In the summer, farmers release sheep to a large area where lush grass grows. There are no problems with feeding: animals eat what comes under their feet.
But the situation changes in winter, when the sheep are given hay prepared in advance. To make it easier for the animals to eat, and the feed is spent sparingly, farmers use feeders. What they are and how they differ - we'll talk about this in the article.
Description and types of sheep feeders
The purpose of the trough is to provide feed for livestock. It is undesirable for the feeder to have slots, holes or holes. After all, through them, food falls out and falls on the ground, it is trampled in the mud, after which it is not suitable for feeding.
Feeders are made from:
- scrap metal;
- plastic materials;
- concrete gutters;
- wood;
- bricks;
- sawn metal pipes.
Feeders can be designed exclusively for juicy feed or concentrated feed.
There are different types of feeders, each with its own pros and cons. Consider the 3 most commonly used types of feeders.
The first include combined wooden feeders. Their advantages are ease of manufacture and versatility in use. The disadvantage is that in these feeders you need to mix different feeds.
The second type includes brick feeders. A container of bricks is coated with a cement-sand mortar, which prevents the passage of water and rodents - however, only for the first time. Another drawback is the inability to wash the feeder clean.
The last view is plastic hinged feeder or rubber bowl. The pluses include the fact that this type of feeder is considered hygienic. Rubber and plastic are easy to clean. The containers made of these materials are suitable for all types of feed.
Plastic hinged feeders are designed for 1 person, which is considered a disadvantage of such devices for feeding sheep.
How to make a do-it-yourself feeder from scrap materials?
There is a popular belief that sheep have enough grass that grows under their feet (it is also called "pasture"). This point of view is very wrong.
When the sun is shining outside, the basis of food for sheep is lush field grass. But when the cold comes, the flock is transferred to a stall, where they feed from feeders in the premises.
The different types of sheep feeders are shown in the following diagram:
The main food product for the animal in winter is food prepared in summer and autumn. Sheep are fed:
- hay;
- juicy feed (silage);
- pea straw;
- barley straw;
- combined feed.
The device of the feeder should be such that as little feed is scattered and lost as possible. These designs are divided into the following types: portable, permanent (stationary) and universal.
The height of the feeder is selected on the basis that for 1 sheep there should be at least 40 cm of the length of the feeder. That is, if you have 10 heads in your herd, then the required length of the structure is at least 4 m.
Often the material for the portable type of feeders is wood. These feeders are not only double-sided, but also one-sided (if you place them in a sheepfold near the walls).
In winter, when manure appears rather quickly in the barn, these structures need to be lifted up during harvesting. When the time comes for the complete harvesting of the barn in spring, it is advisable to take them out altogether.
Portable feeders look like a wooden trough or a cut pipe (it all depends on the material from which they are made).
Wooden
A common type of structure made is a tree feeder. For a person who at least once in his life has held a hammer and hammered a nail into the wall, it will not be difficult to make such a feeder.
The manufacturing technology of a wooden sheep feeder is as follows:
- Take 2 square beams (from any kind of wood) 125 cm long. The section should be 50x50 mm.
- Knock down these bars with a cross, put them on 2 points of support in an upright position. The resulting design should resemble the Roman numeral 5 (V).
- Screw the exact same beam into the center of the "crosses". This beam will serve as an axis for the structure.
- Then fix the same bars at the tops of the cross. At the end, use a bar with a smaller section - 40x40 mm. Nail it to the feeder every 30 cm. The direction of the bars will be vertical.
This type of feeder is good because the sheep with its head (about 30 cm) can easily crawl into the slot without any difficulties. She gets the amount of food she needs. The feed stays in the trough as the cross bars hold it back.
Since the raw materials from which the feeder is made are relatively inexpensive, and the creation process is quite simple, it is these structures that are in great demand among small farmers.
Manezhnaya
Many livestock owners use a plastic or wood playpen as a feeder. Raise the playpen approximately 0.5 m above the floor. Keep it in a dry place.
If the frequency of the planks in a given arena is quite large, and the distance between them is less than 30 cm, then the way out is to knock the planks through one to increase the distance between them.
