[Jacob-list] Hay woes

[ARTHUR PARTRIDGE]

--Sue wrote--

>We always feed alfalfa because it is available.......we typically feed

less grain or sweet feed.....and our s

>heep do waste some of the alfalfa. We also have had a dry summer although

in the last 2 wks. we have rec'd some rain and the >meadows have greened
up......normally we never feed in the hay in the summer mos., but the
drought forced us to feed hay this >summer. I recently bought a bale of
orchard grass to try on the sheep -- being extremely spoiled by the
alfalfa, they didn't >bother to give the grass hay even a simple sniff!! 
==========
My sheep would love to eat nothing but alfalfa, but doesn't that make
really fat sheep?  I was warned that feeding too much alfalfa to pregnant
ewes fattens them up and leads to birthing problems.  Have you noticed any
weight gain in your ewes?  My vet tells me over and over again that sheep
don't need a rich, plentiful, varied diet.  In other words, she was telling
me I was feeding them too much really rich food.  Probably explains why
sheep can tolerate tough times, like drought in Georgia, better than many
other types of livestock.

Cathy
Moscow, Idaho
also a bit droughty
.