[Paul and Caroline]

Hi - hope this isn't considered a silly question - I have 10 Ewe lambs that I will be overwintering outside on plenty of grass but want to have a contingency in place should we get some of this bad weather we are being promised. I have no idea how quickly those 10 lambs will consume a standard silage or haylage bale hence my question. Firstly would they be likely to eat most of it before it spoils and if so is it possible to obtain smaller bales/quantities? For the purposes of this I am assuming they will not be able to access any grass at all. Additionally we have not been able to buy hay in for love nor money...... seems it's like hens teeth up here!

Be gentle with me!!

[Marches Farmer]

Can you ask around to see if there's a local farmer that might have some small-bale hay to spare?  If you go to the big merchants they'll probably have horse-grade hay at horse prices.  At a pinch you could feed straw and hard feed for a while, but you'd have to change over the feed regime gradually and back again gradually afterwards.

[SallyintNorth]

I think 10 ewe lambs won’t quite get through a big bale of silage/haulage before it spoils, no.  And it’s the devil to dispose of.  We used to reckon one big bale fed 50 adult Swaledales for 4 days -and you don’t really want to be using it longer than 4 days.

If they’re hungry they will also eat decent straw.  Depending on where you are, that might be easier to source than hay.

In terms-of quantities, a rule of thumb is 40 adult sheep one small bale of hay per day when outside.  Up to double that ration  indoors. 

And even if there is grass, after Christmas it may not have mulch nutritional value, so they may need hay or straw to top up for say 10-12 weeks.  Or longer depending on where you are and when the spring arrives next year.  For 10 ewe lambs I’d probably try to get 20-30 small bales lined up, or ideally a source where I could fetch 10 at a time as required.

[harmony]

We have used big bale haylage for years and it will last a week once opened and sometimes a little more.  We feed to horses. You need to make sure any bales you buy have no holes already in them. Hay is very difficult to find and straw has risen in price too. Mostly it seems because of the amount being bought for bio fuel.


Ours is fairly dry and before you buy you need to see a sample.

[twizzel]

Be careful with buying silage or haylage- it must be completely free of soil or will cause listeria. We buy in round bale hay for our ewes which has much less risk as it is not wrapped. I would only feed haylage or silage if I had seen the process of it being made and sure there was no soil contamination. Ewe lambs would be just fine on good quality hay. Last year I bought 45 small hay bales for 9 ewes which lasted through the winter including coming in for lambing. This year we have swapped to round bales as they are cheaper- I've bought 6 to last 12 ewes.

[landroverroy]

Be careful with buying silage or haylage- it must be completely free of soil or will cause listeria. We buy in round bale hay for our ewes which has much less risk as it is not wrapped. I would only feed haylage or silage if I had seen the process of it being made and sure there was no soil contamination. Ewe lambs would be just fine on good quality hay. Last year I bought 45 small hay bales for 9 ewes which lasted through the winter including coming in for lambing. This year we have swapped to round bales as they are cheaper- I've bought 6 to last 12 ewes.

I completely agree with steering clear of haylage or sileage. I have several times had listeria (a form of meningitis) in my sheep  from feeding it. In addition  hay is much easier to feed and you can safely keep any you haven't used without fear of it going off.

[harmony]

Be careful with buying silage or haylage- it must be completely free of soil or will cause listeria. We buy in round bale hay for our ewes which has much less risk as it is not wrapped. I would only feed haylage or silage if I had seen the process of it being made and sure there was no soil contamination. Ewe lambs would be just fine on good quality hay. Last year I bought 45 small hay bales for 9 ewes which lasted through the winter including coming in for lambing. This year we have swapped to round bales as they are cheaper- I've bought 6 to last 12 ewes.

Yes you want uncontaminated bales but it is a case of bales with soil in them will potentially cause listeria not will cause.  We have being buying wrapped bales for longer than I would like to think about but I certainly don't have time to follow the farmer round and watch him bale. We have never had listeria either. As he bales for himself and I have a good idea from his stock and premises what standards he keeps I am happy to buy from him.


Equally buying hay you want to make sure it isn't contaminated. How do you know it hasn't been used by cats as a bathroom?


There is always some risk. Keeping animals in the first place is one!


Judging quality is a difficult thing to do and actually the only way you can be sure of quality would be to buy tested bales of either hay or haylage. All you can tell by looking and smelling is whether is is dusty or contaminated. Feeding quality is another ball game. Hay might last longer but the feeding value diminishes in time.

[shep53]

One bale of silage can be 500-600kg depending haw wet it is , haylage  400-500kg depending how dry it is ,can you handle these ? your ewe lambs will eat 1-1.5 kg per day depending on size and grass availability and  a silage bale lasts about 3-7 days depending how wet  haylage lasts longer up to 2wks if nearly hay .  Big bale straw would work ok just expect a lot of waste as sheep pick out the best and leave the rest , preferably you need undersown barley straw so it has lots of green  and the straw must look golden not white , bale 250kg so 2 people can move fairly easily

[twizzel]

Agreed harmony but it sounds like the original poster doesn't have a trusted supplier at the moment- so soil contamination would be a real worry for me from unknown haylage or silage. Sheep forage is quality over quantity. We had hay made at home this year but it's not good enough for my ewes so we have bought in some real quality round bale hay and watch that it is stored correctly.

[Womble]

Can I ask a related question?  What if you can't get hold of enough good hay?

Like the OP, we've really struggled to buy hay this year. I can get some from last year, but it's not great quality. However, would it be ok to use that, and to supplement with more hard feed than usual?

Is that ok, and if so, how would you go about it?  We do have quite a lot of grass still, since we're understocked.

[twizzel]

I can't see it would be a problem as long as it's not gone musky and mouldy. I would just feed with a good quality mineral lick and keep an eye on condition and supplement with hard feed if needs be.

[shep53]

Womble just keep condition scoring and react quickly with more hard feed if they are starting to loose too much condition , iv'e said before im using 5yr old hay  and now 3yr old silage , grass is still growing so hope fully since you are under stocked then you maybe won't need loads of hay

[farmers wife]

agree with above.  Hay is better but like all of them someone will sell you crap.  If its full of weeds and docs stay well clear especially when feeding outside.  Better to be on concrete feeder than being poached on the ground while all the seeds are being scattered.  Personally better to buy organic top notch hay.  Plus if it gets ruined you can use it as bedding.  Once your in with plastic wrap you need to shift it too which is another expense.  We did make some sileage in small amounts because we have a lot of clover in one field sadly it was too damp to make into hay and impossible to rake up.  But for acid etc we tend to stick to hay plus no plastic waste.

[landroverroy]

Can I ask a related question?  What if you can't get hold of enough good hay?

Like the OP, we've really struggled to buy hay this year. I can get some from last year, but it's not great quality. However, would it be ok to use that, and to supplement with more hard feed than usual?

Is that ok, and if so, how would you go about it?  We do have quite a lot of grass still, since we're understocked.

Get them a feed block to go with the forage. That way they will regulate themselves and eat more of the feed block if the forage is poor. It's more expensive than hard feed but convenient and ensures the sheep get all they need. I use Rumevite protein and energy blocks for both my sheep and cattle from now until the grass grows again in spring.

[Womble]

Personally better to buy organic top notch hay.

Frankly, it seems I'm lucky to have got any at all this year!  The Carse (i.e. the flat bit by the river) of Stirling is home to several farmers who sell hay as a significant part of their business, but they've none this year - we just didn't get the weather. One chap is buying it in from England for his horsey clients, but you can probably imagine the price  .