Finally a video thats not some trendy homesteader where you spend the first 10 minutes watching them do chores only to find out they are just copy and paste from another trendy homesteader with some very basic info thats not very helpful or. This was perfect!
Hi, Scottie! This is the best compliment we have gotten in a while. We do our best to give you the best information we can without all the extra stuff. We appreciate you taking the time to leave us a message and we hope to hear from you again in the future. 😬
Uhg, YES. I hate when they have a video titled that it'll be about something I'm trying to learn about and it ends up being a 20-minute vlog of their frickin week and they touch on the video TITLE SUBJECT for about a minute. Nothing about the build. Nothing about how it works. Nothing about anything important. "Here's me tightening a screw!" I can't stand Justin Rhodes videos. His are all like that. 🙄 THANK YOU for getting to the point and sticking to the subject.
Came for the feed tips and walked away shocked about a lamb birthed in the shallow waterer. Hog waterer is on our list now. Didn't expect this massive tip in a feeding sheep video. Thanks Tim -Nick
This was a very helpful video! Thank you so much Tim! We have just begun our Southdown sheep journey and really appreciate you and the education provided! We are fellow Hoosiers! Will be watching all of your videos!
Hello Trixie! Thank you for the kind words and thank you for watching our videos. We are very excited for you and your decision to raise southdown sheep. You will have to check out our group on Facebook and keep us posted with updates. Our group is “Linessa Farms Tack Box”. 😬
Today I just added cross bars to my hay feeder. When I initially made the feeder, it only had vertical strips to hold the hay in. The sheep (ewes, not horned rams) could stick their heads between the wood strips and grab gobs of hay and waste a ton of it on the ground. In lieu of buying a cattle panel and cutting it, I found a section of fence with equally spaced slats in my friend’s junk pile at his farm. I cut in in half and put in in the feeder, effectively creating 4-5” squares that the sheep can’t stick their heads through. I gave them the 1 flake per head today and the hay consumption has DRASTICALLY reduced. They ate to satisfaction, made less of a mess, and I didn’t need to give them any additional hay today. THANKS SO MUCH!!!
Thanks, Matt! We are glad you were able to save some time and money by making this change! Very nice. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and thank you for supporting the channel! Keep us posted on how things go.
Some of our older videos have not so great sound. We have invested in a new microphone system a few years ago and all of our more recent videos should have good sound. Thank you for the feedback, we appreciate you watching our videos and taking the time to leave a message!
Hello Tim, I'm A.H.M. Faruque Hossain from kushtia, Bangladesh. Thanks for making videos about goat & sheep farming. Carry on guys. Make videos A to Z about baby goats to decrease the mortality of them like caring, feeding, diseases, treatment etc.
Tanzim, thanks for watching our videos and thank you for the kind words. Please review some of our previous videos to see if they can help answer some of your questions. On our website we have lots of information and forms in our download section located here: linessafarms.com/index.php/downloads/
Hello! Thanks for watching our videos. We feed once a day on our farm with good results. There is good evidence to support the benefits of feeding at (approximately) the same time every day. Also, feeding times have an affect on birthing and other general health issues like digestion. We have a very successful friend whom has been feeding twice per day for years and is doing very well. He gives his hay in the morning and his grain in the evening. We feed grain and hay at the same time in the evening. Most studies show that sheep will have babies approximately 2 hours prior to time of normal interaction. Morning fed sheep usually tend to lamb very early in the morning. Evening fed sheep tend to lamb in late afternoon.
Hello Tim, Thanks for the great work you’re doing. I’m watching all the way from Sierra Leone, West Africa. I’m new to goat farm: specially West African Dwarf Goats. I’m starting with 60 goats and I want them non-grazing. I saw your point about feeding one flake of hay per day. Since making hay is not the norm in this part of Africa, how much does one flake of hay weigh? That way I can target the exact amount of feeding my goats need. I’m growing my own grass: Alfalfa and Sudangrass Piper. Part of the feeding will be for silage and part for dry hay. Will the daily feeding requirement be the same for silage and dry hay?
