WHAT DO 25 SHEEP EAT IN A DAY and $$ how much does it cost??

all right it is the shepherd is at harmony farms here i thought today would be the perfect day to talk about what 25 sheep eat in a day [Music] so we have never had well at least in the time that i've been managing them i've had the sheep and confinement situation to where we're like feeding them everything that they're eating they're usually on pasture grazing a hundred percent aside from a mineral block or a protein block that we'll put out for them and that for us last year lasted from march all the way through about the end or middle of january in january we started doing some hay supplementation where we would move them to new paddocks and put the hay out free choice so they would be doing about half hay and half grazing then once this winter storm hit we were feeding them a hundred percent input food which is hay grain pellet supplementation and so on and so forth so i'm going to show you what we are feeding the sheep in confinement for a day um we are on a pasture-based system pretty much 100 once the spring comes they are just eating grass and we leave the mineral block out free choice this is my first overwintering strategy plan it might be overkill you know protein block plus mineral block plus all the other supplementation but being my first time i'm like i'd rather be safe than sorry and have no regrets you know i'd hate to get through my first winter have deficient animals and be feeling it for a really long time it's all going on to my spreadsheet my farmer spreadsheet at the end of winter i'm going to be evaluating what my costs were i'm going to be continuing to do my research and strategize re-strategize economize all that stuff but i think one of the biggest deals is just keeping a record of it all and that's what i'm doing i'm keeping a record of absolutely every bag of pellets absolutely every bay of bale of hay that we are feeding so that i know exactly what my costs are at the end of winter exactly what i fed literally every day through this stretch of time and i think that's going to help me to hone and refine in the coming years so that is my plan and that is what i'm doing alright so i am talking about what my 25 sheep eat in one day in confinement like i said we are on an entirely pasture-based system we are in east texas so they graze they eat grass it's free just put out a little bit of a protein or mineral block for a majority of the year but with winter storm coming through texas we are in a confinement situation for just a week while we wait it out so i am giving you what my sheep eat in a day so for context we have 25 use two lambs born off season and a ram probably about half to three quarters of my use are bred so they are with lamb and their nutritional needs are kind of higher according to that so with all that context we feed two square bales of hay a 25 pound bucket of what is right now a pellet crimped oat mix i'm pretty much just using the crimped oats because we had two bags of it on hand so i'm just using it because it's what we had on hand i'm gonna be feeding all pellets here soon once we run out of those so it's gonna be 20 to 25 pounds of pellets in addition to the two bales of hay we keep a mineral block out free choice and i'm also putting out an 18 protein block as well they can eat on this free choice it's not a standard ration and typically um this is the this is the mineral block and this lasts them you know anywhere from one to four weeks just depends on what season it is they'll just go through it as fast as they need it essentially and what is under here is a protein block and it is 18 protein with some other mixture in it again same thing they'll eat it kind of as they need it free choice it'll last anywhere from three days to ten days they go through this one a little bit faster in addition to all of this we are bucketing down about 10 to 15 gallons of water every day because our pipes are frozen right now so that's about what sheep eat in a day my sheep anyways please do your own research before copying and pasting any of this information just sharing what i do on a day today to keep my sheep fed in confinement during this super winter storm for texas so what does all of this cost every single day so two bales of hay at eight dollars a piece that is around sixteen dollars plus half a bag of pellets at thirteen dollars that is an extra six dollars and fifty cents bringing us up to twenty to fifty having to do some fast math here hope i'm right 22.50 then our protein and mineral block i would say those are about three dollars a day because they don't eat a whole one in a day we're at 25.50 per day for 25 views a ram and two lambs now the lambs don't actually eat anything so that's why i didn't really count them in the cost but that's what it costs around 26 for 26 sheep in a 100 confinement fed situation for winter the water doesn't cost anything except for all the trouble that we are going to bucket it down right now and that's pretty much it i hope that helps you and that actually helps me too as now i realize we're at about a dollar per sheep per day overwintering if we are providing 100 of their nutritional requirements and i will be really glad when the grass starts to grow again because this is way more expensive than just letting them eat grass [Music] if you guys want a full list with close-up pictures of the stuff that we're feeding our sheep um just sort of to have as a reference in case there are any absolute beginners out