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Lambs nursing


Bucket feeder

 
Eating creep feed


Lambs on pasture

 
Getting a drink of water

 

 


    What else is there to eat?

    A healthy start
    For the first several weeks of its life, all a lamb needs for nourishment is its mother's milk. The first milk that a ewe produces after lambing is called colostrum. It is very nutritious and contains antibodies that help lambs fight off diseases during the early part of their lives. The ewe only produces colostrum for the first 24 hours after lambing. It is essential that lambs consume adequate colostrum. An amount equivalent to 10 percent of their body weight is recommended.

    Lambs will start to nibble on solid food (hay, grass, and grain) soon after birth. By the time they are 4 to 6 weeks old, they may be obtaining as much as 50 percent of their nutrients from sources other than their mother's milk.

    Orphan lambs
    Lambs whose mothers die, reject them, or don't have enough milk must be artificially reared. Small numbers of orphan lambs (also called "bumr" or "poddy" lambs) are usually hand-fed with a bottle that has been fitted with a nipple for nursing. Larger groups of lambs are usually fed using a bucket feeder or automatic feeder.

    Orphan lambs are usually fed reconstituted ewe's milk because it is more nutritious than goat or cow milk. Ewe's milk is richer in protein, fat, solids, and minerals. After the first few days, it is better to feed milk cold as this will help to prevent the lambs from overeating. Orphan lambs can be successfully weaned at 6 weeks of age (even 30 days of age) if they are consuming dry feed and drinking water. They should weigh at least 25 to 30 pounds before being weaned.

    Extra food
    Young lambs, 1 to 2 weeks old, are often started on creep feed. Creep feeding is when supplemental feed (usually grain) is offered to nursing lambs. Creep grazing is a similar concept whereby lambs are given access to cleaner, more nutritious pasture. A barrier must be set up that will allow lambs to enter the creep area, but not the ewes.

    Creep feed must be palatable and highly-digestible. Lambs are not born with a functioning rumen. They are not able to digest whole grains. They require grains that are easy to digest. Cracked corn and soybean meal usually form the basis of most lamb creep rations. The ingredients are balanced to provide a high protein (18-20 percent) diet. Lambs do not eat a lot of creep feed in the beginning, but it gets them in the habit of eating.

    Creep feeding helps to develop the young lamb's rumen. It is especially advantageous for orphan lambs, lambs from large litters (2 or more) and/or whose dams may have a limited milk supply. It is generally more efficient to feed the lamb grain that to feed the ewe more grain. Creep feeding greatly reduces the stress experienced by early-weaned lambs. Creep-fed lambs usually grow faster than lambs that do not receive creep feed.


    Finishing period

    Lambs are usually finished or "fattened" on pasture or with grain while in confinement (or semi-confinement). Often, they are supplemented with grain while they are grazing pasture. It is getting more popular to finish lambs on pasture. The meat from lambs that are raised on pasture is usually leaner and more healthful than the meat from lambs that are just fed grain.

    The meat from lambs fed mostly grain tends to have a milder flavor than grass-fed lamb. The type of plants that the lambs eat can also affect the flavor of the meat. Lambs fed grain tend to grow faster than lambs grazed on pasture. They usually produce better quality carcasses. The profitability of pasture rearing vs. dry lot feeding will vary by farm and year and is highlly influenced by feed costs and market prices.

    All-vegetarian diets
    Although sheep are sometimes fed by-product feeds such as soybean hulls, peanut hulls, or distiller's grains, they are not fed ruminant meat-and-bone meal. In fact, it is against the law in the U.S. to fed ruminant meat-and-bone meal to any other ruminant. Lambs are not usually fed poultry waste products due to copper toxicity issues. Almost all lambs consume all-vegetarian diets with all natural ingredients.

    Water
    As with people, water is the most important "nutrient" that sheep need. How much they consume depends upon their age, size, and production status (and level), as well as temperature of the water and the amount of moisture in their feed. Sheep consuming wet grass or wet feeds (e. g. silage) won't drink a lot of water because they are getting plenty of water from their feed. Conversely, they will drink more water if they are eating dry hay or dry, mature grass. Sheep don't like to drink dirty water.

