Feeding Practices in Sheep

Feeding Practices for Lactating Ewes

Succulent pasture furnishes adequate energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals for ewes and lambs; no added grain is necessary. When pasture is not being used (confinement rearing), ewes should be fed one of the rations or a similar ration outlined for pregnant ewes in the table Rations for Pregnant Ewes up to 6 Weeks Before Lambing, and 450–675 g (1–1.5 pounds) of one of the grain mixtures or a similar mixture in the table Grain Mixture for Pregnant Ewes.

Ewes should have access to a mixture of trace mineralized salt and dicalcium phosphate. Ewes with twin or triplet lambs should be separated from those with single lambs and fed more concentrates (grain) and/or better-quality forages to meet the increased nutritional requirement. Ewes nursing twin lambs produce 20–40% more milk than those with singles.

Under confinement rearing or accelerated lambing, lambs may be weaned as early as 2 months old. The ewe’s milk production declines rapidly after this period, and creep feed, a feed offered to young lambs to supplement the ewe's milk supply and encourage rumen development and eventual transition to solid feed, is more efficiently converted into weight gains when fed to lambs than to the ewe.

Feeding Practices for Rearing Lambs on Milk Replacer

Orphaned lambs, extras, triplets, or those from poor-milking ewes can be raised on milk replacers to improve productivity. Such lambs should receive 10–20% of their body weight in colostrum. If ewe colostrum is unavailable, a frozen, pooled supply from several cows or a commercially available colostrum replacer can be used. Milk replacers designed specifically for lambs are available and contain approximately 30% fat, 25% protein, and a high level of antimicrobial. If lambs were born in an area known to be deficient in certain vitamins and minerals, or if the ewe was not properly supplemented during pregnancy, injecting orphaned lambs with vitamins A, D, and E and selenium may be advisable.

In hand-rearing systems, ewe milk replacers are preferable; however, good quality milk replacers designed for calves may be fed to lambs. However, feeding calf milk replacer to lambs may lead to diarrhea, given the higher lactose content in cow milk than in sheep milk. When mixing milk replacers, care should be taken to ensure that the powder and water are properly mixed into a suspension. Feeding small quantities numerous times per day helps decrease the incidence of bloat and/or diarrhea. Milk replacers should be fed at 10–20% of the lamb’s body weight, divided into 4–6 feedings/day during the first week of life. The number of feedings can be decreased over time to twice a day by 3–4 weeks old.

Multiple-nipple pails or containers can be used to offer ad lib milk consumption. Cold milk replacer can be used by older lambs who nurse more often. By 9–10 days old, lambs should be given water in addition to milk if a creep ration is offered. Lambs can be weaned abruptly at 4–5 weeks old if consumption of creep feed and water intake is at a reasonable level and they are an adequate size.

Feeding Practices for Finishing Feeder Lambs

Lambs should be preconditioned (started on feed, vaccinated, dewormed, and under some conditions, sheared) before they leave the producer’s property. If preconditioning is not done, lambs should be rested for several days and fed dry, average-quality hay after arrival at the feedlot. See the table Recommended Formulas for Finishing Lambs.

There is no single best method or diet for finishing lambs. They can be finished on good to excellent quality forage (alfalfa, wheat) with no supplemental grain. They can be started on pasture or crop residue and moved to grain feeding systems as the forage is used up. When fed in a dry lot, lambs are usually allowed free access to feedstuffs. These diets may be pelleted, ground and mixed; a mixture of ground forage (alfalfa) pellets and grain; and/or high-concentrate pellets.

Self-feeding usually results in maximal feed intake and gain, with decreased labor costs. Hand-feeding can be mechanized with an auger system or self-unloading wagon. It involves feeding at regular intervals so that the lambs consume all the feed before more feed is offered. Feed consumption and gain can be controlled. When used, corn silage should be hand-fed to minimize spoilage.

Producers who feed lambs year-round, or feed heavy lambs, usually prefer to place the lambs on full feed as soon as possible, typically 10–14 days after weaning or 10–14 days after arrival to the feedlot. Lambs can be started safely on self-fed, ground, or pelleted diets containing 60–70% hay. Within 2 weeks, the hay can be decreased to 30–40% when the ration is not pelleted. Other roughages, such as cottonseed hulls or silage, can be similarly used.

Corn, sorghum, or alfalfa silage can replace approximately half the hay with hand-feeding; however, finish and yield will be decreased to some extent. See the table Pattern for Range Supplements for Sheep for rations that can be used in self-feeding. Corn, barley, milo (grain sorghum), wheat, or a mixture of these is used; 0.5% salt and 0.5% bone meal or equivalent should be added to grain.

Pelleting rations for finishing lambs is beneficial when low-grade roughages or high-roughage rations are used. Caution should be used when feeding large amounts of wheat; lambs not adapted to it are more apt to develop acute indigestion than if fed grains such as corn, sorghum, or barley.

Mineral supplements, including salt, should be offered separately whether or not they are included in the grain mixture.

Deficiencies of Range Forages for Feeding Range Sheep

Deficiencies most apt to occur among range forages are associated with dietary protein, energy, salt, and phosphorus. These deficiencies are more prevalent as the forages approach maturity or are dormant. Such diet-related problems may appear singly but are more common in combination.

Range sheep often travel long distances and are exposed to cold weather, resulting in higher energy requirements. Protein supplements (soybean or cottonseed meal, alfalfa pellets, etc) increase digestibility and use of poor-quality forages. When possible, the inclusion of a phosphorus supplement (eg, dicalcium phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, defluorinated rock phosphate) to a salt or trace mineral salt mixture may greatly improve productivity.

Most ranges used for winter grazing are considered adequate in carotene (a vitamin A precursor) because many species of browse furnish as much carotene as sun-cured alfalfa hay. However, when sheep are required to graze dry grass ranges for > 6 months without intermittent periods of green forages, vitamin A supplements are recommended. The addition of 45–50 IU of vitamin A/kg/day improves productivity in cases of extended consumption (> 2 months) of dry or weathered forages.

Mineral Mixtures for Feeding Range Sheep

On the range, portable mineral boxes are convenient for sheep. One of these mineral mixtures should be fed free choice. A salt and dicalcium phosphate or phosphorus supplement (eg, defluorinated rock phosphate) can be used if there are no iodine or trace-mineral deficiencies. Iodized salt is substituted for regular salt when an iodine deficiency exists, and trace mineralized salt is substituted if deficiencies of trace minerals are present.

Under winter range conditions, the amount of phosphorus supplement that should be added to range pellets varies with the type of range forage available, the rate of feeding, and the ingredients in the pellets. It is suggested that 36%, 24%, and 12% protein pellets contain 1.5%, 1%, and 0.5% phosphorus, respectively. When supplemental protein is fed, 36% protein pellets should be offered at a rate of 115 g (0.25 pounds) per head daily, 24% protein pellets at 150–225 g (0.33–0.5 pounds), and 12% protein pellets at 90–225 g (0.2–0.5 pounds), together with alfalfa or clover hay. Care should be taken when adding supplemental phosphorus and magnesium to the diet of rams or wethers, because supplementation with these minerals is associated with urolithiasis.