Under natural conditions, the diet of sheep contains mainly coarse plant foods. However, in winter, farmers face the issue of feeding sheep in a corral. It is also important to comply with the norms of feed and their calorie content. Read more about how and how to feed sheep at home - hereinafter.
The composition of the diet of sheep
Since sheep are herbivores, their diet mainly consists of plant foods. But in order for the individual to grow up healthy and develop correctly, various additives are added to the feed, and they are also enriched with vitamin-mineral complexes.
Juicy Vegetable Feed
In summer, succulent amounts to 85% of the total feed. They include green grass and silage. Animals eat green grass on pastures. The most nutritious vegetation is considered:
- clover;
- plantain;
- dandelions;
- nettle;
- wheat grass;
- other meadow grasses.
Sometimes sheep eat a variety of thorns. Do not interfere with this, as weeds are useful for their body.
An exception is grasses irrigated with dew. They taste like sheep, but still harmful to them. Eating such greens is fraught with bloating of the scar (this is the largest section of the stomach) - tympanum, and you can not do without the help of a veterinarian. It is non-contagious, but is often the cause of the death of the animal due to rapid swelling of the scar and gas formation. For the same reason, the herd is not allowed to graze in the pasture after rain.
Before sending animals to graze in the meadow, be sure to make sure that there are no poisonous plants on it. For sheep, the danger is:
- dope;
- hemlock;
- hellebore;
- henbane;
- celandine;
- lily of the valley and others.
It is good if trees grow on the pasture. Then the sheep’s diet is varied with young shoots and twigs. Wood also contains a large amount of nutrients, minerals and vitamins. This has a positive effect on weight gain and the quality of the animal’s coat. Therefore, if it is impossible to graze near the forest, the branches should be stocked in advance.
Sheep is given the shoots of the following garden and wild shrubs and trees:
- apple trees;
- Cherries
- pears
- aspens;
- honeysuckle;
- birches;
- ash;
- hazel;
- poplar;
- willow and others.
Branch feed is stored in July. Branches are cut 50-60 cm long and up to 1 cm thick at the lower end. They are tied in bunches, hung under a ventilated canopy, which protects the workpieces from rain and sun, and dried for 10-15 days. Brooms are stored in a dark and dry room.
By mid-summer, the nutritional value of greens begins to fall, therefore, it is necessary to begin to introduce additional feed.
In the video presented, the breeder talks about feeding his sheep:
Silage
Silo is a cheap nutritious succulent feed for farm animals, which is prepared by fermenting the green parts of various plants.
For sheep, it consists of several components:
- forage crops - corn, sunflower;
- vegetable garden waste - tops of carrots and beets, cabbage leaves and lettuce;
- seeded herbs - Wikis, alfalfa, lupine, Jerusalem artichoke, clover, fescue and others.
Herbs are laid in trenches or pits, tamped with pushers and covered with plastic wrap. Adult animals are fed silage 3-4 kg per day.
When fermenting in the feed, a large amount of acetic and butyric acid is formed, so it acquires a rather acidic taste, which the sheep do not like. You can avoid acidification, for this:
- Preliminarily reduce the humidity of the green parts of plants to 60% by drying;
- The crushed straw is added to the silo, but the straw absorbs the plant sap, which is secreted and is usually lost during silage.
Potato tubers crushed to a mushy mass are also added to the silo. This speeds up the silage process and makes the feed more nutritious.
Roughage
This type of feed is given to the herd in the spring, autumn and winter. Dried succulent feeds - straw, hay and haylage are added to the diet.
Straw
Per day, one sheep should have no more than 2.5 kg of straw. Although it practically does not bring benefits to the animal, it quickly satisfies hunger and increases the nutritional value of food. In winter, due to prolonged cold weather, it must be on the menu. It is harvested from the following crops:
- wheat;
- oats;
- alfalfa;
- barley;
- millet.
Spring straw is considered the most useful - it is richer than winter straw in nutrients. Straw is not recommended for young growth and producers. Sheep better eat steamed straw with the addition of chopped tubers, beet pulp, and concentrates.