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What to Feed a Baby Lamb?

By Lee Parker | Updated August 11, 2017

During their youth, lambs will eat three different types of food: milk, roughage and grain. Each step in this nutritional process is important to their growth and development, and must be monitored carefully.

Got Milk?

As soon as a lamb is able to stand -- about 30 minutes after being born -- his first instinct is to find milk. By the time he's an hour old he's already had his first meal, and it's one of the most important that he'll ever eat. The first milk produced by a lamb's mother is full of "colostrum," a power-shake of antibodies, vitamins, minerals and healthy fat to help protect the little guy during his first few days in the real world.

It's a sad truth that some ewes die while giving birth, or may reject their offspring. In this case, the orphaned lamb will need to be hand-fed by bottle. Use milk replacement typically made with a combination of cow's colostrum and ewe's milk, as this combination is naturally more nutritious -- and successful in raising healthy lambs -- than cow's milk or goat's milk. Milk replacer can be hand-mixed or purchased commercially.

Hungry Little Suckers

As he experiences his first few weeks of life, a newborn lamb will eat almost constantly, suckling once or twice each hour. He will slow as he grows older and begin to eat solid foods, but will help himself to his mother's milk for about five weeks.

Sometimes, even when the mother sheep is producing milk, she may not be producing enough for her lamb. This is often the case when she gives birth to twins, and cannot provide the amount of milk for both to thrive. In this case, such as with orphaned lambs, bottle-feeding helps take the pressure off of mother sheep, and give both little lambs a fighting chance. Bottle-fed lambs need to be fed every three hours.

Hay Heyday

Alfalfa hay, chaff, straw or other forms of roughage should be made available to the lamb even before he has weaned. He'll naturally begin nibbling on these valuable sources of fiber, which will benefit the development of his "rumen," or first stomach.

Soon afterward, his milk and roughage can be supplemented with grain pellets. The grain preparation will increase slowly until he is consuming more grain, grass and hay than milk. At that time, he can be weaned from milk, and move fully into an adult diet.

While weaning lambs is not difficult, and can be done at varying speeds, this time is an important one for careful observation. Lambs suffering consistent diarrhea, who seem depressed or lethargic, have outbreaks of sores or other ailments may need to return to milk supplementation. Nutritional imbalances at this growing time of their life can have a devastating effect, and possibly be lethal if not kept under a watchful eye.

When in doubt, always have a livestock veterinarian close at hand to help guide your little flock into happy, active and thriving juvenile sheep.

How to feed sheep at home: the diet of sheep, features

Sheep, due to the peculiarities of digestion and the physiology of digestion, effectively use the plant resources of natural pastures and fields. The basis of their diet is hay and green grass of natural and artificial hayfields. The farmer is required to carefully compose the diet in winter when stalled. It is important to provide animals with everything necessary so that they do not reduce productivity and do not get sick.

To replenish the missing nutrients and balance the diet of sheep at any time of the year, it is important to use factory compound feed concentrates, which are additives to coarse, succulent and other feeds. Scientifically based compositions have a positive effect on the productivity of animals - the increase in wool, live weight, the level of fertility and large-fruitedness, as well as the prevention of diseases and the safety of the livestock. In the company "Yuzhnaya Korona" you can purchase biologically complete, environmentally friendly products designed for various physiological and age groups of small ruminants. Read more in the article on how to properly feed sheep and the benefits of including our mixed feed concentrates in the diet.

Content

  • What should sheep eat?
    • Succulent plant foods
      • Green grass
      • Silo
      • Vegetables, root vegetables and gourds
    • Roughage
      • Hay
      • Straw
      • Branch feed
      • Haylage
      • Myakina
    • Concentrated feed
    • Minerals
  • How to properly water the sheep?
  • How much feed should be given to sheep in warm and cold seasons?
  • Benefits of feeding sheep with compound feed from the Yuzhnaya Korona plant

What should sheep eat?

