How to feed sheep: in winter, sheep, after lambing, young animals, feed standards

Livestock maintenance takes up a lot of nerves and time. Not everyone is ready to do this professionally. A lot of costs are for feeding. To engage in sheep and sheep breeding, you must first familiarize yourself with all the requirements for grazing, feeding and watering flocks. Drinking and food ration of animals is not the same and depends on many factors and nuances.

How to feed sheep: diet, what it depends on

An important role is played by the location of the flocks, the climatic conditions of livestock, as well as care. It is from such factors that the method of fattening depends. Basically, sheep breeding is widespread in Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Kazakhstan with huge pastures.

The more pasture, the longer the animals can graze. In this case, care for them will be minimal, since fresh herbs will be used for nutrition. Do not forget to drink the flock, using special containers and tanks for this.

Climatic conditions also play a role. The most optimal are tropical and subtropical zones. Growing sheep is possible, both in hot conditions, and in cold, harsh. The temperature amplitude can vary from + 40 ° C to -40 ° C. Therefore, today there are many breeds that are able to join any terrain.

It is necessary to feed the flock in combination, using vitamin supplements, green grass, hay, vegetables, etc. With this variety, the animal will receive all the necessary useful components, vitamins and macronutrients for maximum growth and body weight gain.

Important! It is not safe to feed the sheep with wet dew grass, since such a feed provokes bloating, which may result in a visit to the veterinarian.

Additional feeding of sheep with grain, hay or silage is necessary when there is not enough grassiness on the pastures, and in winter. In winter, juicy complementary foods (vegetables and fruits), as well as fresh grass, are almost completely absent, so the diet of animals must be enriched with foods rich in nutrients as much as possible.

The selected auxiliary feeding program will allow sheep to grow, breed and generate income for the entrepreneur. In this case, you will have to use as much dry feed for the pen as possible, as well as provide enough food to maintain optimal growth. There are several types of feed, diets and norms for feeding sheep at home.

Read how to properly build a sheep house.

Hay

Balanced should be feeding animals. This takes into account what sheep eat, depending on the season, age category, and the purpose of their rearing. The diet of sheep is almost entirely composed of plant foods, since these animals are herbivores. As a rule, the herd spends most of the time grazing in the countryside and eats pasture, during which period the animals practically do not need additional feed additives.

It is necessary to include in the diet a lot of different products for complete fattening and development of young individuals, increasing the number of livestock. This is done at different times of the year, so the amount of complementary foods will be different. For example, with the advent of winter, the basis of the diet will be hay, and in the summer - greens.

If we compare the benefits of mowed grass, it is worth noting three species that contain even in dry form in their composition many vitamins and nutrients:

  • clover;
  • alfalfa;
  • peas.

If stall maintenance is provided, then hay is one of the most basic products. The daily norm for one adult is from 2 to 4 kg, so in the summer you need to prepare the required amount of grass for haying.

Did you know? The largest number of nutrients in the herbs during flowering, so it is at this moment that you mow the grass in the hay.

Straw

Complementary feeding is the supply of complementary foods (usually grain, hay or straw) for sheep eating on pastures. In the late summer and fall, feeding often becomes a replacement feed. As a variety in the diet, straw can be used instead of hay.

At the same time, it is worth remembering that this is not the best option, because excess straw will provoke an intestinal upset in animals, since it practically has no useful substances in its composition. If straw is added to sheep in a daily diet, then its quantity per adult must not exceed 2.5 kg, and on young animals - not more than 1 kg.

In this case, the straw should be from plants such as:

  • oats;
  • legumes;
  • barley;
  • millet.

Learn how to raise sheep without walking at home.

Silage

Supplementary feeding is aimed at meeting the nutritional needs of sheep. It is especially important to prevent excessive loss of live weight during the dry feeding phase in weaners and pregnant sheep.

If sheep rearing is intended for meat production, you will have to correctly calculate the quality of the diet and the ratio of the protein supplement, which is rich in feed cereals, young grass, and legumes.

The most palatable for sheep is silage. It is used for the rapid growth of an animal. It is recommended to use corn silage with legumes and roughage. In its composition, it practically does not give up hay. About 4 kg of such supplements can be given to the animal per day.

Important! When grazing sheep in the garden, you should avoid such a plant as a lily of the valley, because it is poisonous to the animal and can even cause death.

Compound feed

Compound feeds are used most often when the animal goes to slaughter. In this form of complementary foods there is everything necessary for rapid growth and body weight gain. The proportionality of the daily dose of feed is different, depending on the age of the animal.

For example, for an adult, it will be 0.5 kg, and for a lamb - 0.4 kg. When choosing such a food, special attention should be paid to the manufacturer, since the quality of the feed will depend on this.

Vegetables: carrots, potatoes, fodder beets, gourds and fruits

The most useful and rich in vitamins, fiber, micronutrients and other nutrients complementary foods are vegetables, fruits and melons. In this case, fodder beets, potatoes and ordinary carrots are ideal.

