Hay or pellets?

[kesoaps]

I just bought some alfalfa hay for the winter, but my sheepies only like the leafy parts and leave all the stems. Seems like a big waste to me. I make sure there's plenty of fine leafed local hay with them, but all they want is that sweet stuff.

I'm thinking perhaps I should have invested in pellets instead. For any of you who've fed pellets, do you feel you get a better bang for your buck?

[Sue]

We found the same thing ~ lots of stems left over. Even though our horses would clean up the waste, we decided to go to alfalfa pellets mixed in their grain ration. We also feed grass hay but the alfalfa pellets help increase the protein and roughage without any waste.

[MommaSasquatch]

Depends on the price of each. I feed pellets to my goats and where I live it comes out a little more for pellets even if I figure a large percentage of waste. Alfalfa hay here is 4.60 for a 50 lb bale and pellets are about $8 for a 50 lb bag. So they'd have to waste nearly half for it to be a better value. Hay and pellets compare equally pound for pound I'm told. In some areas pellets come out much cheaper than hay, especially after accounting for waste.

(I buy the pellets even though they're more expensive here, because they're easier to feed to just the goats when the sheep are just fine on pasture only. So I wind up paying less in the end for more expensive feed 'cause I'm feeding it to fewer animals.)

[SilverVista]

Our biggest hay hassle is finding the "right stuff" without driving all over the state to look at it first. I'm with you on the alfalfa, can't afford to have half of each bale turn into bedding because it's too coarse for sheep! We have the same problem with grass hay -- depending on the type of grass, when it was cut, etc.

In general, if you're reading ads, ignore the 2nd cutting. It is always the heaviest cutting, and comes at a time of the summer when the stems are growing so fast that the internode length between the leaves is very long -- thus heavy stemmed, not very leafy hay. SOMETIMES first cutting can be nice and fine, but often not. That leaves you battling every other shepherd in the area for the third cutting crop. Because it grows slower and because the field has already been knocked back by two cuttings, it tends to grow much finer stems with much less internode length. It is usually higher in protein too. It will cost more, but if you get literally 100% more feed value out of, say, 15% more cost, then it pencils out.

Same for grass. Sometimes you can find first cutting that was cut and dried early, but as you know, that's a crap shoot in the PNW in the spring! Most operators in Oregon and Washington don't get a second cutting unless they irrigate and fertilize. That will make it pricier, but it will be much finer, and by cutting in mid-summer, the whole problem of rain during cutting and baling is avoided. Those bales are usually just as green as alfalfa inside. Also, in general, east side hay is finer and more nutritious than west side hay. Some of the nicest hay I ever saw came from over between Goldendale and Kennewick.

I feed pellets too, when I have no choice, but they pencil out at 4 times as much per ton as hay, so I try to avoid it.

I know you don't have this option, but if we're stuck with very stemmy hay, we fork the stems out of the racks and wheelbarrow them to the cows every evening.

[shepmom]

We supplement with pellets. Less waste and much cheaper than the hay. I don't mind using left over grass hay bales as bedding, but for what alfalfa sells for it, I'd be steaming. lol

[Ross]

Pellets as a suppliment are fine but too much is a potential problem. It's just higher managment. I feed a mixed grass/legume hay that offers some choice but if it's a little coarse.......... I chop it so the the picky little buggers don't have a choice! What Silvervista says is doubtlessly true in Oregon but wouldn't be true here. Our second cut is much like third cut except it's likely taken a rain.

[kesoaps]

Sigh....sure wish sheep were as easy as the horse! I guess I can clean up their left overs each day and toss them to her...but then I'm not really wanting her on alfalfa. Do the stems count in that case? lol...

The stuff I've got now was a field mixed with timothy, which they gobbled up last year. Some of my bales are more alfalfa, though, and some more timothy; they don't care for the timothy after tasting the alfalfa But it's definitely finer and easier for them to consume than the stems. Suppose I'll just keep feeding it if the pellets are going to be more troublesome.

[Terry W]

I got a couple bales of hay that my boys were being picky about-- more of it became bedding than went into their tummies-- I figured out if they knew THAT WAS IT-- NO choice about what was in front of them, they are more inclined to eat what I put in the hay net. This may seem cruel, but until they empty the hay net, no more gets put in-- so eventualy, they start to ingest what they consider the less desireable feed. Currently, because of the rain and lack of dry pasture, they are being dry-lotted a lot--and I made the mistake of trying to get them over the refusal of the hay by feeding them more of the sheep feed and grain-- (Do sheep founder?) Now, I have to cut back on the grain stuff and force them back into the pasture and hay mode of eating--

I can't see feeding alfalfa as a major part of the diet-- too much breaks off before it even gets into the stall....

[seanmn]

My sheep are still on pasture right now so I dont have that problem so far, but my goats are penned up in a large drylot setting and I had the same problem...seems they wanted to pick through and only eat the good stuff when using alfalfa.....What I do now is feed the hay in more of a flat trough type feeder with holes about 7 and a half inch high opening for there heads and I feed about half the amount they get when I start...then I feed the grain..feed the bucks, clean the water tanks etc.....by that time they've eaten most of it, stems and all....I then feed my other animals or give them the rest of there hay.....only about a quarter or less gets wasted now then what it used to...... stay away from the standard "V" trough type feeder it may work well for cows but only accounts for alot of waste when feeding small ruminants.

[elgordo]

I think I'm about the only one who's had problems with this, but when I would feed pellets to my sheep they tended to choke alot. After discussing this on the forum I found that others have a smaller pellet than what's being sold here. I use Cob with peas instead of alfalfa.