Around 3 minutes+ in you mention, "If we ever figure out bail grazing..." Well I haven't had sheep before. But I've learned a few things from trying to preserve garden produce. In food preservation, study of decay, and bacteria growth and decay what you learn is that 'water' and air are the enemy and promote decay; like in mason jar canning. You can't really turn off the air. But you can cut off the top of the bail from moisture, rain protection. Likely those bad spots in the hay are water damage. You could try something cheap over the top to make water slide off and not stay on the hay. Something to make it slide off but not trap in moisture or let it saturate through. [Unnecessary air or water are the enemy of food preservation.] PLUS, if you drive by other farms that's what you always see at farms. They cover the tops of the hay to preserve it. They do that not only in winter but also rainy season. Then they have a mouser keep the mice and rats out of the hay also; keep the mouser about 60-70% full, so its hungry enough to still catch mice but not so full that its not got incentive and still feels like wanting more. This creates also incentive for them to want to learn to catch mice if they don't know already; though if you have more than 1 mouser that can create food competition which can create fights. You will often see farms with huge stacks of hay, if you walk right by them in summer or fall you'll hear a ton of mice panicking and running around. They often have them stacked real high so that they can also benefit from the top bails shielding bails underneath from moisture damage; and that's why. But areas can have individual tweaks on how they store hay based on local conditions. Your mousers often work graveyards, but its not real obvious unless you go out at night to see what's going on. Note 1; you do have to be careful of not trying to trap moisture in the hay when you cover it also. It is possible to trap moisture in the hay, which can cause a fire. You want the hay to be able to breathe... so tarps can't be too tight if you put some of them over the top of your hay storage. Note 2; moisture in hay can create spontaneous combustion in certain cases, but I am not real good on the info on that, other than you want to learn about it some. Note 3; Areas of the country that have multiple hay crops per year, can sometimes have trouble with the 3rd round of hay right before end of growing season. But I forgot the exact explanation why. Something about its making can act funny sometimes. I'm not an expert, but hope this will help you to think about this.
Going back through comments I think I missed answering your question. Here in eastern Ohio we don't really have a rainy season except spring, but March and early April are our rainy/muddy season but all winter here can be that way. So this form of feeding works for the sheep, they sort of build a waste hay pack to stand on. The cattle either are bale grazing or we take them to a concrete pad. During the growing season thoufh they are all out grazing.
In some areas of the country, if its a cold season they have to be careful when putting animals in a shelter or barn that they aren't breathing their own ammonia from their manure. This can cause sheep pneumonia if it can't air properly. This mostly is an issue in winter... For rainy season, you want to let them let their hooves be dry some of the time and not always wet because of hoof rot. Sorry not an expert on that either; but people say it gets in there from wet and cold too much. Its better if you don't have them standing in their mud all the time. In theory you could rig something up with tarps cheap if you want too, but then you'd need T posts also. Cords can be an issue for some animals trying to chew on them. If your pasture isn't swampy and can drain properly you won't have as much to worry about in rainy season (?) But local conditions can vary and have their own necessary practices. Worm and parasite issues, often increase more than normal when exposed to their own manure too much. The solution is to try to move them more.
I had a question. I tried to contribute a bit to make it worth your time. Q1; If a ewe is smaller than a ram, is that more likely to have birth problems? (very curious about this especially because people like hybrid vigor.) Q2; How do you work out how often to check on the sheep if you don't have help? Is there an ideal # of hours to check on them? Q3; How do you move the sheep when your next pasture isn't connected to the previous one? Q4; Is it actually necessary to have a sheep dog? How do people determine the 'deciding factor' on this?
@@noahriding5780 if a ewe is smaller because of age but is the same breed I wouldn't worry but if smaller because it's a very different breed and close to the same age I'd worry. Like I wouldn't breed my kathadins to a textel ram no matter the size but I'd breed the older ones to a Suffolk and not worry, conversely I breed yearlings to an older katahdin ram all the time. I check on mine twice a day when Lambing, more if I'm concerned but I know my sheep and don't need to be concerned much. When not lambing they get moved once a day so they get Checked on then. I simply build a runway out of temporary fence to move them if paddocks are not connected or I simply call them and let them follow me on the atv. Mine get moved every day so they know where I go there is something better to eat so they would follow me anywhere. Guard dogs are only necessary if you have predators about. I do so I wouldn't own sheep without one. Sheep herding dogs are a different story. I don't have one, would love too but I don't have enough work for one, my sheep follow me with the ATV anytime I want to. Hope this helps
Not that I'm aware of. We peel the outside layer off of our outside stored bales so they don't have to dig through the layer that might have mold in it. After that Dad bales all my hay and he has a moisture meter on the baler that tells him if it too wet. Also my sheep are so picky they'd starve before they anything that was moldy.
Some animals are VERY sensitive to moldy hay. Like horses especially. You even breathe wrong and you can get a collicky horse. (Sheep I don't know.) But sometimes knowing about how the other animals can react can give you more insight about safe points with other animals. People are doing weird experimentation on pushing the stress points of what's allowed with cattle, not so much with mold but other things... and that's why when the heat index goes up you'll see mass cattle die offs in the midwest in summer... because they were already playing with the allowance points of things... but then bacteria growth goes up faster with the heat.
Looks like a really nice sheep setup y'all have. Sounds like you care a lot about their quality of food. Thanks for sharing.
Around 3 minutes+ in you mention, "If we ever figure out bail grazing..."