In home breeding, herbivores are considered rather picky, therefore, for their proper development, growth, and health, it is necessary to diversify the diet as much as possible. However, in order to balance feeding, it is still necessary to add vitamins, micro- and macro elements to grass, hay, brooms, wheat, oats, barley. For example, it is possible to increase productivity not only at the expense of factory compound feed concentrates, but also premixes. Mixtures of biologically active substances are used to increase the nutritional value of the main feed used.

Let's take a closer look at what constitutes the basis of a sheep's diet and why.

Juicy vegetable food

Green grass

Grasses of cultivated and natural lands are the basis of the diet in the warm season. However, there are also some limitations here. For example, it is not recommended to graze a herd in water meadows, as well as let it run when dew falls and immediately after rain. Wet vegetation contributes to the development of digestive disorders: food swells already in the rumen, which causes the formation of gases and foam, which in turn block belching. Tympania (bloating) is a life-threatening condition. If you do not provide emergency assistance, the animal will die.

The most favorable natural lands are steppe and mountain. Especially useful for sheep are:

  • clover,
  • plantain,
  • wheatgrass,
  • nettle.

At the same time, sheep are able to digest various weeds, thorns, tree leaves.

The list of harmful and poisonous herbs includes the following:

  • wild rosemary;
  • black henbane;
  • mottled hemlock;
  • poisonous milestone;
  • pink mustard;
  • stinky dope;
  • St. John's wort;
  • Ivan da Marya;
  • May lily of the valley;
  • spurge;
  • nightshade black;
  • horsetails;
  • white hellebore.

In order to avoid poisoning, the sheep breeder must first inspect the grazing areas to make sure that there is no mass growth of herbs that provoke various diseases or death of animals.

Silo

Silage is a succulent feed that is prepared by preserving various greens. The main part of the plant mass for sheep is grasses growing in meadows and fields, as well as corn, sunflower, vetch-oat mixture. Finely chopped greens are well packed into pits or trenches, organic lactic acids accumulate to about 2% and preserve it. The amount of air entering the ensiling place is limited, which allows the plants to retain nutrients and prevent the formation of mold.

To maintain sufficient moisture (up to 70%), the mixture is dried or chopped straw, chaff are added to it and mixed thoroughly. Silage is harvested for the winter with the expectation of one head per day - from 2 to 4 kg. It is important that the food is not peroxide, because in this case the animals will simply refuse to eat it or this will provoke serious digestive disorders.

Vegetables, root crops and gourds

Sheep are fed peeled and chopped fodder and semi-sugar beets, carrots, turnips, potatoes, pumpkins, zucchini and watermelons. From 1 kg to 5 kg is enough per day for one individual. The consumption of potatoes and beets should be more limited than others, as they can cause poisoning. They are mainly mixed with concentrated feed, chopped straw or chaff. Forage carrots are the most valuable for the growth and development of animals due to the high content of carotene.

Vegetables, root crops and gourds occupy a particularly important place in pregnant and lactating ewes and increase the following indicators:

  • milk yield, which also favorably affects the rearing of young animals;
  • daily weight gain;
  • quality and volume of wool shearing.

Roughage

Roughage forms the basis of the winter diet. Their absence leads to loss of appetite in animals and digestive disorders.

Hay

Harvesting for the winter is made on the basis of one head - up to 3 kg. Stems and leaves of herbaceous plants are recommended to be mowed in the steppes, upland, mountainous areas during the initial period of flowering and heading. The most favorable botanical composition includes alfalfa, clover, vetch grass, sainfoin, various types of peas, wheatgrass, couch grass, rump, timothy grass, ryegrass, foxtail, bluegrass. A high content of sedge is not recommended. Hay from feather grass harvested after flowering is also considered to be of poor quality, since the seeds get into the wool and heavily pollute it.

Straw

It has a lower nutritional value compared to hay, so it can only partially replace it when feeding sheep. It is rich in fiber, but contains a small amount of protein, sugar, phosphorus, and is devoid of vitamins. A day is enough for one head - up to 2.5 kg. Straw from legumes, oats, millet and barley is considered the most useful, for example, pea straw exceeds the nutritional value of wheat by about three times.