If the arena feeder is to be used for feeding the cub, then the playpen with the slats distance of less than 30 cm can also be used.This distance is used so that adults cannot crawl through and get the cubs' food.
An important aspect for such a feeder is compliance with the dimensions. If the feeder is too large, the sheep will swarm in it for too long. This will lead to contamination of the feed in the trough.
Metal and wood must not be coated with anti-corrosion agents: when eating, the sheep gnaw and lick the surfaces of the feeders. Only impregnation of wood with vegetable oils is permissible.
Bunker
The main difference between this type of feeder is that you can replenish the feed only once a week. Such a feeder is placed near the wall.
The barn wall plays the role of the far wall of the trough. The near wall of the trough consists of grates, the gaps in which correspond to the size of the sheep's head.
Inside the formed rectangle, a platform is installed at an angle - wooden or made of scrap metal. On the platform, the feed slides to the front of the grate.
Metal
Practicality and durability are the main qualities of a metal feeder. She's also just going to:
- Take window bars or sections of a metal fence ("lance" type) - 2 pcs.
- Weld them using electric welding or gas welding to each other at right angles.
- With the resulting "ridge" put them on the floor, weld 4 props for stability.
The disadvantage of this design is the cost of the material and the cost of manufacturing. Not every owner has a welding machine and the skill to use it.
Salt feeders
Salt is needed for sheep as well as for people. Animals often suffer from a lack or absence of sodium salt in the body. In the absence of mineral supplements, the shears of the wool cover sharply decrease, the sheep begin to hurt.
The amount of salt in the diet usually varies depending on the weight of the sheep (0.5%). The approximate daily intake is 15 g of salt, and in total for the year - 4 kg. Salt is added either to the water, or it is placed near the feeders.
Most often, salt is sold not in a crumbly form, like kitchen salt, but in the form of bricks - so it is convenient to store and feed it to sheep.
Lamb feeders
When feeding lambs, nursery feeders are used.
What is a nursery and what are they used for?
A manger is a lamb feeding facility. The structure of the nursery is usually a lattice-like structure where the farmer places the hay. The best for sheep of any age is alfalfa or sainfoin hay.
You cannot put food in the nursery - this is the main difference between a nursery and a feeder. Indeed, due to the fact that the trough has both a bottom and walls, the feed does not fall out, but remains inside.
The disadvantage of almost all creches is that other animals (older sheep) also pull the hay out of the creche and scatter it on the ground.
Types of lamb feeders
The nursery has several varieties. Let's take a closer look at their pros and cons:
- Hanging nursery. Bunker-type nurseries with small gaps between the rods are installed below the level so that adults do not interfere with feeding the cubs. The volume of the mounted nurseries is less than the floor ones, and it is more difficult to load hay into them.
- Outdoor nursery. The height is small, it is convenient to load hay into them. But adult sheep love to get into the floor nursery, as a result of the lambs may receive less roughage. The hay in the outdoor nursery is available to adults as well.
- Manger using a pallet. The hay that falls out of the manger falls on the pallet. It's hard for sheep to get it.
- Combined feeder. Easy to craft by yourself. Of the minuses - all types of feed are mixed in the feeder.
- Delayed feeder. The food stops falling to the floor. It is loaded into the structure once a day. When eating hay, the sheep's head is in a natural position. Disadvantage - adult sheep can climb on top and spoil the hay.
- Reptukh. Suspended anywhere, takes up a small area. The grass is not scattered much. It is not difficult to weave a reptuh yourself with any size of cells. Cheaper than other types of feeders. The disadvantage is that with large mesh sizes, the sheep become entangled. It is necessary to occasionally check the rept for the presence of ropes that gnawed the sheep. Also, this feeder is short-lived.
Where to buy a sheep feeder?
It is almost impossible to find sheep feeders on the internet. If you come across a farmer's online store, there won't be much choice. For example, the Agroserver website sells wall-mounted plastic feeders with lids 33x28 cm, but they are not credible.
At first glance, it seems that they are so fragile that they break even at the stage of fastening to the wall. I don’t even want to think what will happen to them when the ram screams at them with its teeth.
