[FrancesV]

Hi,

Does anyone know when the best time is top put out hay? We always disagree! Is there anywhere official that gives good guidelines too?

Thank-ewe,

FrancesV

[Foobar]

Mine have hay available all year round pretty much, so that's not much use to ewe, sorry .

[SallyintNorth]

When the sheep need it.

Sorry, but that's the answer.  It will vary on the sheep, what work they've been doing and are expected to do, the farm and its location, the weather, how much grazing there is...

In general, in the Cumbrian uplands where I lived until recently, if there's still grass for them to munch, and they had suitable condition to go to the tup in October or November, they won't need hay until somewhen in December, possibly not until the New Year.  If they seem hungry, or seem to be losing too much condition, you can try them with a bit of hay and see what they do - mine won't bother with hay until they need it.

[twizzel]

Mine have had hay since the end of September but only really started eating it in the last couple of weeks, especially in bad weather. They eat more over night and graze in the day. If they don't need it then they won't eat it, they have grass but are following cattle grazing so don't really have the pick of the best grass.

[Daleswoman]

It really does depend on lots of things, and you have to use your own judgement.  With us, I only have a limited amount of grazing and not many sheep-proof paddocks and pens. I also rotate the grazing between sheep, my 2 steers, and 2 horses. This means I can't always put the sheep in the field where there is the right amount of grass for them. You have to judge the quality, as well as the quantity of grass, and also observe the condition of the animals.

If it helps, this is how I approached it this year:

I started feeding hay to the sheep and horses on 8th October, because the grass in both heir fields was looking a bit thin and they were looking hopefully at me every time I appeared.  They were all definitely hungry and I had to top up the hayrack twice a day. The ewes also got a few scoops of pasture mix twice a day, prior to tupping (but not the rams as they were on the fat side).  I was going to make the Dexters wait a couple more weeks as their field appeared to have plenty of grass left, but then realised they were losing condition so started them on hay and a few beef nuts on 12th and they have now picked up.

Last week I sorted the sheep out. The main breeding group of 7 ewes with their ram went into a new field which had a decent amount of grass; they are barely touching their hay now, so clearly the grass in there is still giving them some nutrition and I'm only topping up the feeder every 3 or 4 days. The ewe lambs (daughters of that ram) have had to go into a very small paddock with very little grass, so they are completely dependent on hay, as are my other ram and his two ladies, who are in a separate very small pen with no access to grass.

I hope that helps!

[DartmoorLiz]

I'm with the majority: if the sheep are eating hay then they should have it.  If the grass was any good they would not eat hay and its a bad time of year for ewes to be dieting.


We're right on the cusp at the moment - on sunny days the hay is not touched but on poor days the hay's gone.


However, if the ewes are at condition score 3 or above then perhaps a maintenance diet until the ram goes in might be appropriate.  Ewes concieve better if they are tupped while on a "rising plane of nutrition" so even if they are at the right condition, when the ram goes in start with the hay.

[FrancesV]

Thank-ewe all so much. I imagined there was no hard and fast rule, but these pointers are really helpful,

FrancesV 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Agree with [member=10673]SallyintNorth[/member] about this one. We don't generally feed them hay unless they start telling us to, by which I mean the searching looks they give me when I go to see them. Over winter they will generally get a big bale of good quality haylage, ad-lib, maybe some cake and definitely licks. They have that until the grass starts to come through, March-April usually, unless its a little late in the which case April-may. Hope this helps? All the best with whatever you decide!

[Marches Farmer]

The grass has kept growing until now - light frost expected tonight, though.  If I gave it to the Badger Face they'd glance at it and carry on eating the hedge.  It can be hard to keep condition off the Southdowns as they seem to have a slower metabolism than the BF's.  Mine get hay when all the fields except the turnout field are down to 8cm.  I do have ancient meadows, though, so different grazing to an Italian rye grass and white clover ley.