----- Original Message -----
From: "Oogie McGuire" <oogiem@desertweyr.com>
To: <graze-l@witt.ac.nz>
Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2004 8:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Graze-l] When to start?
> >They did pick up enough of the ARG
> >that we kept from last fall to add some fiber to the ration.
>
> What's ARG?
*****ARG is Annual Rye Grass. We manage it to reseed itself.
>
> >By the 2nd
> >rotation the ARG and Ladino Clover was providing protein and we switched
to
> >a Brome hay.
>
> hmmm, we can buy alfalfa hay, grass hay or mixed which usually
> includes some purple clover. I can't pick and choose types of
> grasses. But sheep are more tolerant of wider protein swings than
> cattle are.
>
> >If the hay is good and you
> >don't give them more than they will clean up in one day, you can feed
hay
> >without having to use a polywire.
>
> Interesting, our biggest management change this year was figuring out
> how to feed 3 days worth of hay at a time. We found that with daily
> feeding the sheep got obnoxious, baaing any time anyone came out the
> door. Sheep are picky, and refuse to eat stems unless forced too. But
> by feeding every 2-3 days, they eat more of the sticks and are not
> baaing all the time. Since our winter corrals are about 70 feet from
> the house excess baaing can be irritating. <G>
*****Sheep can be irritating. Ours will follow me for miles if I ever feed
them or if I am carrying a feed sack, or a bucket, or if I talk to them.
They are eternal optimists. But I don't know anything about feeding hay to
sheep. Ours don't get any.
>
> I really want to try some forage turnips plus apple pomace as a fall
> feed. We have the option of getting lots of apple and pear pomace
> from cider making during the fall and into winter and as best I can
> figure, that would balance the high protein turnips well for a
> flushing ration during October and November. But the only area we can
> till easily to plant turnips is not fenced predator safe yet. It's on
> the list to do, maybe even this summer but isn't there yet so for now
> it's not a sheep option at all.
******Do you use a Dog? Our sheep don't live at the home farm. We have a
Great Pyearnese that lives with them.
*****Clay McQuiddy MO Ozarks
> --
> Oogie McGuire - oogiem@desertweyr.com
> Weyr Associates - Multimedia and Web Authoring Services & Consulting
> Desert Weyr - CMK Arabian horses and Black Welsh Mountain Sheep
> http://www.desertweyr.com/
> Paonia, CO USA
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