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.
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.
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.
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.
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