Hay
Its harvesting begins in the summer, when the plants gained the most nutrients. It is harvested from the calculation that up to 3 kg per day falls on one head. The most useful and nutritious is considered meadow hay, consisting of forbs - clover, clover, alfalfa, vetch, rump, wheatgrass, granary and others.
The better the hay, the animals will be healthier and happier. Indeed, for them, hay in the winter is not only food, but also pastime. In cold weather, sheep do not have the opportunity to walk, and are forced to occupy themselves by chewing food.
Haylage
This is a thin-stalked herbal food, collected in the early phase of the vegetation of plants dried to a moisture level of 50%. Haylage is stored under anaerobic conditions, that is, without access of oxygen. Some sheep farmers do not harvest haylage, and this is one of the big mistakes, because it contains a lot of vitamins.
Roots
In the garden, root crops are sown with beds, which are grown directly for feeding animals.
The digestion of sheep is positively influenced by crops containing a large amount of coarse fibers (fiber):
- beet;
- carrot;
- winter rape;
- rape;
- oil radish;
- potatoes;
- turnip.
Beets and carrots are given fresh. Potato tubers are boiled, as they can cause bloating. Sometimes animals can refuse any one type of root crop, in which case they prepare vegetable mixtures or mix them with grain feed.
Root crops are especially useful for sucking and lactating queens, as well as for young animals. Feed them in crushed form at 3-4 kg / day per head.
Gourds
Most of all, lambs love pumpkin and zucchini, and do not miss the opportunity to feast on them. Unlike many plant foods, they are more fortified. However, it’s very expensive to grow zucchini directly for the herd, but introducing them into the diet increases the weight gain of animals, and also has a good effect on the amount of milk produced in the sheep who gave birth.
Concentrated feed
This is the most nutritious variety of feed, but it is impossible to make them the basis of the diet of animals. They give a lot of energy, contain proteins, vegetable oils and starch, but they have very few vital elements. Concentrates must be included in the winter menu.
There are several types of concentrated feed:
- Compound feed - This is a universal industrial feed. In its composition, all nutrients are in the optimal ratio, but still do not contain all the necessary nutrients.
When buying, be sure to pay attention to whom this type of feed is intended. There are universal mixtures, but there are those that meet the needs for nutrients in a particular life situation. For example, food for lambs, rams, pregnant females or individuals left for fattening. - Legumes - peas, lupins, alfalfa, beans.
- Cereal - barley, wheat and oats, as well as corn grains.
- Cake and meal. Get them from soy, sunflower and corn.
- Bran. Only oatmeal is suitable.
One sheep needs about 150 g of concentrate per day, a sheep of meat breed - 600 g.
Mineral supplements
Salt, bone meal and chalk must be in the diet of sheep. The dose of additives is calculated individually for each individual, depending on gender, age, and health status. In stores for sale you can find salt licks, which are additionally enriched with minerals and vitamins.
The lack of salt in the body in animals is easy to determine by their behavior. They actively begin to lick the hands of the owner, licking salty sweat. Some newcomers to sheep breeding mistakenly consider this a manifestation of the love and tenderness of animals for him.
Mineral deficiency negatively affects the health of sheep and leads to stunted growth of young animals, reduced productivity, loss of appetite and its distortion, brittleness and hair loss.
Signs of a lack of certain chemical elements:
- If adults munch on wood, wool, rags and bones, then this indicates a lack of phosphorus and calcium in the body. Young animals with a deficiency of these elements develop rickets.
- Magnesium deficiency is indicated by involuntary muscle contraction.
- With a prolonged lack of sodium in sheep, there is a loss of appetite, lethargy, animals lick various objects.
- Iodine deficiency leads to damage to the thyroid gland.
- Cobalt deficiency - to depletion of the animal and a distortion of appetite.
- With a lack of copper, sheep suffer from diarrhea.
- With a deficiency of zinc, eczema appears on the skin.
However, harm to health is caused not only by a deficiency, but also by an excess of macro- and microelements in the body. For example, with excess fluoride in the body, teeth become stained and brittle.
Therefore, the menu of sheep should be as diverse as possible. Bean representatives accumulate 4-6 times more calcium than cereals. Root crops contain a lot of potassium, but not enough phosphorus and calcium. In turn, bran is rich in phosphorus.
