Products
For Household Farming
Sheep
Feeding recommendations
To achieve maximum efficiency, farmers assess body condition, determine body weight and production potential, take pasture intake of green forage into account, and formulate a diet balanced for energy, protein, and vitamin-mineral content.
For healthy physiology, sheep must consume enough dry matter. Intake should range from 2 to 3.8 % depending on age and physiological status.
The total level of digestible nutrients in the diet of adult animals should not fall below 50 %. Sheep diets should contain about 12 % fibre, with neutral detergent fibre at 25–30 %, to support rumen health and normal microflora balance. The level of non-structural carbohydrates should not exceed 35–40 %, while crude protein should remain within 12–14 %. To supply essential nutrients, farms use roughage, succulent feeds, concentrates, and functional additives such as vitamin-mineral premixes, sorbents, hepatoprotectors, and rumen health modifiers.
Hay is an important component of roughage. High-quality roughage includes alfalfa hay with 15–18% moisture, which serves as a source of protein, fibre, and carotenoids. Cereal straw is usually used as an inexpensive balancing material to increase fibre level in the diet.
Concentrated feeds are made from cereals, legumes, and oilseed crops, either in their raw form or after processing. Typical ingredients include ground or rolled corn, barley, wheat, bran, distillers grains, soybean, sunflower or rapeseed cake and meal, beet molasses, and other products available in the region.
Vitamin-mineral premixes are used according to specific formulations, while functional additives are applied when needed. Diets with a high level of starchy polysaccharides should include buffer premixes to reduce acidosis risk. After lambing, liquid energy supplements with calcium are recommended to help prevent milk fever and digestive displacement. During the transition period, energy supplements and protected fats help prevent ketosis. To bind mycotoxins, diets should include sorbents. Hepatoprotectors help prevent fatty liver. Horn tissue modifiers improve hoof condition, and hoof bath solutions help prevent diseases affecting the distal limb.