Straw is given to sheep in crushed form: cutting should be up to 2–3 cm long. For greater softness, it is brewed, the following method is common: about 500 g of salt is needed for 10 buckets of warm water. Cutting is watered in a wooden box and kept during the day (12-18 hours). To improve taste and palatability, steamed straw is mixed with concentrated feed or root crops. The mixture is not subject to storage, so it is prepared the day before feeding.

Straw should be especially limited in the diet of young and breeding individuals. It can replace hay in a growing livestock in the amount of no more than 35%, and in adult sheep - no more than 60% and only if it is of high quality.

Branch forage

Sheep are very fond of young shoots with leaves. Also, brooms can be harvested as early as May, but the main period is from June to July. It is believed that animals eat branches of birch, linden, acacia, and aspen best of all.

For feeding, branches with a diameter of 0.5 cm are collected, large ones are eaten worse and more difficult to digest, which means they do not provide sufficient nutritional value. It is advisable to cut them with secateurs in the morning, but after the dew has disappeared.

Branch fodder in the form of brooms is better stored in winter. In addition, it is more convenient to feed, dose and clean. The branches are tied into bundles and hung in a dark, well-ventilated area. Drying should take at least 15 days.

Haylage

Forage is harvested from legumes and cereal-legume grasses in the early growing season, dried to a moisture content of not more than 55% and stored without air access. Despite the fact that it is rarely used at home, it contains many vitamins and makes it easier to endure the stall period.

The main difference between haylage and silage is anaerobic storage conditions, as a result of which the feed contains less lactic acid bacteria and more sugar. The main advantage is that the pH is not more than 4.5–5.5 units, which provides high nutritional value and improves the absorption of nutrients by sheep.

Myakina

Proper use of milling waste, cheap and available to most households, plays an important role in the fattening of small ruminants. Chaff is nutritionally superior to straw because it contains slightly less fiber, but more protein.

It is advisable to give sheep waste from oat and millet cereals. For better palatability, the chaff can be steamed, chopped root crops can be added to it.

Concentrated feed

Make up about ¼ of the diet. They are in demand to increase the productivity of sheep in all areas, but due to the high cost they require economical consumption. Contain a lot of sugar, starch, fats, proteins and minerals.

The main varieties of concentrated feed for sheep:

  1. Compound feed. Conventional natural mixtures mean high-energy foods. They should always be fed only wisely, as large amounts cause obesity. The production of universal and well-balanced grain mixtures at home is almost impossible. We suggest that you purchase feed concentrate from the Yuzhnaya Korona plant as an addition to the basic diet. It contains a complex of all the necessary substances for sheep of various production groups and, due to this, enriches the local fodder base.
  2. Cereal cereal feed - corn, oats, barley, wheat, rye, triticale, millet, sorghum. Mostly fed in crushed form.
  3. Legumes - in crushed or ground form, they feed soybeans, beans, peas, lupins, alfalfa.
  4. Cakes and meals - from sunflower, flax and soybeans. They are mainly included in the diet in the form of a finely divided mixture: 100 - 200 g per day.
  5. Bran - per day of one individual, it is recommended to give only oatmeal at a dosage of 150 g. For meat rams, the rate is increased to 600 g.

Minerals

Complete feeding of sheep is impossible without a balanced content of micro and macro elements. Minerals are part of vitamins, enzymes, hormones, determine their activity. Thus, their sufficient consumption has a positive effect on the growth, development, productivity and reproductive ability of small ruminants.

At home, it is almost impossible to carefully control the intake of necessary substances into the animal's body. The negative consequences of mineral nutrition deficiency can be traced only by some signs. We list the main symptoms and what they may indicate.

Manifestations

What is missing?