The most important element for animals is calcium. Their bones are 99% composed of this element. Its sources are meat and bone meal, milk, green mass of legumes. From mineral top dressing - this is dolomite flour, chalk.
5-15 g of chalk, dolomite or bone meal per day should fall on 1 head. They are poured into feeders, which should be freely available. Adults are given 5-15 g / day, young animals - 5-8 g, lambs - 3-7 g.
Animal supplements and drinking regimen
Animal supplements are a specific food that is given to sheep at a certain period of their life - the pregnancy of the female and the mating. The menu contains eggs, cottage cheese, milk, whey.
As for drinking, the water should always be clean, fresh and in the public domain. In warm times they give cool water, in winter - warm to compensate for the low ambient temperature. Pregnant (suyagny) and lactating females, young animals need an increased volume of water.
Feeding rates for different seasons
Depending on the season, the diet of animals undergoes significant changes, but so that they do not suffer from indigestion, introduce new feeds gradually.
Spring
In the spring, the sheep menu is complemented by succulent feed. Young green grass appears in the meadows and animals feed on it in the pasture during the day.
At night, hay is laid out in a nursery, which helps to avoid digestive problems. And also grain concentrates (700 g) and minerals in the form of salty licks are added to the menu.
Summer
During this period, the whole herd is on a juicy stern. Women giving birth and lactating females require 8–9 kg of greens, castrated sheep and other females require no more than 7 kg. The herd must be grazed for at least 13 hours, in which case additional additives are required by them in a minimal amount.
Young growth eats depending on age:
- 4-9 months - 4 kg of greens per day;
- from 1 to 1.5 years - 6 kg.
They are also given concentrates (200 g), root crops, salt and hay (not more than 1 kg per individual).
Fall
The nutritional value of green succulent fodder is waning. High-quality hay (3 kg per head), 4 kg of melons and root crops together are introduced into the diet.
Also enrich the diet:
- mineral additives;
- silo;
- compound feed.
Winter
The owner independently feeds the sheep, because the animals are forced to spend all the time in the barn.
Approximate winter menu (for 1 head / day):
- hay (bean, cereal) - 4 kg;
- silo - 4 kg;
- root vegetables and gourds - 4 kg;
- compound feed - 300-400 g;
- mineral supplements.
Diet for individual sheep
Depending on the age and condition of the sheep, the diet varies.
Feeding newborns and young lambs
The diet of young animals depends on their age, which can be divided into three periods:
- Newborn lambs. Located in breast milk or its substitute. If the baby is orphaned for some reason, then it is artificially fed. The mixture is prepared from:
- cow's milk warmed to 30 ° C;
- 2 chicken eggs;
- fish or goat fat.
Up to 5 days, lambs are fed from the nipples up to 5 times a day, then they are gradually taught to eat from a bowl and reduce the number of meals.
- 10-20 day of life. From the 10th day of life lambs begin to accustom to hay, branches and vegetables - carrots and beets.
- Lambs, starting from the 20th day of life. From the 20th day, concentrates are gradually introduced. Start with 75 g for a month old lamb, and bring the serving to 350 g by 4 months of age.
The younger generation is given oat decoctions and oilcake as a top dressing. They will help replenish the body of young lambs with vitamins:
- leguminous herbal flour;
- coniferous flour - based on 1 kg of a mass of 500 g of a substance;
- sprouted grains of barley, oats;
- fish oil - 10-15 g.
In addition to succulent feed, they are also given concentrates: 50 g to 1-month-old babies, 150 g / day - to 2-month-olds. Young animals are drunk with water 4 times a day in small portions.
Diet of swan and suckling sheep
Females should be given highly nutritious food during pregnancy and lactation. The following table presents an approximate diet.
Feed name | Norm, g / day |
Cereal Hay | 500 |
Bean Hay | 500 |
Straw | 500 |
Silo, green juicy feed | 3 000 |
Grain and Concentrates | 300 |
Mineral supplements | 15 |
4 weeks before lambing, the amount of hay in the diet is reduced and mixed feed is added in return. The female's menu changes again after the birth of the lambs. A day she will need:
- hay - 1 kg;
- succulent feed - 4 kg;
- concentrates up to 500 g.