Hello, Sunny. Thanks for watching the videos and thanks for the questions. When it comes to feeding your animals, you have 2 choices. Morning or Evening. You can’t go wrong either way but we tend to do most of our feeding in the evenings. There is some evidence to support the time of day you feed will have an effect on the time of day they will kid. We don’t buy into this at all…. Almost all our lambs are born in the early morning and almost all of our goats are born in the evening. Based on this “evidence” I could argue time of day based on feeding either way I want. Anyway…. Back to your question. I feel the best time of day to feed is evening. Our animals eat better when it is cooler and giving food in the evening provides a longer feeding window in cooler temperatures. Obviously this doesn’t matter so much in the winter as in the summer. You have probably noticed your animals are much more active during the cooler portions of the day. We feed at approximately 5pm every day, once per day. We feed grain first and while they are occupied cleaning up their grain, we are putting out hay. We advise feeding grain and hay at the same time as the hay provides saliva production and will help to keep a better functioning rumen to absorb and process the grains. Feeding grains alone can lead to excessive acid production in the rumen and can damage healthy bacteria and have an overall negative effect on nutrient digestion. Hope this helps!
So my goat pellets have .5% per 50lb bag. But I have a goat mineral mix that has 6% phosphorus. If they got 1 T each a day of the minerals plus 1-2 cups pellets a day would that be too much phosphorus??
There is no way to know based on the information you have provided. You need to add up your total calcium and total phosphorus. Calcium should be at least 1-1/2 times the amount of phosphorus. The main concern is calcium to phosphorus ratio. Not just phosphorus amount.
Im a sheep farmer in greece.. i mostly feed mix of grain ( corn,soy, barley,cotton pie) during milking periods and one flake of trefoil & weeds per 10 heads... I also give them licks of calcium... Any thoughts on maximizing milk production?
Phosphorus can be an important mineral when it comes to milk production. We often talk about how important it is to keep calcium and phosphorus ratios in check but some added phosphorus during lactation can help with milk production. 👍🏻
1 flake of hay per head per day, does that matter if they are dry lot, or grazing field. 19 goat, kinko boar, 11 are babies 1 month - 4 months . I let mine out to field during the day, in barn at night. Clean water both. I give about 4 oz grain = 1 - 3 lb scoop grain in am & pm Im confused about hay, should i still give them 1 flake / adult head about 1/2 bale at night in the barn at night.
Good video. So, what are your thoughts on feeding round bales from a round bale feeder for goats? I assume you are against it do to the “flake a head per day.”
We feed round bales from round bale feeders. You just have to watch how much, especially in late pregnancy. You’ll be pulling babies like crazy if you’re not cautious. Round bales are a requirement for some farms, especially if you lack space to store squares or don’t reliable means to get them. The great news is, you can restrict time on round bales by simply putting your round bale in a pen and only allowing access for 4-5 hours per day. You’ll have to see what works for you.
I think all flock feeds are generally ok. You will just need to check to be sure it is ok for sheep. They are usually labeled fairly well. The second thing you will want to check is the calcium to phosphorus ratio to ensure you have at least 1-1/2 times more calcium than phosphorus. An imbalance can lead to issues such as urinary calculi.
Can you link me to the other feeding videos? If I have good grass pasture and during spring and summer months should I feed a flake of hay a day and grain per head for sheep?
Hello. Once they are on pasture, you are fine and shouldn’t need additional hay. I included a video below for you to check out but also do a RU-vid search for “linessa farms feeding” and you will get a lot of good videos. Thank you for the question and let me know if you have any additional questions. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UL91V2-yEZg.html
@@LinessaFarms thank you for the quick response. I’ve been binge watching your videos and I watched the linked video last night and wow you grazing that many sheep in that amount of acres definitely gives me hope. There’s seems to be a large gap between conventional “google” information on “how to” and “how many”, when it comes to sheep but after watching your videos and the interview and additional resource of Greg Judy it shows there’s no cut and paste formulation. Now I just have to sift through and see how I can apply yours and others practices to my own operation. I will definitely be watching more videos but I suppose I have a question in something I haven’t seen you address at least yet in anything I’ve watched so far. With the rotational grazing do you run a lgd in the paddocks and rotate them with the sheep as well and if so do you rotate their feeding station along with the dog or are there issues you’ve seen with the dog being constantly moved? Sorry so long I’m new to this and trying to get as much information so I can hopefully start out with the best possible foundation I can. Thank you
@@whatifyourwrong9153 we do utilize LGD in our rotational grazing. I have a video about this here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rqaWfOYlF7c.html We go out and hand feed the dogs once a day. They do great hanging out with the sheep and goats. No problems. A lot of this is how well the dogs get imprinted on to the livestock at a young age. A good dog will prefer the animals to you.