there click on the link down below and i will email you a complete list with pretty detailed pictures in case you want to go to your local store tractor supply whatever and pick up the same things but like i said make sure to do your own research based on your specific context and so forth this list might just provide some insights and maybe a good starting place for anyone who is new and chic [Music] i was scared for my life in there what a way to go you just see that you know in the headlines she died feeding sheep [Music] [Applause] [Music] the puppies are absolutely obsessed with this this microphone i've got on my camera so every time i set it down they attack it and just had a time it's got dog mouth stuff all over it right now you notice any compromise and sound quality it's because they ripped the microphone off my camera [Music] so the sears are doing just fine the only obstacle we had to overcome was that the pond is their main primary water source and it was frozen over so what we did was we just busted up that surface ice and then we're feeding the protein supplement right here along the bank so that they kind of are aware of where that access point is but they're doing good winnie winnie's doing good too he's got the thickest coat of everybody here so i think i think he's gonna survive he's been out with the steers kind of got attitude problems but all right we are in day number five in the corral did not expect to be in there this long but it keeps snowing so we are reloading it with some fresh bedding we have that initial ultra thick pile needs a little refresh so we're just going to pile more on top of it and then once all of this melts and is done and they're back out to pasture we're going to lord willing scoop it out and apply it to our pasture as fertilization i heard somebody say that a barn will never be smelly as long as there's plenty of bedding in it so if anyone could weigh in on whether that's true or not please leave it in the comments below because i am curious [Music] [Music] so that wasn't bad that whole betting refresh took about 37 minutes total there were two guys helping me scoop and then i was spreading inside of the barn so that total took about 37 minutes so i guess you could triple it if i was doing it by myself an hour [Music] [Applause] that's how country boy that's how country boy back there feels about refilling the bedding but no they look so comfortable in here we've got a big thick cushy layer of hay going on i'm not sure how long we're going to stay here probably at least two or three more days before the pasture is thawed you know there's no use putting them back out on it and snow did you just hit me with another snowball anyways at least two to three more days but they are situated and thick thick bedding i'm excited to use this as pasture fertilization once it's all said and done up here so did you know i'm starting a work camp for teens like you keep them off the street yeah that's what this is this is the shepherdess channel but also a work camp for for teens to keep them off the street they're trying to swim but then pond is frozen over you did a good job making that nest you uh you've always cared about animals a lot you have to grace but you're better than me yeah that's why that's why we're a farm partner so that you can inject some compassion into my rogue capitalism and i can inject maybe some economy into your compassion i do lack a little bit of that business mind you know yes like we quit so we're just together so right now you're making a nest for the ducks who don't know what to do with themselves they've probably never seen the ice on the pond they're trying to swim or something i don't know okay good work so we have all these birds it's just so many of them are just covering the ground and we've got a little bit of a feeder up by the house and they're just all over i'm guessing they're just hungry because they're covering the ground and actually some of our cats have gotten a couple of them but it's really interesting i guess this was the south that they traveled to for the north and it just they didn't expect to not be able to find food this week so [Music] all right that is it for what 25 sheep eat in a day thank you guys for watching if you would like to support this channel please visit patreon.com forward slash the shepherdess it is my mission honestly with this channel to kind of inspire a next generation of young farmers and i'm just doing it by being honest about my journey what i'm doing how i'm doing it so if you have caught that vision please consider heading to patreon.com forward slash the shepherdess to become a monthly supporter of this channel i'm going to continue to prioritize bringing you guys value through free worksheets showing you the ins and outs of day to day and just the normal stuff

Channel: the Shepherdess

Views: 5,898

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: What 25 Farm Animals Eat in a Day, video, sharing, camera phone, video phone, free, upload, sheep, how i feed my sheep, what i feed my sheep, feed, nutrition, sheep rations, sheep feed, lamb feed, lamb rations, finishing lamb rations, harmony farms, harmony farms dorpers, dorper sheep, what do sheep eat?, homesteading, homestead, sheep farming, winter on a small farm, dorpers, regenerative farming, small farm, small farm for profit, how to feed sheep, the Shepherdess, small-scale, farm

Id: xqK5uANQU4k

Length: 15min 26sec (926 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 19 2021