Feeding silage outside

Username John

Hello all,

Question for those who feed silage to their sheep.

I have some replacement lambs (well, that are prob close to 12 months old now), and a few ewes mixed in that are running low on grass (very low)
They are still outside.

I was planning on feeding them silage in the field - but will 50 be enough to eat a bale before it goes off?
There is prob 40 hoggets and maybe 10 ewes.

I am not sure what my other options are really, as they need to eat
but would appreciate your input on whether they will finish the bale or not...

Oh - and how long do you think a bale would last? They will be getting some beet as well, but I might cut this, if it means they will eat the bale faster to stop it going off...

What do ye think lads?

Nekarsulm

Well I have 70 in a shed and they are eating a round bale of silage every 2.5 days, approx. Its lovely dry fine stuff, and they aren't wasting any. It shouldn't go off in that length of time, easily last 4 to 5 days.Pulling it out of the feeder and tramping on it will be a bigger problem, as will the ground getting mucky. Can you rig up a roof over the feeder?

Username John

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Well I have 70 in a shed and they are eating a round bale of silage every 2.5 days, approx. Its lovely dry fine stuff, and they aren't wasting any. It shouldn't go off in that length of time, easily last 4 to 5 days.Pulling it out of the feeder and tramping on it will be a bigger problem, as will the ground getting mucky. Can you rig up a roof over the feeder?

Hello Nek,

Yeah, I know the place will get mucky, but hopefully it won't get too bad. I hope...
Where I put the feeder should be fairly hard and dry... Well, as dry as is possible in this weather.
I'll rig up some sort of cover all right.

Conmaicne Mara

Username John wrote: »

Hello Nek,

Yeah, I know the place will get mucky, but hopefully it won't get too bad. I hope...
Where I put the feeder should be fairly hard and dry... Well, as dry as is possible in this weather.
I'll rig up some sort of cover all right.

Could you get anything like that stuff they put under roads, is terram the name? Or anyway something tough like that so they won't poach? Also a small bit of a tarp will do as a cover if you strap it right.

Username John

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Could you get anything like that stuff they put under roads, is terram the name? Or anyway something tough like that so they won't poach? Also a small bit of a tarp will do as a cover if you strap it right.

I have a place that has a bit of rock close to the surface, so will throw the feeder there.
As for a cover, it will be tarp and maybe some kinda flimsy frame underneath just to throw off the rain.

Nekarsulm

Just thinking about this, 50 to one feeder could cause less "pushy" ewes to struggle to get their fair share.

If you had 10 or 12 hurdles, or 4 or so 12 foot gates, and erect into a rectangle or square shape, you would have more feeding space.

Just thinking out loud, like.

AnFeirmeoir

Username John wrote: »

Hello all,

Question for those who feed silage to their sheep.

I have some replacement lambs (well, that are prob close to 12 months old now), and a few ewes mixed in that are running low on grass (very low)
They are still outside.

I was planning on feeding them silage in the field - but will 50 be enough to eat a bale before it goes off?
There is prob 40 hoggets and maybe 10 ewes.

I am not sure what my other options are really, as they need to eat
but would appreciate your input on whether they will finish the bale or not...

Oh - and how long do you think a bale would last? They will be getting some beet as well, but I might cut this, if it means they will eat the bale faster to stop it going off...

What do ye think lads?

I have 65 eating a bale of haylege every 5 days. They have no grass .Wouldn't like to leave it much longer . I think you are a bit low on numbers to finish it in time . Maybe just cutting out a few holes from the bales and letting them eat through them for the first 2 days would preserve it longer. Then remove all the plastic

J.O. Farmer

We had about 50 ewes eating 2 bales a week outside. We had 2 feeders and a bale in each. Silage does be fine for the week. We work full time so putting out silage has to be a once a week job on the weekend. We don't have any cover over it either. It can get mucky round the feeder but give it a week or 2 after taking the ewes away and most damage will green up. The ewes don't sink in the way cattle will.