Can any members here that own sheep tell me what kind of feed you buy or mix for them. We currently feed alpha oats, alfalfa pellets, corn chops, and sometimes mix in sweet feed. They have alfalfa/timothy hay available at all times and a sheep/goat mineral block 24/7. Nobody here where I live knows squat about sheep and I just wanted to see what everyone else fed theirs. I don't want them to have any deficiencies or anything. Thanks in advance.
I feed mine a "all purpose breed feed" the kind you can feed to cattle, goat, etc. its 14% protein. They also get alfalfa free choice. Here is eastern Washington we have low silieum (sp) in the grass they eat so we supplement that with a salt lick with added silieum. Its the salt lick that looks brown. Anyways, I had a few sheep acting sick and that was the problem. Besides that they do well. What kind do you have?
Well for me, it depends on how old they are and what they are being used for. All get pellets(the type depends on what they are used for)with pasture &/or hay/ I use Silver Moon pellets. Heres the website with the list of foods: http://www.silvermoonfeeds.com/sh.htm
Make sure the feed doesn't contain copper. Copper is toxic to sheep, but is a mineral that's needed by goats, so avoid most products marketed for goats unless the label says it does not contain copper. I've had goats but not sheep. I work at a feed store and all the sheep customers always ask me to read the label and make sure there is no copper in it before I load it in their truck, and a few customers are big time breeder-showers.
Picco is dead on.. AVOID anything with copper.. we just feed COB with mollases and they have free choice grass/alfalfa in the big round bales which they love to play king of the mountain on.. and of course free feed the sheep salt/mineral but we use the loose stuff We have Barbados/American Blackbellys
Thanks for the replies thus far. I know about the NO COPPER thing. All of our sheep are so fat they waddle, so I know they are not hungry, but I wanted a good all around feed. We have khatadin (sp) barbados, and some other kind that I can't recall since you asked!!LOL. We have 8 right now, all ewes and they are just pets. We have no intentions of eating, showing, breeding etc... I just LOVE them to death. They have to be THE coolest animal God invented. We got hay from Iowa for them because I didn't want them to eat just horse hay!!!! We live in NE MS and good Lord we paid dearly for that hay.
Yup, just going to agree with the last two posts...avoid copper ie goat products and use loose minerals. The blocks are a waste of time and money...they wind up being used as king of the hill stones and not as supplements. Think about it - how would you like to have to lick your vitamin every morning for 5 minutes until your tongue hurt?
Barbados... love them, I'll take a dozen eggs when they start laying . They just look so cool, I really would love to get some in a few years.
Thanks helmstead for the visual, I got a chuckle. While we are on the topic of sheep, what does everybody use to worm sheep with. And is it an injectible, pour on, pill etc...