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New Member
 
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Last Login: Today @ 4:08:03 PM
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| I just read in the Storey Guide to Raising Sheep (or a similar reference book) that sheep should be fed an hour before dark - no later. I'd never heard this before and wonder why it is? Anybody know why? Does anyone know of any other optimum times for the evening feeding? Does is vary by species? I've always kept the horses close to a 12 hour schedule, with the evening feeing being at 8 or 9 pm so that I could also do a 'night check' before settling into my PJs. What time do you feed in the evening and why?
Muddy Run Farm -- clean floors are highly overrated
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Starting Member
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Last Login: 10/28/2009 6:31:47 AM
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| I was feeding my goats and chickens and calfs at the same time in the morning and at night no matter if its day light saveing time or not. They be by the barn at each time when they know wat time to eat so i know that I got them all. But it was starting to cost me to much so I only feed them in the morning and it seems like they eat more of the weeds and bugs now then what they was and they still come up here by the barn to sleep.
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Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/28/2009 6:31:47 AM
Posts: 29,
Visits: 14
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| I was feeding mine in the morning and in the evening no matter if it was day light saveing or not. I just feed them same times pretty much 12 hours. They was at the barn in the morning and at night but now they only eat once and thats in the morning and they still come up here at night time to sleep. But its not sheep I got goats calfs and chickens.
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Senior Member
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I have noticed that my sheep graze the most aggressively about an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset. My sheep literally free range (without so much as a fence) in an upper pasture, but at night I bring them down to a lower pasture to reduce the probability of coyote predation. I try to do this just after sun-up and just before dark so that the sheep get that aggressive grazing time in.
But in the winter...I don't worry about it much. If I had a job that interfered with that schedule, I wouldn't worry about it much. And I only bring them down from the upper pasture at those times do it because its easy enough to do. If it was a pain, I would not worry about any.
In fact its not a bad idea to reduce a sheeps feeding time to once per day and do it in the morning. They have done studies that sheep will typically lamb out during daylight hours if they are fed only in the morning. Knowing that, I guess a sheep farmer could use that info to manipulate when the lambings occur, but for this sheep farmer who typically has winter lambings...I feel its better for the sheep to have two meals per day...one being right before nightfall so that their stomachs are filled with feed and their rumens are burning calories keeping the sheep warm all night long.
Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
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Average Member
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Last Login: Today @ 6:17:56 PM
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| Our chickens get feed at 6 even in the morning because they are the first and farthest to feed. Then Mangus (rabbit) is next and then the dog and cat as I go back in the house. In the afternoon the chickens get feed again right after I change my clothes. The Mangus gets a look over, if his food bowl is empty he gets more. His water gets changed out every day. The the dog and cat get a small scoop after I turn the lights off in the chicken coop around 8:00 P.M. I just bought a sack of range cubs so the young bulls will get a bucket after I come home just to get them use to coming up when the jeep shows up. Cattle only get feed when they are being weaned or when we need to move thme into the lot for one reason or the other.
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