Rule nr. 4 is a bit debatable (same feeding time, same quantity). The caloric requirements of an animal will change according to seasons and to his metabolic changes. For example during very cold periods of time animals need a higher caloric intake, to produce enough heat to survive. Then, you have the pre-natal and post-natal period, which imply some metabolic changes. These should be studied in particular and applied according to specific conditions. How do I know these? My uncle had instructed his animal carer to feed the goats the same amount of feed each day, at the same time. But in the first year, he had about 2 losses exactly during the coldest part of the year. He thought it is coincidence. Next year it was the same. Third year it was colder and he lost about 5, so we started doing some research. It looks like goats need almost 25% more food in very cold days (below water freezing point) to be comfortable, and this can be adjusted for warmer or colder days.
We cannot instill common sense through a RU-vid video. Obviously people need to adjust feed intake based on the needs of the animals. This should be done slowly. We were not implying people should feed the same amount, at the same time, every day come hell or high water. On the other hand, people shouldn’t say, it’s going to be cold tomorrow so I should feed them 25% more. This is a great way to give animals scours, and increase instances of pregnancy toxemia and other issues. If your uncle is feeding so little that cold weather is knocking them dead, he’s got other issues going on. People should feed the same amount at the same time every day. If they need to make adjustments to their feed amount, which will occur due to various reasons, they should do so slowly to avoid any potential problems.
Hello again Tim! Here on Sweden, which the temperature is like Canada, we are going to be in need of hae for our four goats during the winter! But I have a question about grazing. Your rule is just to feed them 1 flake per day (about 2 kilogram). We are trying to use all the grass and bushes on our surround to let them eat good. Thats goes to my question, since it touches your rule number 3 and 4. Should we let out our goats anytime during the day to eat grass and bushes or should we choose a time during the day to let them out. Also, how often do they need to eat during the day? Love from our cold land Sweden and I learn alot from your channel!
Hello and thanks for the question. If you are feeding hay, the 1 flake per head per day rule applies however if you are going to let them out on pasture, you have lots of different options. You can let them out as much or as little as you desire. You will want to control grazing to make sure the animals do not destroy the property and kill plant life or wanted trees. Generally speaking, the heaviest grazing occurs during the early morning hours (first few hours of light) and the early evening hours (last few hours of light). If I were to graze my animals for a portion of the day, I would be inclined to let them out in the morning and put them up in the early afternoon. All things considered, if they are not being destructive, you can put them out as long as you wish. If you are concerned about them over eating and becoming destructive, you can feed them some hay in confinement and make sure they do not go out to pasture hungry.
Rarely would we advise using pure alfalfa hay for your sheep or goats. A grass mix with some legume such as alfalfa, clover, or birdsfoot trefoil will usually work well. The hay we feed is a grass, alfalfa, and clover mix.
You don’t have to feed grain. It’s just an extra way to get protein and nutrients to your animals. Growth is usually considerably faster with grain so a lot of producers choose to do this in order to hit market weight faster. Lots of “extras” can be incorporated into grain rations as well like vitamins, nutrients, medications, etc. Grain is a generic term many producers will use for non-roughage feed such as corn, beans, sweet feed, oats, barley, and other food-stuff. Most commercial pellets are made with a soybean base. If you choose not to feed grain, that’s perfectly fine. We would encourage you to feed a good free choice mineral specifically made for your type and sex of livestock. 👍🏻 Hopefully this helps! If you have any other questions, please let us know.
I would still start off with the one flake per head per day and monitor to see how their body condition works out for you. You can adjust from there. It’s not a perfect science but a good place to start! Great question. 😬
That’s a tough one. A lot of the show folks have hot water available and then blow dry the animals. Unfortunately, if it’s a wool breed, they can stay wet for days. I would avoid washing if you can. If the animal is excessively soiled, I would consider shearing with a comb that will leave some cover.
