Chicken feed and Lambs?

[crazyforfeatheredfriends]

Hi all, we have recently acquired two bottle-fed lambs. They are now about 3 months old and we will be weaning them soon. They really enjoy hanging with our chickens while they are free-ranging. They enjoy it so much, they eat their Purena Layena that we feed them. Should we be concerned about this? Will this hurt them?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

If it's too high in copper it could kill them.
They should only be fed whole grains or a feed made for sheep

At 3 months they are ready to wean any time.
Sheep dont really need grain except under certain conditions.
If you're trying to grow them out for meat it's OK
If you're getting them ready to breed, they are in late gestation, or lactating, it's OK

Male sheep don't need it at all if you have good pasture or good quality hay

 

[cmjust0]

Yes, for several reasons...

As BFF mentioned, copper could be an issue if there's much copper in the layena.

Also, chicken feed may contain ruminant parts, which could potentially pass Scrapie on to your sheep.. Scrapie is sheep/goat version of "Mad Cow," and yeah, that's how Mad Cow started...feeding cow parts back to cows.

Layer also isn't balanced for sheep. If the phosphorus level is too high and you have males, they could develop a condition called urinary calculi...bladder stones, basically. Deadly.

So, ya...best to keep your sheep out of the laying feed.