[robd]

Does anybody have any experience of feeding silage to sheep? We have little storage space for hay so need to buy it in small quantities which is a pain, and I suspect prices will rise over the winter... The farmer next door has loads of plastic wrapped round silage bales, and it occurred to me that this might be a solution as they would not need to be stored undercover. Once the cover is opened, will the silage start to deteriorate quickly, or is it possible to rewrap it? We will eventually only have around 6-10 shetland ewes, so it will take them a while to eat a whole bale.

Any advice gratefully received!

Rob

[robert waddell]

to try and re wrap you would need the wrapper
no experience of Shetlands and would think 6-10 sheep would take some time to eat it you then have secondary fermentation and problems associated with it
from memory it lasts about 3-4 days
if it were me i would go down the hay route  you could store it on pallets covered with a tarpaulin

[Hermit]

We fed large round bales one year to our 30 shetland ewes. One bale lasted a week because they never left it and would not go onto the moor and graze! They just hung around it making a quagmire and jumping on top of each other making black sheep. We now do blue barrel silage from the parks dep grass cuttings! We feed spreading it out and rationing it so they go and graze as well. We also feed hard food and have mineral blocks in the winter as silage is not perfect and can lack greatly in minerals. I believe the big black silage bales can be tested for minerals so the farmer can then judge what else to feed. You can buy small wrapped bales, if they do them in your area you will have to check.

[SallyintNorth]

You need at least 40 large sheep for a large round bale of silage.  What they don't eat within 4 days they won't eat.  We usually plan on 50 hill sheep or 40 commercial sheep will eat a big round bale of silage in 4 days.  And no, you can't really take some out and re-wrap it.

You could try asking a dairy or beef farmer with a silage pit whether they'd sell you a barrow-ful of silage at a time.  I've never heard of anyone doing this, mind.  You could also try a local riding school who may be using large round bales of silage / haylage and maybe would sell you some each time they open a bale.  Again, I've never heard of anyone doing this.

There are some farmers who wrap small bales of hay as small bale haylage.  They'll be pricey but you don't have to store them under cover.  Your local horsey people would know.

If you have a farmer making small bale hay nearby you may be able to negotiate a deal whereby you book / pay for all the hay you'll want up front and then fetch a few bales at a time as you need them. 

Otherwise, robert's suggestion of a pallet and tarpaulin sounds like your best option.

[Corrie Dhu]

Silage can be a problem as sheep can get listeriosis from it.  It needs to be used far quicker than 6-10 ewes will get through it I'm afraid and rewrapping it wouldn't work either.

You would be better to find someone who will sell you a round bale of hay as and when you need it and just keep it covered.

Another very expensive but handy option would be buying small wrapped haylage bales intended for the horse market. 

[SallyintNorth]

You would be better to find someone who will sell you a round bale as and when you need it and just keep it covered.

She means round bale of hay, I suspect!