@@LinessaFarms ohhhh thank you soo much also mine has been barely eating lately any tips to get them back to eating? I tried buying many different types of foods but no good :(
Ok! I have the problem of overfeeding. But what if my goats don't eat a whole flake/section of hay in a day -- they are so picky that sometimes they don't eat it at all. It's still clean and in the feeder the next day. Do I pull it out and use it for bedding and give fresh stuff? They are only ever interested in new hay. I have Nigerian Dwarf Goats. If I give them this hay that we harvested that is full of weeds they eat so much that they are huge. If it's normal grass hay that we bought they barely touch it. They had the weedy hay yesterday and overate ... they left nothing. So probably I shouldn't give them anything today until they deflate a little. Not sure.
You can start offering them free choice sodium bicarb. Animals don’t like change in their food. Eventually they will get hungry and eat it. So long as it stays dry, it can sit in there until it is gone (within reason). From a nutritional standpoint, they are better off with the grass hay than the weeds. You can mix a couple flakes of each for a while to help them get used to it while they transition or you can mix it until your poor quality hay is gone so you don’t feel like it was wasted. Just put the free choice sodium bicarb next to their water. They will eat what they need, when they need it.
Hello Linessa Farm! What's up with special vitamin-mineral lick bucket for sheep & goats? Because what I use, (especially for sheep & goats) contains phosphours... (not too much: 3°%) Total contains: Minerals: phosphorus 3%; calcium 9%; magnesium 5%; sodium 4%; sulfur 1%. Vitamins (IU / kg): Vitamin A 200,000; Vitamin D3 40,000; Vitamin E 1000; Vitamin C 4,000 Trace elements (mg / kg): zinc 5,000; manganese 4,000; copper (glycine chelate) 60; iodine 100; cobalt 50; selenium 50; molybdenum 10. So I think if his organization would not need phosphour, the lick bucket manufacturer doesn"t put in it 3%
Hello. The phosphorus needs to be in an appropriate ratio with calcium. We like to see calcium and phosphorus in a 2/1 ratio which you have. You actually have a 3/1 ratio which is even better. I would not advise feeding any copper to your sheep but other than that, I see no issues with what you are feeding. Hope this helps. Thanks.
If you are feeding small square bales, just place enough flakes to cover all the animals for the day (1 flake per head per day). We feed once per day in the late afternoon around 3:30-4:00PM. We feed our grain at the same time as the hay. If you are feeding round bales, you may want to consider only allowing them access to the round bales 12 hours a day to keep them from overeating.
Hello! On the bottom, back side of the waterer there is a threaded cap that can be removed. This is just the right size for a garden hose to hook up to. Just hook up your hose and drain it where it needs to go. 😬
This is an actual tank you can purchase called a hog waterer. They sell them with one or multiple “holes”. Do a google search for “single hole hog waterer”. Thanks for watching.
Hello, I'm just getting started with goats. I'm getting three the second week of June. They will be nine weeks old. Should I start feeding about 1/2 flake per goat per day? I was also thinking 1/2 cup of grain also. What do you think. By the way very good information in your video.
You can start off with 2 flakes to spread between the 3 of them and see how they do. Check with the seller to see how much and what they are feeding regarding hay and grain and go from there. If they have never had any grain, you will want to start off slow and ensure they are vaccinated against clostridium as well.
Thanks, Phillip. We have since made a large amount of improvements to our videos. We have also been going back through and re-doing some of our older videos. We appreciate you watching and commenting. We promise our videos now have better sound and quality.
tarterusa.com/tarter-products/tag/%23WTD224 This is the type of waterer we use but you can find them cheaper at your local farm store. Just tell them you are looking for a single hole hog waterer.
An average flake of grass hay will weigh between 3-4 pounds, if that helps. We would aim for 3-5 pounds of hay per head per day. Thanks for watching our videos!
