Sheep 101 - What Sheep Eat


Lambs grazing	More lambs grazing
Grass, Grass, and More Grass Mostly, sheep eat grass, clover, weeds, and other pasture plants. Sheep especially love to eat "weeds." In fact, weeds are their first choice of food in a pasture. Weeds or "forbs" can be very nutritious and tasty! Sheep prefer plants that are young and tender and will graze close to the ground. Sheep will graze for an average of seven hours per day, mostly in the hours around dawn and in the late afternoon, near sunset.
Barbados Blackbelly lambs Trinidad	Katahdin ewes Tobago
Different Worlds Sheep in different parts of the world graze different kinds of plants. Tropical forages are usually not as nutritious as those that grow in temperate climates. Protein is usually the most limiting nutrient. Sometimes pasture plants are cut, chopped, and brought to the sheep. Fresh forage is called green chop. This "cut and carry" system of feeding is common in developing countries.
Flock in West Texas	Merino Rams in Kazakhstan
How much grazing land do sheep need? The amount of grazing land that it takes to feed a sheep depends upon the quality of the land (soil), the amount of rainfall that it receives, and the management of the pasture. In dry climates, an acre (or hectare) of pasture or rangeland cannot feed as many sheep, and sheep usually have to travel greater distances for food and water. Reproductive rates and lamb growth rates are usually not as high as those of sheep raised in high-rainfall areas with more plentiful forage. Wool production is usually of greater importance in arid environments, since it takes less nutrients to grow fiber than to raise lambs or produce milk. A farmer may be able to graze ten sheep on one acre of improved pasture in Maryland, whereas one sheep could need ten acres of native range in West Texas.
Ewes being in confinement	Ewes being fed outside
When the grass runs out . . . When fresh forage is not available, sheep are usually fed stored feed: hay or silage. Hay is grass that has been mowed (cut) and cured (dried) for use as livestock feed (fodder). Silage (short for "ensilage") or haylage is green forage that has been fermented and stored in a silo or other system that keeps air out.

Grain Provides Extra Energy Grain is often fed to sheep with higher nutritional needs, such pregnant ewes, ewes nursing two or more lambs, and growing lambs. Grain is the seed part of cereal crops such as corn, wheat, barley, and oats. A protein source, such as soybean or cottonseed meal is usually added to the grain ration, along with vitamins and minerals to make a 100% nutritionally balanced ration. Sheep love the taste of grain and can eat too much and get sick, unless the consumption of grain is regulated. Producers in many parts of the world cannot afford to feed much grain. On the other hand, in some locations, grain is a more economical source of nutrients than forage.

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. . New Words . .

Forage - animal food for browsing or grazing.

Grass - narrow-leaved green herbage.

Clover - a plant of the genus Trifolium; small plant with three round leaves on each stem.

Weeds - any plant that crowds out cultivated plants.

Forbs - perennial herbs with broader leaves than grasses.

Green Chop - freshly cut forage fed to livestock.

Hay - grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.

Silage - fodder (livestock feed) prepared by storing and fermenting green forage plants in a silo.

Grain - the seed part of cereal crops such as corn, wheat, barley, and oats.

Rangeland - land on which the natural vegetation is predominantly native grasses, grasslike plants, forbs, or shrubs valuable for forage.

Hectare - unit of area equal to 10,000 square meters. Equivalent to 2.471 acres.

What do sheep eat?

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