Sheep treats?

[Wayside]

Dumb question, I know :lol:

So today I came home from an auction with two young hair sheep wethers.

I’ve been thinking about getting a couple for quite a while now, so I’ve been reading up on how to care for them properly, and asking DH’s uncle (who raises wool sheep) about a zillion questions.

Yet somehow in all that I forgot to ask what kinds of things make good treats for sheep. What do they really like to eat that’s also safe for them?

I do know not to feed them horse feed, because of the copper, though since my fat horses don’t have much of a grain requirement either, I was thinking about picking up something simple like alfalfa pellets or oats that they could all eat as a treat, but I’m not sure how appealing they’d find that.

These little wethers are probably a little under a year old, and I would consider them docile, but wary. Didn’t have much of a problem getting them loaded and transported, got them into a stall without too much fuss, but they’re still quite shy. I realize they may never be cuddly, but I was hoping to bribe them into warming up to me a little bit.

I have them in a large 12x20 stall for them right now, and they’ll probably stay there for a little while until I feel comfortable that I can catch them in the pasture without too much fuss. Our stalls open into the run-in, which opens into a paddock, which opens into the pasture, though, so luring them inside to catch them is also a viable option.

I keep telling them that they were literally one cent per pound away from becoming someone’s dinner, but they seem unswayed by that argument :lol:

[Brooke]

I personally never fed any of my sheep treats. They got alfalfa hay and the brood ewes and show lambs got grain in addition. but I know some of the 4H kids in our group gave their lambs little bits of licorace -which they loved. I’d be careful of giving them much of anything extra though. I think if you’re feeding a little bit of a commercial lamb feed, they’ll learn to come running pretty soon.

[Wayside]

Thanks!

Yesterday I discovered that they really like alfalfa leaves. Our hay is mostly grass, but there’s a little bit of alfalfa in it, and they were willing to come up and eat the few bits I could find out of my hands.

Since they’re small, I’m sure you’re right - a little bit of a treat is more than enough, but yes, I would like them to have a little bit of something so they’ll come running. Sounds like a commercial lamb feed is my best bet for that.

[spinandslide]

my friend feeds her sheep horse cookies that dont contain copper…she says they LOVE them.

Some sheep dont like afalfa pellets…(Im told, mine gobble them up)…a sweet feed that is labeled for sheep works well too…very good at “gentling” them down…

ya sit in the stall with them and the first brave soul to approach gets offered a treat.

Feed them in a specific place…(like the stall), it will help when you open them up to the pasture if you need to confine them…

[mroades]

We gave our sheeps Yogies

[TheBandit]

Deer Sweet Feed works well too.

[Wayside]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I probably should have gone to an actual feed store instead of Farm & Fleet today, but I had a bunch of other errands right next to F&F, so that’s where I went. Other than lamb milk replacer, they had nothing specifically for sheep, so I picked up a bag of plain oats. Fortunately those seemed to go over pretty well. I just put a little handful in a little feed pan, and held it in my hands for them to eat.

I’ve been sitting in the stall with them, right next to the hay, every time I give them fresh hay, and they’ve gotten quite comfortable eating with me sitting next to them. It took a little bit today, they did let me pet them a little bit while they were eating.

And I really should have taken their pictures before I started bribing them. When I went in the stall and squatted to take their picture, they both came up and stuck their faces in the camera. But I did manage to get a couple shots anyhow.

Sheep #1: http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2533278730100789832bUnJuP
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2904249090100789832XDKCAC
He does actually have brown legs and brown spots, he’s not that dirty.

Sheep #2: http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2216211230100789832vgtqdz
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2373343890100789832QqFAWF

[Bacardi1]

Too cute!!!

[maunder]

Oh, they’re lovely!

I have a wonderful vet that specializes in sheep and goats and he’s been really invaluable for my two sheep. He mentioned that it’s very important that sheep have sheep-specific free choice minerals. Mine nibble away at their loose mineral all the time. I buy it in bags and have it in a small bucket.

I feed my two a mixture of sheep feed with a dollop of oats. I probably won’t have to buy more oats though - my little disabled ewe was not fond of regular sheep feed and she still needed to get grain.

My vet warned me against a lot of grain and treats for wethered sheep since they are prone to urinary calculi like wethered goats are. I feed a small amount of the sheep grain to my wether but am very careful. He also said that sheep can founder, much like horses can.