Perversion of appetite, hair loss, decreased productivity, anxiety when feeling maklaks, ischial tuberosities

Violations of phosphorus-calcium and vitamin metabolism with a primary lesion of the bones (osteodystrophy)

Involuntary muscle contraction

Magnesium

Loss of appetite, lethargy, tendency to lick wool and various objects

Prolonged sodium deficiency

Development of eczematous skin lesions

Zinc

Damage to the thyroid gland in the form of goiter

Yoda

Dryness, exhaustion of animals, perversion of appetite, respiratory disease, violation of the hairline and the process of hematopoiesis

cobalt

Profuse, difficult-to-treat diarrhea, diffuse skeletal osteoporosis

Copper

Loss of appetite, lacrimation, weakness

Sulfur

Emaciation, growth retardation and reduced immunological reactivity, appetite perversion, diarrhea, poor hairline, decreased reproductive functions in adults

Gland

The consumption of table salt, flour and chalk depends on the sex, age and physiological state of the animal. For sheep, you can purchase specially made slimes and mineral briquettes. They allow you to compensate for the lack of salt in the body. To replenish other necessary substances, balanced feed complexes are used, the main advantages of which are:

  • dietary balance;
  • increased productivity;
  • improving the palatability of milk, meat, quality and appearance of wool;
  • reduction in the mortality of lambs;
  • improvement of reproductive function;
  • strengthening immunity.

How to properly water sheep?

An adult needs an average of 3 to 6 liters of clean and fresh drinking water with a temperature of 10-15 degrees Celsius. In summer and especially hot days even more. Also, the amount and type of food consumed, the physiological state of the animal affects the volume of alcohol consumed. It is not recommended to give cold water to sheep, and for pregnant women it is generally dangerous.

On a pasture, watering is best done 2-3 times a day, but not from standing water. To avoid the development of timpania, it is not necessary to give water immediately after eating young alfalfa and clover, bean mixtures. During the stall period, it is customary to give water twice a day: in the first half of the day after giving silage and in the afternoon before giving concentrated feed.

How much feed should be given to sheep in warm and cold seasons?

The introduction of new foods into the diet should always be gradual. This in any season will prevent the risk of developing digestive disorders. Let us list which feeds prevail in each period.

Spring

Summer

To the green young grass, which the animals saturate during the day, they give hay - laid out for the night in the feeders, as well as grain concentrates.

If the herd is grazing for more than 13 hours, then additional feed additives can be dispensed with.

Autumn

Winter

They give hay: about 3 kg per head per day. Root crops and melons are introduced into the diet - in the complex no more than 4 kg. Additionally, they give mineral supplements, silage, compound feed.

During the cold season, sheep are fed at least three times a day. In the morning they give roughage, at lunch - juicy, in the evening - concentrates. As additives, chalk, bone meal, salt felucene, feed sulfur, iodized salt, and yeast are used. Approximate winter ration per head:

  1. Hay: for pregnant queens 0.5-0.7 kg, lactating queens 0.8-1.0 kg and replacements 0.4-0.5 kg.
  2. Silage: for pregnant queens 2.5–3.0 kg, lactating queens 3.0–4.0 kg, replacements 1.5–2.5 kg.
  3. Sugar beet - 4-5 kg/day, potatoes - 1-2 kg per head, pumpkin - 2-4 kg per head.
  4. Concentrates: for adult animals 0.3–0.5 kg/day, for young animals 0.2–0.4 kg.

Approximate fattening of young animals, on average per head per day:

Index

Young stock

Adult sheep

wool

meat-wool

Romanovsky

wool

meat-wool

Romanov

Hay kg

1.0

1.3

1.2

1.0

1.0

1.0

Straw, kg

-

-

-

0. 5

1.0

0.5

Potatoes, beets, kg

1.5

2.0

1.5

2.0

2.0

2.0

Concentrates, kg

0.3

0.3

0.3

0.3

0.3

0.3

Set live weight, kg

25-27

28-30

23-25 ​​

43-45

50-52

40-42

Planned increase, g

130-150

150-170

150-170

170-180

160-180

160-180

Approximate diet for ewes:

Feed

Single and first half pregnancy

Second half of pregnancy

First 6-8 weeks of lactation

Meat and wool dams with a live weight of 60 kg.

