Complete Guide to Successfully Feeding Sheep and Goats Year Round: The 4 Feeding Cycles

[@stevendemoss5766]

Awesome film Tim! Thanks a lot it was very helpful!

[@LinessaFarms]

Thanks, Steve. We appreciate you watching our videos and taking the time to leave a nice comment.

[@frankhoodsenyonjo3947]

Thank you as well for the information provided

[@LinessaFarms]

Our pleasure!

[@kt3300]

Another great video ! TY !

[@LinessaFarms]

Thanks, KT!

[@autoflowerfarmer3326]

Great information for a newbie as me thank you very much

[@LinessaFarms]

Thank you very much for watching our videos and thank you for taking the time to leave us a nice message! We hope you continue to support our channel and please feel free to check out our other information on facebook and our facebook group, Linessa Farm's tack box.

[@jamibarnett9266]

We are in western WA so grass is pretty well dormant now until March. Hoping to find a more resilient grass/hay combo or legume that will last a little longer into the fall.

[@LinessaFarms]

We sent you an email with specifics but will also answer publicly for the sake of our other viewers. Grass mix with clover is the simplest and effective answer. You can get fancy with alfalfa and other legumes like birds foot trefoil but they tend to add unwarranted complications to your life that really don’t pay off in the end. We like the nitrogen fixing properties of clover and the price is right. People swear up and down about the dangers of clover but a few simple steps will save you from any real bloat issues. Old stories about clover affecting fertility have been mostly debunked as well. A good grass mix will provide different stages of growth throughout the season. We advise orchard grass, perennial rye, triticale, timothy, and some sort of fescue.

[@jamibarnett9266]

@@LinessaFarms Thank you! I will keep my eyes open for the email as well!

[@aprilblack8916]

Thanks for the great video! Very informative, glad to see information on how to treat mom, not just the baby. One question: during/after weaning, is there any benefit to milking the ewe/doe some to relieve a full bag? Or would that encourage more milk production?

[@LinessaFarms]

Your assumption is correct. This would just encourage more milk production.

[@danielbrown8105]

Shouldn't ewes be able to put on some extra weight in fat stores when food is plentiful and thin out over winter or that is not how sheep work?

[@LinessaFarms]

That’s kinda how they work, depending on the situation. They are pretty complicated. It seems if they are too over conditioned, they have a lot of problems with babies to include getting pregnant and number of offspring. Some large producers will say they would rather have a slightly under conditioned ewe going into breeding and put on some weight after conception. A lot of this is a complex matter of timing.

[@PedroSantos-tb9xd]

hello, what amount of concentrated food can be given to goats in the last third of gestation before giving birth, greetings from Mexico..

[@LinessaFarms]

Hello, Pedro. A good 14-16% protein feed is often enough to maintain good body condition and health throughout the year including pregnancy. We think starting off with 1 pound per head per day of a good quality feed is a good starting point. Keep an eye on the fat cover over the ribs of your livestock and this will help you to determine if they are gaining or losing weight. Adjust your feed accordingly.

[@PedroSantos-tb9xd]

@@LinessaFarms I really appreciate the advice and support... I'm going to put it into practice...

[@bigedpha]

Question do you have a video on how you made the feeders in the background. Thanks in advance

[@LinessaFarms]

Hello, Ed. We don’t have a video on that yet. It is in the works.

[@pic-an-roll4931]

Check your mic coming through on one channel only

[@LinessaFarms]

Thank you!

[@bigedpha]

I can’t pull up your website

[@LinessaFarms]

I see that. Thanks for the heads up. I will contact our service provider. Looks like our security certificate expired on the 19th of Feb. We will get it back up and going soon.

[@LinessaFarms]

It’s fixed. Thank you.

[@gossetthshs7003]

If what you’re saying is true and you can overfeed on hay then what is the difference in having them out on pasture for their entire pregnancy and lambing? They would have unlimited forage which would be the same as unlimited hay? Yet having them out on pasture doesn’t cause more of a significant difference in the size of the lamb or health issues. Many many long time farmers keep them out on pasture the whole time.

[@LinessaFarms]

We would argue the “many many” point with you. There are a hand full of farms in the US that still raise their sheep primarily on pasture and these animals do carry their young through the winter months and birth in spring. There are a large number of variables at play in this situation. The amount of work put out to obtain enough forage to survive on pasture over the winter months is significant. This is also not considering the substantial increase in metabolism needed to maintain body temp and condition for these ewes on pasture. Many of these animals are hair sheep of small stature. If we were to take these same animals and place them in a dry lot where all they had to do was walk out of their shelter and stroll on over to the round bale, we will see a significant difference in the way they put on weight. There are some KZbinrs that talk about raising their sheep on pasture… we would encourage you to listen to what they are saying and compare it to what they are actually doing. Many of these pasture raised sheep are being fed round bales rolled out on the ground and protein lick tubs during the winter months when forage is scarce. While we encourage you not to overfeed your livestock, like most things, this is your choice. In the end, we would rather see you overfeed than starve them. Just make sure you are prepared for the consequences.

[@gossetthshs7003]

Linessa Farms, LLC The reason I ask is I live in Central Texas and many people around here raise sheep. In my area it’s just as common to see sheep in the field as it is cows. I get your point but it really didn’t answer my question. So the people that leave their sheep on pasture with plenty of forage…. Are they over feeding their sheep on forage because they can eat all they want? Most of the major sheep owners in the area have hundreds and hundreds of acres of good pasture and several hundred sheep. I don’t know what they’re supplementing with but I don’t see bales out. In your opinion how are they not being overfed? There’s so many different opinions and everybody has some scientific method of backing up what they’re saying. I think most people learn what to do through trial and error. But for people that are new this can be quite confusing to understand when major farmers are literally contradicting each other on what to do and what is best. Our pastor is not the best so we also put out a round hay bale. You keep pointing out winter so I might be missing the point of this. So this might only be how you do it in winter time and you do it different in the summertime? If that’s the case then that makes complete sense to me.

[@jeanyockle5739]

Lots of bad advice

[@LinessaFarms]

Thanks for watching our videos! Our advice doesn’t work for everyone. Hopefully you find what works best for you and your farm.