feeding sheep?

[boykin2010]

i no i need to be on backyard herds and i posted the same thing there but i tend to get better responses off of backyard chickens. i know many of you have sheep. here is my questions

i am thinking of getting sheep. i was wondering what the average cost of feeding a sheep is? the sheep i will b getting will have constant supply of bahia grass to feed on except for in the winter when it doesnt grow as fast.
what is the average cost per sheep per day or per month? if you dont know and you have sheep tell me how much it cost to feed your sheep a month and what they feed on besides the feed you give them.

 

[gallorojo]

I will try to help you out, as I do have sheep. If you have good pasture, they do not need any feed other than that during about 9 months of the year, at least where I live. I do give them each about a handfull of corn or oats each day, just so they are tamer, and more easily moved by showing them the grain bucket!! I also throw them a lot of garden refuse, they will eat peppers, cabbage, lettuce, melons, squash, beans, sweet potatoes, beets, corn, peas, and I mean they will eat the entire plant, everything. We have a huge 6,000 square foot veg garden, so there's plenty of food for them there, plus, bad fruits from the orchard, honey locust pods, etc. They will need hay in the winter , how much all depends, I like to figure about 10 small bales per sheep per winter to be safe.. In a bad winter, with a lot of snow, they will need more hay, or, in a mild winter with no snow, very little hay. Smaller ones eat less, clearly. I pay $3.00 a bale for hay, and $8.00 for 100 pounds of corn, so, I have 3 medium sheep, roughly $100.00 a year in feed total, or about 35 dollars per sheep per year, on GOOD QUALITY pasture. They are WAY cheaper than cats or dogs!!

 

[boykin2010]

ok well the sheep wouldnt be for meat so they wouldnt need as much feed. they will have a constant supply of bahia grass about 9 months out of the year like you said. i am thinking about getting hair sheep like katahdin or something like that. the grass grows very fast so they will have plenty to eat. i probably would want to give them grain too make them friendlier. we also would have plenty of leftovers from the table they could have. i can probably get hay for pretty cheap. wow they are a lot cheaper to keep then i thought. i spend way more than 35 dollars a month on just my cats. thank you for the info

 

[boykin2010]

anybody else

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

ok well the sheep wouldnt be for meat so they wouldnt need as much feed. they will have a constant supply of bahia grass about 9 months out of the year like you said. i am thinking about getting hair sheep like katahdin or something like that.

Why are you going to have them if not for the meat?​

 

[awesomefowl]

I was thinking about a few hair ewes for lamb meat. But I need to find some lamb meat eaters first who would buy my lambs.

 

[boykin2010]

i would keep them for pets and to sell the lambs for extra money

 

[awesomefowl]

yeah, so would I. I'm just dying to get more animals....

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

to sell the lambs for extra money

Then they will be for meat, but not for YOU to eat.

You'll need to feed them some grain prior to breediing, the last 8 weeks of gestation, and about 8 weeks from lambing to weaning.

Figure on about 1 lb per day per sheep, and 5 lbs of hay.

You'll also want to give the lambs access to grain from about 1 month upp until you sell them, so they will maximize growth.

If they are born during late Spring or early Summer, they will get most of their nutrients from pasture​

 

[boykin2010]

well you never know i may want to keep all the lambs or sell them to family and friends as pets. i have already found a couple of people that would probably buy a couple lambs just for pets so unless i have to they will not be for meat. but if no one wants them for pets i will need to sell them for meat. it is gonna depend. i am planning on right now just keeping them for pets and selling them as pets.