Mixed grass hay, kg

1.0

1.5

2.0

Straw (barley, wheat, spring), kg

1.0

0.5

0.5

Branch feed, kg

0.5

0.5

1.0

Beets, potatoes, kg

1.0

1.0

1.5

Food waste, kg

1.5

1.5

1,

Concentrates, kg

-

0. 25

0.35

Fine-wool queens with a live weight of 50 kg.

Grass steppe hay, kg

1.0

1.0

1.5

Wheat straw, spring, kg

1.0

0.5

0.5

Grain waste, kg

0.5

0.5

0.7

Beetroot, potatoes, kg

1.0

1.0

2.0

Food waste, kg

-

1.0

1. 5

Salt, g

12

13

13

Approximate norms for feeding rams-producers, per head per day:

Benefits of feeding sheep with compound feed from the Yuzhnaya Korona plant

Even high-quality hay and green grass of natural and artificial hayfields and pastures cannot fully provide livestock with nutrients. We offer you to purchase high-quality products designed specifically for small cattle and containing all the necessary vitamins and minerals. Compound feed concentrates are oriented to the main age groups of animals:

Compound feed concentrate for lambs "START"

Compound feed concentrate for young sheep "ROST"

Compound feed concentrate for lactating ewes

The main advantages of our products:

  • Science-based formula.
  • Increasing the amount of milk in queens.
  • Increased wool shearing.
  • Intensity of weight gain when fattening livestock for meat.
  • Improvement of reproductive function.

Feeding sheep and rams at different ages. How to feed sheep and rams at home

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Pet food / Helpful information / What to feed sheep and rams

Feeding sheep is mostly formed from vegetable components. If it is possible to graze animals in areas with a sufficient amount of pasture, then additions are practically not required. Include in the diet of ewes, rams, young animals and adults a variety of products. If they are necessary for the proper development, health of individuals.

You can buy feed, compound feed and feed additives from us:

Compound feed for sheep

Feed and compound feed

Feed additives

Sample rations for feeding sheep of various breeds

Basic feeds for sheep

Sheep feed can be quite varied. The diet must be properly balanced. To do this, combine in certain proportions:

1. Succulent food

Serve for fattening. The basis of the diet of sheep and rams is:

  • Grass . Both succulent sprouts and coarse forbs are suitable. Animals eat weeds, thorns, even young branches of bushes or trees. Fresh greens are very nutritious until mid-summer. How to feed sheep when the grass loses most of its properties - during this period, complementary foods are introduced with shoots. Suitable corn, oats or rye. You can use seedlings of winter wheat or legumes.
  • Vegetables . Root vegetables are rich not only in vitamins, but also in fiber. Most often used beetroot, carrots. They improve bowel function and also increase resistance to infections.
  • Silo . This food is very nutritious. Corn cod is often mixed with legume hay or roughage.
  • Melons . Zucchini, pumpkin are saturated with useful trace elements.

C full-time food is suitable for all seasons. It must be of high quality

2. Roughage

How to feed sheep at home - coarse food is preferable in winter. For the preparation of the stall ration use:

  • Hay . Azny herbs during the flowering period, as well as alfalfa, clover, peas are considered the highest quality for harvesting. They are rich in nutrients and beneficial trace elements. For an adult, the norm for a day is 2-4 kg.
  • Haylage . The grass is mowed and dried until half of the initial moisture level is lost. Then it is preserved.
  • Straw . It does not apply to the main feed. If there is a need to add it to the diet, then it is worth considering the restrictions. Barley, oat or bean straw should not exceed 2.6 kg for adults, 1 kg for young.

Coarse feed contains too much fiber. Excessive Feeding sheep threatens to disrupt the digestion of animals. At the same time, the nutritional properties of such food are much inferior to succulent feed

3. Concentrated feed

Compound feed and concentrate are among the best for feeding sheep. Mixes are made up of:

  • Wheat.
  • Barley.
  • Oats.
  • Cake.
  • Legumes.
  • Bran.
  • Corn.

