# How much hay?



## Zimobog (Aug 31, 2013)

Ok, noob question. I have two Icelandic ewes less than 1 year old. And I have two ND goats. I have a hay feeder I bult roughly 6 foot long that holds about six pounds of hay at a time (guess). Hay loads the entire bed of the polaris 6x6 i move it in.

The animals seem to eat constantly. Am I over-feeding them? They are eating one load a day. Maybe they are just fatting themselves up for winter :thumb:.

This is Timothy hay, btw.


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## Carol K (May 10, 2002)

estimate their weight and then use the 3-4% rule. 3% is a maintenance ration. 
So if you sheep weighed 100 Lbs you would feed at least 3 Lbs of hay per sheep per day. Obviously much depends on hay quality, so use some judgement and increase where needed. You could split the amount into two feeds per day. Remember pregnant or feeding lambs or cold will all require a little more hay.

Carol K


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## Zimobog (Aug 31, 2013)

Thanks, Carol. That is good information.


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## birchtreefarm (Jul 22, 2007)

Zimobog said:


> Ok, noob question. I have two Icelandic ewes less than 1 year old. And I have two ND goats. I have a hay feeder I bult roughly 6 foot long that holds about six pounds of hay at a time (guess). Hay loads the entire bed of the polaris 6x6 i move it in.
> 
> The animals seem to eat constantly. Am I over-feeding them? They are eating one load a day. Maybe they are just fatting themselves up for winter :thumb:.
> 
> This is Timothy hay, btw.


You must have a typo there. You don't mean six pounds of hay- maybe 60? 

Is the timothy hay first or second cutting? Is it very stemmy? I found with more stemmy timothy that most of it went to waste (which you can tell by how much they are pulling out of the feeder and dropping and trampling underneath them). They usually won't eat the tough stems, and if the hay is stemmy, they aren't getting as much as you think they are.

It could also just not have enough protein for their needs. As they are less than a year old they are still growing. You can have the hay tested fairly cheaply to find out what the protein and other nutrient levels are and the relative feed value.


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## sgsnoco (Oct 12, 2012)

From what I understand about the breed, Icelandics are bred to eat 1lb/day for 180 days per year, as grazing longer was not possible in Iceland. They were expected to forage a little, but the hay was expected to provide effectively all the nutrition 180 days per year. 

So in an environment less harsh 1-2lbs/day of hay per ewe is probably a decent range. Our ewes aren't on hay yet and are older, we bought (orchard) hay that would fit that range for them. It is cut from the grass they pastured on before we bought them (same region and weather).


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## birchtreefarm (Jul 22, 2007)

sgsnoco said:


> From what I understand about the breed, Icelandics are bred to eat 1lb/day for 180 days per year, as grazing longer was not possible in Iceland. They were expected to forage a little, but the hay was expected to provide effectively all the nutrition 180 days per year.


NO. NO NO NO. And NO. I don't know where this stuff comes from. I too have heard a version of this myth, though it came in the form of "Icelandic farmers only need 2 bales of hay per sheep for the entire winter!" :yuck:

Icelandic sheep have NOT been bred to only eat 1lb of hay a day. If they only weighed 50lbs that *might* be appropriate for a non-pregnant, non-lactating, non-growing animal, because that would equal 2% of a 50lb sheep's bodyweight. But it better be darn good hay. Nowadays Icelanders are breeding for more of a meat carcass. That is their main focus and they have an entire facility dedicated to finding and collecting semen from the best rams with the best carcass traits (determined by ultrasound) that come from and throw good growing lambs and prolific milky mothers. You aren't going to support a good meat carcass or milk production on 1lb of hay a day.

The average Icelandic ewe weighs 130-150 lbs. The average ram can get up to 200lbs. Rams, for most of the year, can get by on average forage and hay. But it's nice to give them some good hay for extra nutrition during breeding season in the fall. And they still need at least 2-3% of their BW in forage/hay of some kind, so a 200lb ram would need a minimum of 4lbs of hay/day.



sgsnoco said:


> So in an environment less harsh 1-2lbs/day of hay per ewe is probably a decent range. Our ewes aren't on hay yet and are older, we bought (orchard) hay that would fit that range for them. It is cut from the grass they pastured on before we bought them (same region and weather).


Ewes spend 5 months of the year pregnant, and then 3 months lactating. They have to support not only themselves, but usually twin lambs. If they don't have good grazing, they will need ad lib feeding of good high protein hay, or average hay supplemented with something like alfalfa pellets/cubes, or other protein supplements. 

Otherwise, 1-2lbs of hay a day will result in emaciated ewes and stunted or dead lambs.

Do you seriously only feed your sheep 1lb of hay per day?


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## 95bravo (Mar 22, 2010)

I think you could do one pound a day if it was corn. One of my sheep books says 10 square bales per winter per sheep with no browse. I don't know what hay goes for in your area, but for me it's only 2$, so I put out a fresh bale every other day for 6-8 sheep and two mini donkeys.


