[sillyewe]

Hello

This year I hope to get some of my sheep out to some local shows.  I was wondering what and how much people feed their sheep before the shows?

I always wonder how some of the exhibitors get their sheep so big, scared mine will look small in comparison.

Any help much appreciated.

[Bramblecot]

Lamb early and keep a separate 'show team' which are fed differently .  My  always look tiddly in the show ring compared with the regular show teams. 
Don't let me put you off though, showing is great fun  and you may be lucky and get a judge that is not impressed by fat sheep .

[Fleecewife]

It depends on the breed.  You really don't want a fat Hebridean, but Jacobs come into the ring looking like hefferlumps.  I assume the big white fluffies do get extra feed and also get washed and polished before the big day.
A good judge should be judging the sheep and not how deep it's fat layers are.  Surely the idea behind judging sheep at agricultural shows is to find an animal with good conformation but not a great lardy thing which would be rejected by the butchers?

[sillyewe]

I have a handful of Zwartbles sheep, they are big sheep and can eat a lot.  I was just trying to get an idea of what I might need to feed them.  I just clipped them at the weekend. 

[nutterly_uts]

Are you on FB? Zwartbles fb group is really useful and has a few show-ers on there I'm following this as one day I want some show Zs

[Hellybee]

A little different but I'm more involved showing wise with ponies and there is a lot of over conditioned youngsters out there, don't be tempted to keep up with them, like others have said above its not all about being fat x

[sillyewe]

Thanks Nutterly.  Yes I am on facebook, although not that much,  will check that group out. 

[nutterly_uts]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/175748955786137/

[Lady aga]

Well no one has actually told you what to feed, I used to show sheep, charolais and Blue's. I fed ewe and lamb, and calf course mix, masses of it, it is no word of a lie, they had a bucket full each, divided into two feeds am and pm, were clipped early, and were lovely and big, they had to be to compete, we did win a lot with the blues, placed with the char's and I was showing ped char cattle also, I won the devon county out right with a heifer in 87, and £2,500. It was all very exciting then, masses of other entries, which you don't get now, sad.

[sillyewe]

Thanks Lady Aga.  I feared this might be the case, apart from it being expensive, surely it cant be good for the sheep either!  Someone once said that they fed their sheep 8lb each a day for showing!!!  but i thought that was a huge amount considering they are only getting about 1lb just now!

[Me]

As a rough rule of thumb the biggest, fattest one wins - because as we all know the biggest sheep is the best one and the British consumer loves a good thick covering of fat on their lamb.. stuff them full and then stuff them some more if you want ribbons! 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi Silly,


      I understand your reservations about over feeding I feel the same way and I dont over feed mine.  I have read about ram lambs being fed that much they throw up so its not what Im interested in. How about showing your aged ram or ewes with lambs at foot. That way you can feed them naturally untill adulthood.