Sheep occasionally need a vitamin booster or drench, especially after stress. Mine are pets and the little ewe doesn’t mine her hooves trimmed (I have a sheep deck chair for that) but the wether doesn’t like his feet done and gets a Dyne or Nutri drench after. I’ll do that at shearing time for them both too.

Enjoy your new friends! I love sitting out with mine and giving them wool massages. My wether loves to be hugged and will waggle his tail back and forth happily when I hold him (and he’s now about 80 pounds) :lol:.

[Wayside]

Thanks so much for the compliments and the information!

This is a new undertaking for me, so please don’t be shy about telling me things I’m doing wrong.

I’ve discovered that they’ll just about turn themselves inside out for marshmallows, but I don’t want to overfeed them, so so far they’ve had a limit of two mini-marshmallows a day. They’re getting friendly much faster than I expected, though, so I think I’ll be able to cut back without a problem. Yesterday the larger one actually came up and licked my face while I was bent over :lol:

I’d heard about the urinary isues in goats, but hadn’t heard about them in sheep, so I’ll have to look into that more. The only thing DH’s uncle had to say about pet wethers was “Don’t get wethers, you can’t make any money off them.” Tried to explain to him that I really didn’t want to start off with a breeding flock, but he loves breeding sheep, so I guess that just didn’t compute. :lol:

Right now they have a plain white salt block, but I’ll look into finding a more complete mineral for them, as well as a drench.

Our neighbor has a wether that lives with her horse and donkey, so I can piggyback sheep hoof trimming appointments with her if I need to. And the horse vet has agreed to give them a checkup and vaccinate them on April 3rd when she’s out for the horses, but it might be worthwhile to find a vet that works with more sheep, just in case.

[HydroPHILE]

Carrot chips (as in carrots that have been sliced like chips.) They love 'em

[Wayside]

[QUOTE=HydroPHILE;6209823]
Carrot chips (as in carrots that have been sliced like chips.) They love 'em :)[/QUOTE]

Good to know! It would be nice to have something that the sheep and my picky mares would be willing to eat. :lol:

[ChocoMare]

Also Herballs from www.hiltonherbsusa.com - They’re good for horses, sheep, goats and even dogs! Gives 'em nice breath too :yes:

[Wayside]

[QUOTE=ChocoMare;6209983]
Also Herballs from www.hiltonherbsusa.com - They’re good for horses, sheep, goats and even dogs! Gives 'em nice breath too :yes:[/QUOTE]

Good to know, thanks!

[cowboymom]

craisins. My goat doesn’t like raisins but he will knock you down for a craisin.

Sweet mix is like crack for most sheep and/or goats.

Mind that you just balance grass and alfalfa, don’t go exclusively to one or the other. The imbalance is what causes the problems.

[lily_pony]

on a lot of the goat farms around here they give them gummy bears during stressful times like tattooing, feet trimming, etc. I’d be careful about giving them too many, but I imagine a few wouldn’t hurt.
My goats loved saltine crackers as well.

[Wayside]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I think our hay is okay. It’s pretty grassy, but it’s the same stuff the neighbor’s wether eats, and he’s more than 10 years old, and has never had a urinary issue. Or any other kind of issue, for that matter.

Definitely planning on picking up sheep minerals for my little guys, though.

[maunder]

My vet would probably say to watch any sugar intake with wethers. He’s very careful.

Anything like bread he told me only a teeny bit.

He said that a good, leafy hay with alfalfa in it is good and with a mineral supplement many wethers can do quite well without grain.

There are certain injections that sheep should have as well and their selenium levels should be watched. You’ll probably want to have them on a deworming program and it might be wise to do a fecal for that. I was shocked to find what my wee lambs had in their systems at five months old! Tapeworm, coccidia, giarrdia and everything else too. Blech.

I love the face licking! My little ewe does nose nibbling.

[Wayside]

Thanks maunders!

Fecals are on the agenda for the April 3rd vet appointment, I think. If the vet doesn’t want my poop that day then I can drop it off some other time, but I’ve been planning on doing them for the horses this spring, so I’ll probably just do everyone at once.

We’re in a low-selenium area, so that’s certainly something to keep in mind as well.

I love the licking as well!

[scrtwh]

My guys love a sweet grain mix for sheep. Congratulations. Sheep are wonderful. I have a few shetlands that are adorable and friendly.