Grain in the first week is better not to give, as they often clog the scar. The females are kept at this time separate from the herd and fed only with grass and hay.
Food of ram producers
These representatives need good nutritious food throughout the year. 2 months before mating, its amount is increased by 2 times. In summer, in addition to succulent grass, concentrates are required.
A daily breeding ram requires:
- succulent feed - not more than 3 kg;
- high-quality hay - no more than 2 kg;
- concentrated feed - 600 g.
During the mating season, the diet of sheep changes - the proportion of voluminous feed decreases, protein food is introduced:
- hay - not more than 1.5 kg;
- cake and bran - not more than 200 g;
- carrots - 500 g;
- grain concentrates (a mixture of peas, oats and barley) - 1 kg;
- chicken eggs - 2 pieces;
- fish meal - 100 g;
- milk - 800-1000 l;
- cottage cheese - 200 g.
In winter, sheep-producers are given 2 kg of hay (1 kg can be replaced with straw), concentrates - 500 g and not more than 4 kg of boiled potato tubers.
Food should fully provide the body of the ram with all the nutrients, but the main thing is not to overfeed it. A fattened animal loses its qualities and becomes ill.
Sheep diet for fattening
In 2-2.5 months, individuals selected for slaughter begin to be intensively fed so that their meat, wool and sheepskin acquire the best qualities.
In this case, for feeding young animals less food is required than for adults. You can also save on feeds if you feed animals on pastures.It is best to gain weight on the pasture without any additional feeding of the valuhi - castrated sheep.
If queens are sent for slaughter, from which the lambs have recently been beaten, then concentrated feeds must be introduced - 300-400 g per day.
When fattening adults, concentrates containing a small percentage of protein are introduced, since their growth has already ended, and the weight increases due to fat deposits.
If grazing is not possible, then the sheep are left in the stall and fed intensely with the following feeds:
- rude;
- juicy
- beetroot;
- boiled potatoes;
- concentrates.
With stall feeding, food is given 3 times a day. During the day, the diet should be more high-calorie compared to the evening.
Sheep Duration:
- adults are fed 60 days;
- young animals, repulsed from the uterus at the age of 3-4 months, require longer feeding - 90-120 days.
What is forbidden to feed sheep?
There are a number of products that worsen the overall well-being of sheep and can cause their death:
- Bread. In no case do not give young growth.
- Whole vegetables. Taboo applies to whole vegetables, they are pre-crushed before being fed to animals.
- Some types of hay and marsh grass. Refuse hay polluting the wool of sheep. This is feather grass hay, as well as that which contains burdock and other thorns. And also for the sheep all the marsh grass, hay from sour cereals - sedge, forest and coarse grasses - reeds, horsetail, are harmful.
Organization of the regime
Feed animals kept without a free range, 3-4 times in the barn, laying food in a common feeder. However, their excellent appetite is played out in the fresh air, therefore, if possible, it is better to feed them on the street.
Hay and mowed grass are placed in a manger. For concentrates and mixes use closed models. Vegetables and root vegetables are cut into small pieces before serving.
Before drinking, animals receive succulent food, after drinking - concentrated. Hay is given in the morning, in the afternoon - concentrates and succulent feed, in the evening they feed hay and straw.
Sheep reviews
Each experienced farmer has developed his own sheep feeding system, which has been developed over the years and experimentally.
Savely, 56 years old, Rostov region. Sheep grazing almost all year round. I give the crushed grain with caution, as I had cases that the scar was clogged, and I lost the sheep.
Tatyana, 48 years old, Rostov Region. I always mix crushed with bran. I never give wheat, since animals can get protein poisoning. I heard that some people like raw pumpkin, my sheep do not like raw pumpkin. But the boiled one is eaten by both cheeks, I sprinkle it a little bit more with sugar.
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Sheep are considered one of the most unpretentious pets. However, farmers need to organize the right regime and create an optimal diet for their sheep, then they will not leave their owners without milk, meat, wool.