Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Feeding Behavior
Sheep prefer to eat during daylight hours. They begin about dawn, and when
given free choice, as on a pasture, they eat on and off throughout the day
until dusk. They eat at night only if they have no choice, and then won't eat
as much.
Because sheep must have time during the day to rest and chew cud, the
feed must have suffi cient nutrients to meet all the sheep's needs during the
day. If pregnant ewes are fed poor-quality hay in winter, when there are fewer
hours of daylight, their nutritional needs will not be met and they will require
supplementation with grain.
Sheep are gregarious and eat more and better when they are in a group
than when they are alone. Thus, if you're just starting out, buy two or three
lambs instead of one. They like to eat as a group but won't mix with other
fl ocks very well once a bond has developed in the existing fl ock. Place two
fl ocks together, and they'll each stake out a “home territory,” separate from
each other, even if they're in the same pasture.
Sheep avoid grazing near their own feces but don't seem to mind grazing
around the feces of other species. They like higher ground better than lower
ground and do well grazing with other species, such as cattle, goats, horses,
and even pastured poultry. In fact, there is tremendous benefi t from grazing
several species together:
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Since they don't share the same internal parasites, multispecies grazing
reduces parasites in all species by breaking up parasite cycles.
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There are fewer predation problems when sheep are grazed with cows,
horses, or llamas.
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Since different species eat slightly different amounts and varieties of the
available feed, the land can carry more animals by weight of multiple
species than it can of a single species; in university research, it's been
found that meat production per species is increased by up to 125 per-
cent (for example, lambs and calves grow quicker) when several species
are grazed together.
Feed Changes
A sheep's stomach can adjust to a great variety of feed, provided that changes
are made gradually. A sudden change of ration, such as sudden access to excess
food, can cause death. Rumen fl ora can adapt to the diet, but they cannot
adapt quickly.
