintNorth]

I use Dengie Grass Pellets for all our herbivores.  There’s enough protein to make it a proper feed if you neede that, but it’s grass not cereals so a much more natural thing for them to be eating.

[ann_of_loxley]

I looked through all the posts on here a few weeks ago and got a yellow rockies mineral lick for them.  So they should be sorted there!  
That is a great idea using it to keep them tame! - Thanks

[harmony]

Whereas I would generally agree with the above comments my questions would be what breed, what is their winter grazing going to be like and have they got shelter?

[Fleecewife]

Sheep nuts are high in protein and can be too large for some breeds, and too rough on the teeth for elderly ladies, which need to keep their teeth for up to 20 years.  We do feed a little to the old dears when snow is lying, but we use coarse mix which is lower in protein than nuts, much more interesting for them to pick around in, but still rattles encouragingly in a bucket.
Many breeds of sheep, not just the primitives, like to browse as well as to graze, and they take in natural minerals and trace elements from eating bark and leaves of plants such as willow, fruit tree prunings, cow parsley and various non-toxic trees. One of the many advantages of using browse to supplement grass, and in stead of nuts, is that it keeps the sheep occupied while being no higher in calories than grass.

[Buttermilk]

Grass nuts. Kept in an air tight container they keep for years and with just a few pets that is how long a bag will last.

[moprabbit]

This is an interesting post for me, as I have pet sheep just like you, ann of loxley. I like to give them a treat when I see them in the morning but they are overweight and have been on a restricted diet for sometime now. However for the winter I might get some grass nuts as a treat. Any other 'non fattening treat' ideas would be welcome! Thank you

[SallyintNorth]

Grass nuts, if used as feed, are fed at the same rate as cereal-based feeds.  So don’t go thinking you can give out handfuls as treats and they won’t put on weight!  Just if you do want to keep them tame, a few grass nuts doesn’t upset their digestion like cereals do. 

Sheep fed cereals routinely, as part of their regular diet, have gut bacteria all geared up for the cereals.  But when they only get an occasional treat, they actually find the cereals hard to digest!  I was advised by an animal nutritionist to feed hard feed only once a day (except close to and immediately after lambing, if necessary to give the quantities needed) because the rumen has to switch into ‘cereal-digesting mode’ and then back to ‘grass-digesting mode’ again, which takes energy and time.

[moprabbit]

Thanks for that information Sally. If I get any grass nuts they'll literally only get one or two as a treat, not handsful. I've worked too hard on getting some weight off them to risk putting it back on!

[SallyintNorth]

This is an interesting post for me, as I have pet sheep just like you, ann of loxley. I like to give them a treat when I see them in the morning but they are overweight and have been on a restricted diet for sometime now. However for the winter I might get some grass nuts as a treat. Any other 'non fattening treat' ideas would be welcome! Thank you

They digest everything so well, almost everything is fattening to a sheep!  .  But a very few - not a whole handful! - grass nuts two or three times a week will keep them tame and coming to you.  You don’t need to give them nuts every single day, or even every single week!

[moprabbit]

Totally agree that every thing seems to be fattening for sheep! Mine seem to get fat on fresh air!

[Fleecewife]

Totally agree that every thing seems to be fattening for sheep! Mine seem to get fat on fresh air!

My Hebs don't ever get overweight, but I had a couple of shetland ewes which were built like the side of a house, and their wether offspring are as bad (on grass and browse) and never seem to stop eating.  So it's not purely being primitives which stops them getting fat.