Hi Tim! We are new at goating and allready broke several of your rules (we only had them for four days). My question is about rule number 3. You seem to have a lot of goats but we only have four goats. How much hay should you give to them? #QuestionFromSweden
Hello and thank you very much for the question! Small square bales of hay are usually broken down into smaller subsections called flakes. There are about 12-14 flakes in a bale. A good general rule is approximately 1 flake per head per day OR approximately 3.5 lbs/1.59kg per head per day. You can give more if you feel the need but I personally would never advise more than about 3kg per day. You will have much happier animals when you invest your money in grain instead of hay. While the animals all need hay to survive and thrive, they don’t need a lot. The danger when limiting hay is making sure all your goats get their fair share. This can be difficult at times and the more aggressive animals will tend to get more feed than less aggressive. You’ll just have to keep an eye on them and see how it goes. As far a grain goes…. A good amount to start with is about .5 to 1 kg per head per day. Hopefully this helps you out. Check out our other videos and let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.
Hello. This would be 1.6kg or about 3.5 pounds. I would not advise exceeding 2kg per day. Anything over this amount is not necessary. 1.6 kg of hay and .45-.50 kg of grain per day should be more than enough to maintain your sheep or goat.
That was 5 great tips thank you...what time at night do you feed your animals. Would it be better just before they bed down where they are not as active to put on more weight or is it better that they can stay active a bit after eating before they bed down or would there be no difference. Also I noticed a couple of mini cows hanging out with your sheep and they seemed to be accepting of each other. Would they shed up with them at night to bed down also and are the goat's as content to share space with them as the sheep are.
Hello, David. Thank you for watching our videos. I personally feed at around 4-5PM because that’s what works with my schedule. Our lambs and kids are born almost always in the very early morning hours 0300-0600. Our other partner farm, Wild Nirvana Farm, feeds at about the same time with the same results. Our friends at Belden Hampshires feed in the mornings and almost always have babies in mid to late afternoon. I like to feed when I can see the animals so I personally advise doing it during the daylight hours. Feeding time is the best time to perform your general health checks and look for things like scours, limping, see if your females are bagging out, etc... The mini cows and the sheep seem to get along well. We have had them cohabitating for about a year now and they also pasture together. Goats..... goats are interesting animals. Goats seem to barely tolerate other goats let alone sheep or cattle. With that being said, we will sometimes keep a goat in with the sheep or vise versa if needed. Right now, one of our Pygmy bucks is living with the sheep to keep him off our does. We have a video about keeping sheep and goats together you may want to check out. The sheep and goats and cattle will all bed down together without any issues for the most part. Feeding, mineral requirements, etc... is different for all species and that’s where the trick comes in. We have a donkey that lives with our sheep, for instance, and we have to be careful what we feed her. Coccidiosis medication used for sheep and goats will kill a horse or donkey. So, that’s always an issue. Likewise, goats need copper to stay healthy and it will keep sheep. As with most things, its just finding what works for you while also providing everyone what they need. Life with only one type of livestock would be much simpler but we like having a mix of animals on the farm.
@@LinessaFarms thanks for the quick response my line of thinking is similar to yours, I've done some small time hobby farmering on and off through the year's and always had a combination of animals as well. I've raised sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, pigeons, rabbits and horses before but zero experience with cattle. I My son and the grandkids want to go into a joint venture and do some hobby farming so we're in the planning and research stages right now and will get the ball rolling toward the end of the year. The kids and grandkids interests are in goat's, miniture cattle, rabbit's and quail. I was thinking if the goat's and mini cows could get along it would make life so much more easier and cost effective regarding sheds pens and pature. Thanks again for the tips.
A little over is acceptable. Sometimes the big sheep and goats can push out the littles and this can cause issues. We will talk about this in later episodes. On our farm we always say, “the sheep are always hungry”. There is a lot of truth to this. Sheep and goats will eat and eat and eat until the feed is gone. We have gone to some farms where the sheep are getting 1 bale per day for 2 sheep. Situations like this are overkill. You will get a lot more out of more grain and less hay. With this being said, sheep and goats must have hay and too much grain can lead to acidosis and other issues. As with most things, moderation is key.
The simplest solution when raising and keeping both sheep and goats together is to feed them all sheep food and supplement the goat copper needs by giving them copper injections once/twice a year or by providing them with oral copper bolus.