Avito has good plastic feeders and a metal hay nursery, but the cost is quite high. For a lower price, it is better to buy a feeding trough or a rept in a horse store. Although the choice is small there, the product can be returned or changed.
Errors when using sheep feeders
No matter how hard the farmer tries, but without experience and knowledge, the probability of making an elementary mistake when feeding sheep from feeders is high. Let's take a look at typical errors and how to fix them:
- Lack of drinking bowls near the feeders. Some farmers believe that sheep do not need water during the winter because they feed on snow. Snow is frozen distilled water that will not provide the animal's body with the necessary elements. Therefore, be sure to place drinking bowls with clean water next to the feeders.
- Lack of drainage near drinkers. Even tiny hamsters turn drinkers over, let alone sheep, which are much larger! The water from the drinking bowls is spilled, the earth does not absorb it completely. The result is a slurry (liquid mud) that is mixed with livestock excrement. This environment is not suitable for keeping sheep due to colonies of putrefactive bacteria.
- Unwashed feeders. Some of the food in wooden and stone feeders gets stuck in cracks and rots. This mainly applies to silage. If the feeders are not cleaned, the sheep develop gastrointestinal upset.
Mixing feed
Many farmers believe that the most important thing in the farm is the correct distribution of feed. At the very beginning (during the stall-winter period), adult sheep and lambs should be given good food. Use the worse on colder days when frost is felt. Leave the best quality feed for the spring.
Hay and carrots have always been considered the best feed. They should be given first to lambs, and then to sheep and rams.
Before going to bed, to unload the stomach of sheep, they give less nutritious feed, and during the day - the most nutritious. Succulent feed is fed before the sheep drink water, and the rest are fed after watering.
All sheep should be given compound feed - this is an additive to coarse and succulent sheep feed. Compound feed supplies to the livestock body all those nutrients that it lacks, making the sheep ration optimal.
The most economical option is the self-mixing of compound feed.
Sheep assimilate highly nutritious substances better when given a rich feed. The weight of the sheep increases, as does the amount of wool, and the functions that promote reproduction are enhanced.
Sheep differ from the rest of the livestock, their feeding depends on: age, physiological phase, time, direction for a certain type of productivity.
It should be borne in mind that any productivity of sheep depends on the characteristics of feeding. With a shortage of the necessary mineral or protein components in the body of a sheep, the quality of its wool deteriorates.
On average, over the summer, sheep need about 100-200 g of compound feed per day, and during active growth and reproduction, the dosage increases - 30-40% of all feed is taken by the combined feed.
Unkempt feeders
Sheep do not digest well the food they eat from a dirty trough. They get serious illness if they eat from a feeder that is infected with a fungus. The fungus enters the sheep's body, releases toxins, causing the animal to die.
You also need to monitor the storage of feed, because moisture often penetrates into it. For example, flaxseed cake releases hydrocyanic acid from high humidity. A sheep eats such cake - coordination of movements is disturbed, seizes a convulsion, the heart rhythm weakens.
Anti-corrosion coating
Never use anti-corrosion coatings on metal or wooden feeders. Sheep try the rods of feeders with their teeth, and also lick and gnaw on wood. If the material is coated with an anti-corrosive substance, the chemicals end up in the sheep's stomach, which is harmful.
Do not worry about the condition of the wood, insects will not spoil it. They do not like the microclimate and smell that are typical for sheep barns.
For prevention, saturate the surface of the feeders with vegetable oil. The product will look beautiful.
Conclusion
Sheep constantly feed on saturated feed, root crops and compound feed. You need to start haymaking at the beginning of flowering grass.
Almost any straw is suitable for harvesting, as well as corn stalks. Prepare beets and silage from juicy feed. Sheep are suitable for concentrated feed and grain mixtures. Give them in small portions as they are expensive.
The main problem in feeding sheep is the loss of food from the feeders. Dirt forms near the feeders, in which harmful bacteria multiply - they are a threat to the health of the sheep.
Also, too much feed is consumed, which is uneconomical. The right type of feeder will save sheep breeders from such problems.