Well I haven't had sheep before. But I've learned a few things from trying to preserve garden produce. In food preservation, study of decay, and bacteria growth and decay what you learn is that 'water' and air are the enemy and promote decay; like in mason jar canning. You can't really turn off the air. But you can cut off the top of the bail from moisture, rain protection. Likely those bad spots in the hay are water damage. You could try something cheap over the top to make water slide off and not stay on the hay. Something to make it slide off but not trap in moisture or let it saturate through.
[Unnecessary air or water are the enemy of food preservation.]
PLUS, if you drive by other farms that's what you always see at farms. They cover the tops of the hay to preserve it. They do that not only in winter but also rainy season. Then they have a mouser keep the mice and rats out of the hay also; keep the mouser about 60-70% full, so its hungry enough to still catch mice but not so full that its not got incentive and still feels like wanting more. This creates also incentive for them to want to learn to catch mice if they don't know already; though if you have more than 1 mouser that can create food competition which can create fights. You will often see farms with huge stacks of hay, if you walk right by them in summer or fall you'll hear a ton of mice panicking and running around. They often have them stacked real high so that they can also benefit from the top bails shielding bails underneath from moisture damage; and that's why. But areas can have individual tweaks on how they store hay based on local conditions. Your mousers often work graveyards, but its not real obvious unless you go out at night to see what's going on.
Note 1; you do have to be careful of not trying to trap moisture in the hay when you cover it also. It is possible to trap moisture in the hay, which can cause a fire. You want the hay to be able to breathe... so tarps can't be too tight if you put some of them over the top of your hay storage.
Note 2; moisture in hay can create spontaneous combustion in certain cases, but I am not real good on the info on that, other than you want to learn about it some.
Note 3; Areas of the country that have multiple hay crops per year, can sometimes have trouble with the 3rd round of hay right before end of growing season. But I forgot the exact explanation why. Something about its making can act funny sometimes.
I'm not an expert, but hope this will help you to think about this.
I'm wondering, how to feed the animal when the rainy season comes up.
Thanks for sharing this awesome video by the way
Thanks for commenting, this is why we take the time to do them!
Going back through comments I think I missed answering your question. Here in eastern Ohio we don't really have a rainy season except spring, but March and early April are our rainy/muddy season but all winter here can be that way. So this form of feeding works for the sheep, they sort of build a waste hay pack to stand on. The cattle either are bale grazing or we take them to a concrete pad. During the growing season thoufh they are all out grazing.
In some areas of the country, if its a cold season they have to be careful when putting animals in a shelter or barn that they aren't breathing their own ammonia from their manure. This can cause sheep pneumonia if it can't air properly. This mostly is an issue in winter...
For rainy season, you want to let them let their hooves be dry some of the time and not always wet because of hoof rot. Sorry not an expert on that either; but people say it gets in there from wet and cold too much. Its better if you don't have them standing in their mud all the time. In theory you could rig something up with tarps cheap if you want too, but then you'd need T posts also. Cords can be an issue for some animals trying to chew on them.
If your pasture isn't swampy and can drain properly you won't have as much to worry about in rainy season (?) But local conditions can vary and have their own necessary practices.
Worm and parasite issues, often increase more than normal when exposed to their own manure too much. The solution is to try to move them more.
@@noahriding5780 thank you so much for your explanation.
I had a question. I tried to contribute a bit to make it worth your time.
Q1; If a ewe is smaller than a ram, is that more likely to have birth problems? (very curious about this especially because people like hybrid vigor.)
Q2; How do you work out how often to check on the sheep if you don't have help? Is there an ideal # of hours to check on them?
Q3; How do you move the sheep when your next pasture isn't connected to the previous one?
Q4; Is it actually necessary to have a sheep dog? How do people determine the 'deciding factor' on this?
@@noahriding5780 if a ewe is smaller because of age but is the same breed I wouldn't worry but if smaller because it's a very different breed and close to the same age I'd worry. Like I wouldn't breed my kathadins to a textel ram no matter the size but I'd breed the older ones to a Suffolk and not worry, conversely I breed yearlings to an older katahdin ram all the time.
I check on mine twice a day when Lambing, more if I'm concerned but I know my sheep and don't need to be concerned much. When not lambing they get moved once a day so they get Checked on then.
I simply build a runway out of temporary fence to move them if paddocks are not connected or I simply call them and let them follow me on the atv. Mine get moved every day so they know where I go there is something better to eat so they would follow me anywhere.
Guard dogs are only necessary if you have predators about. I do so I wouldn't own sheep without one. Sheep herding dogs are a different story. I don't have one, would love too but I don't have enough work for one, my sheep follow me with the ATV anytime I want to.
Hope this helps
@@clintfinneyspringvalleysto8437 Thank you very much! You had good points. I'll check out your other videos too.
Um dos melhores alimento para os animais no período seco do ano é o feno
Have you lost any sheep due to mold of hay?
Not that I'm aware of. We peel the outside layer off of our outside stored bales so they don't have to dig through the layer that might have mold in it. After that Dad bales all my hay and he has a moisture meter on the baler that tells him if it too wet. Also my sheep are so picky they'd starve before they anything that was moldy.
Some animals are VERY sensitive to moldy hay. Like horses especially. You even breathe wrong and you can get a collicky horse. (Sheep I don't know.) But sometimes knowing about how the other animals can react can give you more insight about safe points with other animals.
People are doing weird experimentation on pushing the stress points of what's allowed with cattle, not so much with mold but other things... and that's why when the heat index goes up you'll see mass cattle die offs in the midwest in summer... because they were already playing with the allowance points of things... but then bacteria growth goes up faster with the heat.