You might be wondering what grains to give your dairy sheep and how much. You might be asking yourself "how much grain for sheep?" if you're also having them grazing or eating hay.
It’s pretty hard to find exact recommendations, and when we were getting started we asked around…
Other farmers either told us what they fed their sheep… like corn.
But when we tried corn, they didn’t eat it so it was probably a different type or preparation of corn.
So we tried different mixes until we found one that our sheep actually ate. Then we didn’t know how much to feed, and at times we were overfeeding and underfeeding.
So in this video we’ll answer these questions.
But full disclosure: I’m not a sheep nutrition expert, I don’t have a degree in farming, and this is just what we’ve found works. You’ll want to experiment until you find what works for your sheep, and in your local context. On our Ontario sheep farm here in Canada, this is what we've found to be available.
Also this is very important: if you’re introducing grains to your sheep, go slow. Their ruman may not be adapted to different grains and it can cause bloating and major digestive issues.
How much grain do we feed our dairy sheep?
First, sheep are grazing animals and they need to eat grass and other forage. So all of the grains we give them are a bonus, and not their primary food source.
We make sure they have access to good quality alfalfa hay during the winter months, and diverse pasture grass to eat on a regular rotation in the spring, summer, and fall.
Some of the sheep on our farm don’t need any grains at all: that would be our wether, who is a castrated male sheep. Our ram also doesn’t need much grain.
We do give them a tiny amount every day, mostly to keep them trained so they follow us when we want to move them to the barn or a new pasture. Less than half a cup or so.
I'll be sharing the lactating rations for sheep in this feeding sheep basics video. Our ewes get grain for a few different reasons:
1. It helps them meet their nutritional needs, when they’re getting ready to breed and when they’re pregnant - but we also don’t want them to overeat grains, otherwise they will have lambs that are too large to birth on their own.
2. Grains also help them produce more milk. This is the primary reason we feed grain, because we have dairy sheep are they are bred to rely on grain to produce the high volumes of milk they make.
What’s in the grain mix that we feed our sheep:
Oats
Corn
Soybeans
Alfalfa pellets
Molasses
For a total of 16% protein dairy animal mix
This is a mix that we purchase from a local grainery, where they mix things together for different farmers to purchase.
We also add a bit of:
Flax seeds
Dry seaweed flakes
Powdered garlic
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