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## birchtreefarm (Jul 22, 2007)

95bravo said:


> I think you could do one pound a day if it was corn. One of my sheep books says 10 square bales per winter per sheep with no browse. I don't know what hay goes for in your area, but for me it's only 2$, so I put out a fresh bale every other day for 6-8 sheep and two mini donkeys.


"Winter" around here (defined as no real grazing to be had) is about 6-7 months long. At your rate of feeding, I'd be limiting my sheep to 2lbs of hay a day, which would not work at all.

So much depends on what graze you have available and how long it lasts, what hay you have available and what the nutritional profile is. 

Last winter I was feeding one 40 lb bale of second cutting mixed grass hay, testing out at 13-14% protein, per 8-10 sheep per day. My sheep were in good shape, not fat, and had healthy appropriately-sized lambs, and I didn't need to bother with feeding any extras like pellets or grain. 

Best advice I can give anyone is: get your hay tested, and use a ration calculator like this one:
http://www.msusheepration.montana.edu

to get a good idea of what you will need to feed your animals. 

Then look at and feel and listen to your animals and they will tell you if they are OK.


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## sgsnoco (Oct 12, 2012)

I am new to the breed, and perhaps I have misunderstood the information from icelandicsheep.com that they were expected to eat the available hay and forage as the weather permitted. The hay we got we got with an expectation that we could get more if it was inadequate. It is a starting point. It's difficult to find hard numbers for the breed. 

Perhaps the 1lb/day is simply to illustrate that they could be turned out often enough in winter to not need much hay and I misinterpreted the nature of the information. I have really struggled to find out what hay requirements are precisely for the breed and haven't found any more solid number, so I took it as the lowest possible entry point from which we could ramp up if they were just ripping through it in a few weeks.


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## birchtreefarm (Jul 22, 2007)

sgsnoco said:


> I am new to the breed, and perhaps I have misunderstood the information from icelandicsheep.com that they were expected to eat the available hay and forage as the weather permitted. The hay we got we got with an expectation that we could get more if it was inadequate. It is a starting point. It's difficult to find hard numbers for the breed.
> 
> Perhaps the 1lb/day is simply to illustrate that they could be turned out often enough in winter to not need much hay and I misinterpreted the nature of the information. I have really struggled to find out what hay requirements are precisely for the breed and haven't found any more solid number, so I took it as the lowest possible entry point from which we could ramp up if they were just ripping through it in a few weeks.


In Iceland these days they pretty much spend all winter indoors, in large barns with slatted floors. They may go out in good weather, but I think they rely on hay for most of their winter diet. Expect to need about 3% of their body weight in good quality hay/day. This is really no different than any other sheep. If it gets really cold where you are, or if they are sheared before winter as they often are, they may need more until they regrow their fleece. They will tell you. Believe me.  Mine can forecast the weather I think. When we are expecting a cold snap, or if the weather is very raw/wet, they bellow at me to hurry up with that hay, hay wench!

I'm afraid that somewhere along the line Icelandics got a reputation for being able to survive on coarse hay or forage, and little of it. I think it's partly due to the word "hardy" being thrown around a lot with regard to this breed. That "two bales of sheep/winter" thing is an example of this. Iceland actually has pretty good grazing, and highly mineralized soils. Sure, back when the Vikings brought the sheep to Iceland, it was definitely survival of the fittest through the winters, and they are amazing in their ability to survive adverse conditions (like being buried in a snowdrift for a month or two and coming out alive), but, that doesn't mean that a starvation diet is the ideal way to keep them.

Icelandics need (like other sheep), decent hay, minerals (including additional copper and in a lot of the US, selenium), and when less than average hay is available, they can benefit being supplemented with something like alfalfa pellets/cubes or protein pellets.

If you are breeding, your ewes in late pregnancy and early lactation can use the best quality hay you can get, or alfalfa pellets/sheep pellets etc. Don't overdo the high sugar/carb grains though. Corn will just make them fat.


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## 95bravo (Mar 22, 2010)

We have blessed with tons of rain this year, so my pastures look like a jungle. A lot of places the grass is taller than the sheep so expect they will eat a lot of standing forage this winter. I guess I could be going about it all wrong. I don't weigh anything, I just make sure there is all ways fresh dry hay available. This year expect to have lots of sweet potatoes to give out as winter treats.


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## birchtreefarm (Jul 22, 2007)

95bravo said:


> We have blessed with tons of rain this year, so my pastures look like a jungle. A lot of places the grass is taller than the sheep so expect they will eat a lot of standing forage this winter. I guess I could be going about it all wrong. I don't weigh anything, I just make sure there is all ways fresh dry hay available. This year expect to have lots of sweet potatoes to give out as winter treats.


Sounds yummy!

If your sheep are not constantly complaining at you, that's usually a good sign that they are OK. ;-) And if they have hay always available, they are usually pretty darn happy!


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