@@aznprincess1962 there are. If you have a vet willing to work with you. This is used off label and is a cattle product called Multimin 90. You would inject adult does every 6-12 months with 1cc. This contains selenium, manganese, zinc, and copper.
Yes. Some farmers will purposely bale them loose. This allows people to charge more for less hay. You will need watch the weight of the bale. A good rule of thumb is 1 flake per head per day coming from a 50-60 pound bale. If you are getting loose bales from someone weight 35-40 pounds, this isn’t going to work for you. Adjust as needed.
This is a complex question there are some similarities and then other topics go out the window. We will make a video soon on pasture feeding. The obvious concerns are lack of control over how much they eat and worms. Clean water is always a must.
@@LinessaFarms right, always clean water. I was just hoping you might address this for pasture feeding. I watched your rotational grazing video, but it was focused differently. Also, hello from the other side of the Hoosier state!
Orang, thanks for watching our channel and for the question. Urinary calculus are one of the leading preventable causes of death in male sheep and goats. This is caused by an imbalance of phosphorus and calcium. Sheep and goats get more than enough phosphorus in their daily feed intake and should not be given any supplemental phosphorus, ever. Too much phosphorus equals urinary calculus equals death. Do your best to provide calcium and avoid phosphorus. Hope this helps!
@@LinessaFarms : I learnt much from your video. I appreciate it, and if you don't mind, I have one last question.... What's the negative side , if hyper phosphorus happens to pregnant awes? Thank you so much, regards from me.
This is kinda a trick question because it depends on the weight of the bale and the quality of the hay. A good mixed grass and legume hay will work well at 1 flake per head per day (4.2-5.2 pounds per flake). This is a “rule of thumb”. To give you a better answer, yes. I would start with that and monitor body condition. See what it takes to maintain body condition and go from there. This general guidance is a good kicking off point.
Hello, Jan. I reviewed the video with the sound turned up and it was very loud. Perhaps you’re having an issue with the sound on your end? Sorry you’re having problems.
Judith, thanks for watching our videos. We don’t ever advise giving additional phosphorus unless you know there is a deficiency in your area. General hay and pasture is fine on phosphorus content but on the rare occasion it may be phosphorus deficient. If you should choose to give phosphorus you will need to give additional calcium to keep the calcium phosphorus ratio to a bare minimum of 1.5:1.
@@LinessaFarms Thank you! So would it be okay for my sheep and goats (I have Katahdins and Nigerian Dwarves) to just have a salt block (like ones for all livestock) and then give the goats a copper bolus in the sweet feed once every 6 months, or do they need more than that? They are on a combined sheep and goat block right now but I was wondering if they need all of that or if I can cut down to the salt block. They're pasture-raised.
Hi, Morgan. Calcium and phosphorus balance is the underlying culprit for urinary calculi. You need to keep this ratio at least 2 to 1. We strongly encourage those who give free choice mineral to their males to avoid feeding them additional phosphorus. Your females can have phosphorus and it may actually help with things like milk production.
@@Dorpers89 wow! I did not know this. It doesn’t seem like something that would make them bloat. I will definitely add this to my list of things to avoid.
Feed hay by weight not by the flake. Flakes vary in the amount of hay. Also feed animals based on their weight and stage of production. Your video does not provide the best in information to those learning to feed livestock.
🤔 hello, Peter. I’m sure you are aware some people don’t have pastures. As a matter of fact, more folks have animals in dry lot/confinement than they have them on pasture. If we are referring to pasture only, many of the major producers are feeding lots of hay all winter long. Greg Judy, and his folks are feeding multiple round bales per day. They roll them out on the ground but it’s still feed. If your goal is to feed on pasture only and you are having to feed/supplement, then we will agree you are doing something wrong.
@LinessaFarms BTW, Greg only supplements cows with cheap hay when there is too much snow for them to dig through or as a quick fix for newly acquired land. His hair sheep make through winter without being fed. Also, his cows are supplemented for days, not months, during the dead of winter.
Trish, you are right. Sorry about that. The good news is, we have invested in some new equipment and our videos have improved significantly since our early days. The only work around option I can advise regarding a video with bad audio is to use the closed caption option and read what you can’t hear! Sorry again, we are trying hard to make better videos!