These vegetables contain substances that help the animal resist disease and digest food well. The daily norm is 4 kg. In addition to vegetables, gourds - pumpkin and zucchini are rich in valuable composition. The daily norm for an adult is 4 kg. Of the fruits for feeding animals, ordinary apples are mainly used.

Did you know? Silo can sour. This can be prevented by reducing the substrate moisture by up to 60% by adding dry straw.

Cereal

In cereal crops (grain) there is a lot of fiber . This should be remembered during the preparation of the daily ration for the sheep. If you overdo it with such complementary foods, digestion in the animal may be impaired. Barley, oats, wheat - the main crops, the use of which is necessary.

Vitamin Supplements

It is possible to enrich the body of rams with useful substances and vitamins not only with the help of complementary foods, but also by adding synthetic vitamin supplements, for example Vitasol. Their daily rate should be correctly calculated for each individual, depending on age and gender.

Water

While keeping the sheep, the most important thing is their watering. Without sufficient water, the animal will simply fall ill and ultimately bring no benefit. Its quantity should always be sufficient. One individual per day can drink up to 10 liters of water.

Check out the special features of lamb feeding.

Grazing: green feed

Green grass, weed, thorns, shoots that are eaten by sheep - this is the most ideal and budget option for keeping sheep. Pastures should be selected correctly, because throughout the year the grass properties are not the same.

For example, it is better to drive the flock to elevated areas because, if you choose a lowland, it is not suitable for grazing due to swampiness.

You can sow for green food oats, rye, corn, legumes or winter wheat. Such juicy food will certainly appeal to animals. Twigs, young pagons and even trees are just perfect for animals.

Estimated daily diet

The composition of the daily diet is very difficult, because it depends on the number of livestock, its features and composition. For each individual, you need to individually consider the amount of water, animal feed and other components of the diet. In winter, spring, summer and autumn, all of the above feeds are included in cattle food.

Important! Trace elements such as selenium, iodine, copper and cobalt must be included in the diet of animals.

Their number will be different in different seasons and depending on the individual. If we consider in more detail the approximate calculation of complementary foods for a day, then for a breeding ram, lambing sheep and sheep after lambing, it will look something like this.

Daily ration data in the table:

Tribal ramSwan sheepSheep after lambing
Concentrates - 300 gConcentrates - 600 gConcentrates - 600 g
Grass and greens - 85% of the daily dietGrass and greens - 85%Grass and greens - 85%
Hay - 2 kgHigh-quality hay - 0.5 kgHay - 1.5 kg
Juicy feed - 3 kgJuicy feed - 3 kgJuicy feed - 3 kg

All three species of animals need special care, since an incorrectly formed supplementary feeding will adversely affect the productivity of the breeding sheep, as well as the sheep during lamb bearing and after lambing during lactation. As for lambs, young animals and individuals who are fed for meat, their diet will also be different.

An important role is played by the lambs milking. Often, feeding is done from bottles. The number of feeding lambs up to 2 weeks old 5 times a day, and young animals is reduced to 3 times a day. Individuals fattened for meat must be fed tightly and fully.

The table shows an example of daily allowance for home growing:

LambsYoung growthFattening for meat
Oat Concentrate - 50 gOat Concentrate - 100 gOat Concentrate - 300 g
Vegetables —0.5 kgVegetables - 0.7 kgVegetables - 1 kg g
Salt - 4 gSalt - 8 gSalt - 8 g
Hay - 0.5 kgHay - 0.7 kgHay - 0.8 kg

Organization of intensive fattening of sheep

Sheep fattening must be properly planned. During the dry phase, pasture quality does not provide an accurate picture of how animals will gain weight. The only practical way to achieve the goal of producing sheep through supplementary feeding is to regularly monitor the weight of the animals to determine if complementary feeding is sufficient.

Did you know? In order for the sheep to gain weight, it is necessary to immobilize it as much as possible, that is, limit movement on the corral.

In the pasture

During the keeping of sheep on pastures, it is also necessary to feed them, especially during the period when grassiness decreases. Do not forget about the constant availability of water.

It is necessary to introduce into the diet a feed with a high coefficient of protein content, which is in peas, barley and corn, with its help the animal will quickly gain weight. Vegetables, shoots and branches of trees are also worth giving constantly.

In the stall

If winter has come, then the cattle will be constantly in the pen and kept in a stall. Feeding in such conditions is even easier than in pastures.

Check out

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It is necessary to correctly distribute what and when to give, so that the animal receives the maximum benefit.

Combined feed, silage and other feed composition options can be given in the following set and in the sequence:

  • hay in the morning;
  • hay, concentrates and plentiful watering during the afternoon;
  • hay in combination with succulent food at 4 p.m.
  • hay with concentrate in the evening.

Observing the correct diet and its proportionality, you can prepare an adult for slaughter in 5 days, adding a good weight gain to the bulk.

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