Author Topic: Feeding sheep round wrapped bails (Read 1851 times)

Bramham Wiltshire Horns · « **on:** November 18, 2018, 06:47:40 pm »

Hi as the title suggest what’s people’s thoughts on feeding round wrapped bales to sheep

I did this a couple years ago with Ryelands and didn’t have an issue but since then I have heard bad things that can be dangerous to sheep
I’ve been offered a few from a friend wanted to see if it’s ok before I do

Regards

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #1 on:** November 18, 2018, 07:58:52 pm »

The problem is that silage goes off once opened, so you need to make sure it’s all eaten within 4 days (max) of the air getting to it.

How many sheep do you have? Do you have any other livestock?

We used to serve one large round bale per 50 Swaledale sheep per four days. Ryelands will probably eat more than Swales

You can also attempt to keep the air from getting at the whole thing by just making a hole in the wrap and only letting them at it at that point. But you still need quite a few sheep because they will get to a stage where you will have to unwrap fully, or they’ll be at risk of the bale collapsing onto them. And conversely, it is generally advised to feed in a way that lets all the sheep feed simultaneously, so if there are many sheep the hole would be quite large... :/

twizzel · « **Reply #2 on:** November 18, 2018, 08:50:44 pm »

The main danger is listeria, if the bale has soil inside (picked up from molehills etc when making the silage/haylage) it will cause listeria which can kill a ewe. For that reason I would only feed wrapped bales if I had made them and seen that they were made in optimum conditions. Otherwise I’d pass and feed hay. We have a lot of lovely silage for the cows here but the sheep eat hay, much safer.

Buttermilk · « **Reply #3 on:** November 19, 2018, 07:38:19 am »

I am feeding home made haylage to my zwartbles. One round bale lasts 18 of them a week fed in a ring feeder. Mine is a high dry matter haylage which lasts better than a wet silagey one. The horses take two weeks to eat theirs and it is still good to feed then.

A lot depends on how dry it was before baling and only by opening a bale will you find that out, although a good indication that the bale is wet is that it deforms more in storage and will have flat sides if stored on its side.

For the horses I take layers off and fork into racks as they are rationed and get ad lib straw, for a small number of sheep I would possibly do the same to reduce waste as they do pull it out and do not eat what hits the floor.

Bramham Wiltshire Horns · « **Reply #4 on:** November 20, 2018, 07:01:29 am »

Once again thanks for the advice
Always learning

bj_cardiff · « **Reply #5 on:** November 20, 2018, 07:42:11 am »

I've always fed round bale haylage to my sheep.

If I use a round ring feeder the sheep tend to waste quite a lot, or pick through for their fav bits. Its more work but I prefer to fill haynets and then fill the hayracks on wheels with them. You get a better idea of what you are feeding then too (weeds, mud etc)