Pellets Primary Feed For Sheep.

plowjockey · #1 08/01/12, 03:27 PM

I'm looking at $10-12 bale for mediocre hay, but I can pay about the same for a #50 bag of "all stock" feed.

Either will be a huge costs.

Much of the hay will be wasted, but likely none of the pellets, will be lost.

I realize that they need to chew cud, so I could "supplement" some hay, but is this even feasible, from a health standpoint, to get the sheep through the winter, which for some reason, will probably be a long, cold one?

hillbilly123 · #2 08/01/12, 03:57 PM

I would be worried about the price of the pelletized feed going up soon as well. Maybe it would be better to drive and get hay? I still see decent quality hay going for ~$3 per bale in central Ohio.

wendle · #3 08/01/12, 04:16 PM

Might not be a bad idea to stock up on both and watch prices. Good feeders make for less hay waste
I guess it depends on where you are. Shop around

Callieslamb · #4 08/01/12, 05:02 PM

I don't think you can sub the pellets for hay. They need the hay more than the pellets. Feed the hay 2-3 times a day rather than a lot at once and make them clean it up. They will eat it if they get hungry enough. I don't think they will grow as well and if they are pregnant, I'd watch for toxemia as they near lambing time.

jwal10 · #5 08/01/12, 05:33 PM

I have fed poor quality grass hay and/or good grass seed straw with screening along with pellets and protein blocks. Make sure the blocks are the 10% blocks with no urea. Also the pellets had some molasses for energy. It seldom gets real cold here, maybe 10 days around 20 degrees. I have also bought molasses near lambing time....James

LibertyWool · #6 08/01/12, 08:32 PM

I would not stock up on grain feeds this time of year, as they can go bad quickly (depends on the formulation and how it is stored). In the summer, I buy what I can use in 2-3 weeks, in the winter when it is below freezing, I can buy large quantities without worry about spoilage/bugs/loss of nutrients. You certainly can use concentrates to stretch the hay you have. You will have to still feed some hay and any feed changes you make should be done slowly to allow the rumen to adjust.

I do expect feed prices to go higher also, and am thinking of going away from an all stock feed. I'm thinking along the lines of crimped oats, barley, soybean and alfalfa. I also plan to be better about supplying minerals than I have been in the past.

bergere · #7 08/02/12, 04:23 AM

Pellets do not have enough Fiber. And there is a good chance you would end up with health issues.

But Cubes and Chop (bagged hay) does have enough fiber for them. I used Cubes a lot when I was breeding the Brecknock Hills.
Cubes in bulk are pretty cheap and the quality is good. Takes them longer to eat them, which keeps them busy.

Here, for grains, I have to store that in the house. Other wise, with the weather in this area of the country...., it goes off in a week.

I just had a shock too, as I am not used to this problem. Basically in a drought here.
When I went to go get hay last weekend, found out the hay guy wasn't selling hay to his big clients any more. He said he "might" have enough hay for his small clients like me.
His hay prices went up enough, it was painful. So I bought more than I planned, but I don't think it will be enough to get me through the winter. So more than likely, I will be buying chopped hay.
Everything is so much more expensive on this side of the country.

Keep looking around, check out Craig's list and the local feed stores bulletin boards.... you might get lucky and come across some good hay, that won't break the bank.

LibertyWool · #8 08/02/12, 09:15 AM

Shari, why do you think he would end up with health problem? As long as he is doing both hay and pellets, that shouldn't be a problem. I would think you could supplement 50% of the nutritional needs from pellets and not see any difference. I'm not expecting him to go the club lamb route of a handfull of hay and 4-5 lbs of grain a day, but going with 2 lbs of hay to 1 lbs of grain is what I would probably start with and see how they do (assuming that he slowly works up to that much grain starting out).

bruce2288 · #9 08/02/12, 11:55 AM

Yes you can. Feed lot lambs are fed a ration of 80% concentrate and 20% roughage. Some research says to feed no hay, but in my experience they eat the building then. I don't know what is in all stock feed but there will be some roughage in the pellet. Pellets are difficult to make with straight grain or soybean. Roughage is the mesh to hold the pellet together. Even at the high corn price, corn is more economical than your "all stock" 56lb for around $8.. I can virtually guarentee that the corn will have a higher energy value for your sheep. You may have to add a protein supplement, soybean meal would probably be the cheapest readily available. If you are balanceing rations with supplement you can feed poor quality thus cheaper hay.

J.T.M. · #10 08/02/12, 11:58 AM

I do know one person that in order to clean his pasture, fed NOTHING but pellets for over a yr. His ewes/lambs looked awesome if your into fat sheep .His mentor for this was Cornell Uni.
Cornell Sheep Program - Feeding managment

bergere · #11 08/02/12, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LibertyWool

Shari, why do you think he would end up with health problem? As long as he is doing both hay and pellets, that shouldn't be a problem. I would think you could supplement 50% of the nutritional needs from pellets and not see any difference. I'm not expecting him to go the club lamb route of a handfull of hay and 4-5 lbs of grain a day, but going with 2 lbs of hay to 1 lbs of grain is what I would probably start with and see how they do (assuming that he slowly works up to that much grain starting out).

I was going with his title, feeding Pellets as a primary feed.

Some of the folks that I have seen in person, feed only Pellets...ended up with
stomach issues. Not enough fiber can cause the sheep's system to have digestive and metabolic problems.

Kind of like Copper, sheep can eat it for awhile and then poof... you have dead sheep.

But one can only feed what they have available. Just keep an eye out.

DamnearaFarm · #12 08/03/12, 08:14 AM

Just a thought here (new to sheep- just bought my first two a month or so ago).....
I know when hay is scarce we would feed our horses up to 50% of their feed in soaked beet pulp. Is there any reason sheep can't have it as well? We fed the pulp without the added molasses, btw.

sheepish · #13 08/04/12, 06:18 AM

I don't know about beet pulp but turnips (swedes) were a popular feed for sheep in Scotland and Canada 150 years ago. On the ag census of 1871, my great grandparents stored a lot of turnips to feed their flock. I don't know how they fed them, but it was a crop to get sheep through the winter. I know sheep can graze July/August seeded turnips in the fall.

BlueJae · #14 08/10/12, 10:51 PM

Talking with some of the oldtimers around here, there was a bad drought in the '80's and people would feed their livestock oat straw for the roughage and supplement with grain, and other things.
My plan this winter if I don't have enough hay is to feed straw, alfalfa cubes, rabbit pellets, all stock feed, and lots and lots of bread. My sheep get bread everyday now, about a loaf per sheep a day. Over winter they may eat more. I've been only giving them what they can clean up in a day to help keep hay wastage down.
I plan on stocking up on straw (if I don't feed it, I'll use it for bedding eventually) but the price of hay is starting to drop. We've been getting enough rain here so I think we'll get a third cutting.