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blowin

I have come across conflicting advice and am now a bit confused about the relative merits of the various feedstuffs .
Barley -- Give a reasonable qty to sheep to produce a good grain in the meat and to put on fat ? But overdo it and the fat goes "sloppy" and has an unpleasant taste ?
But it was traditionally the bulk of food given to pigs along with scraps ?

Oats -- a "warming" food , as in only to be given during cold weather or for extra energy ?

Wheat -- ? ( certainly has to be crushed or goes straight thru pigs ) .

Soya -- just high protein ?

Layman's terms would be good . I have trouble with the nutritional info on the cereal packet !

wayland · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 1171 Location: Campile. Wexford

Barley should be rationed to ruminants especially sheep as they can get "Barley Poisoning". This is where the grains start to ferment in the animals many stomachs, as you know it dont go straight in and out like pigs. Even "Brewers Grains" can give rise to laminitus if fed ad-lib to sheep. My uncle would only give a handful of rolled barley to his sheep per day. They were not fed individually of course. He had thousands, but only a thin layer would be put into the troughs that the sheep eat in about ten seconds.

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