Sheep 101 - What Else Sheep Eat

A Healthy Start For the first several weeks of life, all a lamb needs for nourishment is its mother's milk. The first milk that a ewe produces after lambing is called colostrum. Colostrum is very nutritious and contains antibodies that help the lamb fight diseases during the early part of its life. Lambs will start to nibble on solid food (hay, grass, and grain) soon after birth. By the time they are 4 to 6 weeks of age, they may be obtaining as much as 50 percent of their nutrient intake from sources other than their mother's milk. Katahdin Ewe and Lamb	Barbados Blackbelly lamb Barbados
	Orphan Lambs Lambs whose mothers die or reject them must be raised as orphans. Small numbers of orphan lambs can be hand-fed with bottle fitted with a nipple, whereas larger groups of lambs are usually fed on an automatic milk bar. Orphan lambs are usually fed reconstituted ewe's milk because it is more nutritious than cow or goat milk. Orphan lambs can be successfully weaned at 6 weeks of age, if they are eating solid food.
Extra Food to Grow On Young lambs are sometimes creep fed. Creep feeding is when supplemental feed (usually grain) is offered to nursing lambs. A creep is a barrier that keeps ewes out, but lets lambs in. A creep can also be set up on pasture to give lambs access to more nutritious pasture. Creep-fed lambs usually grow faster than lambs that receive only mother's milk. Creep feeding also helps to develop the lamb's rumen. It is especially advantageous for lambs from large litters (2 or more), whose dam's may have a limited milk supply.
Lambs Eating Creep Feed	A Creep Gate For Lambs
Growing for Market Lambs are usually "fattened" on grass or in confinement (or semi-confinement). Oftentimes, they supplemented with grain while they are grazing pasture. The meat from lambs that are raised on pasture is usually leaner and more healthful than the meat from lambs fed just grain. The meat from lambs that are fed mostly grain is usually fatter, but milder tasting and more tender than grass-fed lamb. The type of plants that the lamb eats can also affect the flavor of the meat.
Crossbred lambs grazing in Virginia	Lamb Feed lot in Virginia
No Meat and Bone Meal Although sheep are sometimes fed by-product feeds such as soybean or peanut hulls, they are NOT fed ruminant meat and bone meal. They are not fed poultry waste products.
Sheep eating citrus by-products in Jamaica

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. . New Words . .

Colostrum - the antibody-rich milk produced in the first days of lactation.

Creep Feed - feed given to young animals isolated in a creep.

Creep - a pen that is fenced so that young animals can enter but adults cannot.

Feed lot - a confined area for the controlled feeding of animals.

Fatten - to feed for slaughter. To make fleshy or plump.

By-product - material, other than the principal product, generated as a consequence of an industrial process or as a breakdown product in a living system.

Hull - the dry outer covering of a fruit, seed, or nut.

Meat and Bone Meal - the rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone. It is against the law to feed ruminant meat and bone meal to other ruminants.

What else do sheep eat?

What's Else is For Dinner?