Wheat bran and other additives to make your meals rich. You can not do without proteins, fats, starch. They are added to feed with the calculation:

  • 100-150 gr. for sheep.
  • 600 gr. for sheep.

Animals also need mineral supplements:

  • Salt.
  • Mel.
  • Bone meal.

The amount of vitamins and minerals per head of the herd, calculated individually. Be sure to take into account age, gender, pregnancy and other factors

Diet and feeding norms for sheep and rams

What to feed rams and sheep - the diet is combined from various components in certain proportions. Ideally, the norms are selected for each individual separately, taking into account the physical condition. If we consider general recommendations, then you should focus on:

1. Seasons

The diet of sheep differs in different seasons. This is due to the possibility of walking, as well as the availability of certain feeds, their saturation:

Season

Ration

Summer

During the grazing season on pastures, the percentage of fresh herbs and herbs must be at least 85% of the daily ration. Also, sheep are given no more than 1 kg of hay, and about 0.2 kg. concentrates per individual. You can put salt lick in the stall.

Autumn

Fresh herb does not have the same saturation of useful properties. Hay is used to fill the gap. Its amount per day per individual should not be more than 3 kg. Also, about 4 kg of various vegetables are introduced into the diet. Be sure to add mineral salt.

Spring

They stop giving roughage to flocks, but they don't do it right away. Graduality is important, because if you rush, you may have problems with digestion. To avoid indigestion, when the animals are resting, they are given hay. In addition to green mass, mixed fodder (up to 0.7 kg), salt are used as food.

Winter

No grazing in cold weather. Feeding sheep in winter consists of hay from various plants, as well as silage and vegetables. In equal parts. Approximately 4 kg per adult. Feed give up to 0.4 kg. Do not forget about minerals and salts.

Feeding flocks are often fed with fodder bread which goes well with all categories of sheep diet

2.

Dilution periods

The diet of females during gestation and males during mating is different:

Queen Sheep

Stud sheep

Pregnant sheep should only be given high quality feed.

The standard diet of individuals includes:

  • Juicy food - 4 kg.
  • Hay - 2 kg.
  • Concentrate - 0.6 kg.

Already a few weeks before lambing, most of the roughage is replaced with succulent, and also add:

  • 0.5 kg each of straw and grass hay.
  • 0.4 kg each of concentrates and bean hay.
  • Up to 15 gr. salt.

So that during the mating period the producer can quickly replenish the lost energy, the ration is compacted in advance. Feeding sheep producers includes:

  • Hay - 1. 5 kg.
  • Oat concentrate - 1.4 kg.
  • Vegetables - 0.5 kg.
  • Cottage cheese - 0.2 kg.
  • Salt - 15 gr.

Diet of queens in different periods of pregnancy, feeding of sheep after lambing and during lactation

3. Purpose of fattening

Sheep fattening starts a couple of weeks before slaughter. Add to daily diet:

  • Bean or clover hay - 0.7 kg.
  • Silo - 0.5 kg.
  • Vegetables - 1 kg.
  • Concentrates - 0.45 kg.

In order for individuals to quickly gain weight, complementary foods must be enriched with protein. To do this, add to the main food:

  • Peas.
  • Corn.
  • Barley.

For fattening sheep, the feeder must be constantly filled. This also applies to pregnant or lactating ewes

How should the sheep be fed

A regular diet is just as important as a complete sheep ration as it promotes proper digestion. To improve the absorption of useful elements:

  • Feed three times a day during the stall season.
  • Feed lighter and less nutritious meals in the evening.
  • Water all individuals every day.
  • Give succulent food before watering, concentrates after.
  • Do not feed during the period when the flock spends grazing more than 12 hours a day.

Detailed analysis of the norms and rules for feeding sheep of different sex and age

It is extremely important to pay attention to the proper nutrition of animals, regardless of the purpose for which you raise them. The quality of food affects the health of each individual. Balanced feeding contributes to weight gain, the number of offspring and more. So order your sheep feed today!

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Experts of the AgroKorm company will tell you more about how to feed sheep in winter, summer and in any conditions.


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