Do you know the gap between the mesh and the bales?
The mesh I used have 7.9" X 7.9" (20 cm x 20 cm) holes.
Automatic sheeps feeding
- Thread starter bulbius
- Start date
Do you know the gap between the mesh and the bales?
The mesh I used have 7.9" X 7.9" (20 cm x 20 cm) holes.
ad-lib! thank you, this keyword has opened up a world to me! too good for the English!
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
Hello and welcome to the forum. I think if I had a shed like yours I'd have a feed barrier down the side and then you could unroll a bale of hay along the outside for the sheep to eat. This would save a lot of space inside the shed. Something like this could be made from steel or timber...
spin cycle
Member
- Location
- north norfolk
Hello and welcome to the forum. I think if I had a shed like yours I'd have a feed barrier down the side and then you could unroll a bale of hay along the outside for the sheep to eat. This would save a lot of space inside the shed. Something like this could be made from steel or timber...
A friend of mine uses this kind of system, but I think the concrete floor is essential. Moreover I have to unroll the bale manually and spread about the same quantity of hay along the feed barrier. Unrolling the bale outside can be problematic in case of rain, mud or snow. Anyway I think that it can be a winning solution for a big shed with concrete floor and many animals to feed, perhaps using a bale spreader! Thank you for your contribution.
what sort of sheep do you have w@bulbius ?....welcome to the forum
i think it's really nice to have an italian new member
Thank you! It's very interesting for me to learn how do you deal with ewes in uk
We have comisana sheep from Sicily
For fat lamb production?Thank you! It's very interesting for me to learn how do you deal with ewes in uk
We have comisana sheep from Sicily
Yes, but as breed they are dairy sheeps. Currently we produce some milk, cheese and ricotta for family and friends.
- Location
- West Wales
What sort of price is the milk fetching?
We used to put 5-6 small bales of hay in the mesh feeder and that would be tight in there. We could have up to 50-60 mule ewes on each feeder but they were being fed barley and oats and out on grass so never crushed around it.
We stopped using them after moving to big round bales 7-8years ago.. the occasional one still gets used for a small flock of 35 Rams if it turns wet outside! but most of them have rusted away now!
- Location
- Welshman living in Nottinghamshire
Thank you! It's very interesting for me to learn how do you deal with ewes in uk
We have comisana sheep from Sicily
Wikipedia (oh that reliable resource) suggests the lambs are slaughtered at 1 month weighing 9kg......??????
Philip Watkins
Member
- Location
- Back in Shropshire
From the latin ad libitum.
- Location
- West Wales
From the latin ad libitum.
Or in other words "whenever they want" for example like water is ad lib..
- Location
- Dumfries & Galloway
- Location
- Highland
Very nice to hear from you. It is interesting what you say about the sheep eating inside the feeder if the gap is larger. I will be giving it a try. The sheep pull lumps out of the feeder, eat the bits they want - clovers and soft grasses - stand on the rest and then pull more.
it's true!
it's called "abbacchio", a milk-fed lamb which has about 30 days and weights from 4 to 7 kg.currently we still do it by hand so it costs about 3 hours of work per day. 50-60 ewes per feeder is a great number!
- Location
- Welshman living in Nottinghamshire
it's true!
What sort of price do they fetch? What % of yearly lambs go "abbacchio"? Flavour?
Would certainly free up grazing for the ewes!!
What sort of price do they fetch? What % of yearly lambs go "abbacchio"? Flavour?
Would certainly free up grazing for the ewes!!
prices should be from 10 to 14 € /kg but actually we don't produce it. It has a very tender and sweet taste
Exactly!
Recently I did another experiment by adding a mesh tight around the bale to prevent big parts of the bale falling towards the outer mesh. This seems to reduce hay wasting even more although it can slow down the eating process. I uploaded the pictures showing the two methods, the one with the inner mesh tight to the bale and the one without so you can appreciate the differences. Please send me your thoughts! thank you!
