Feeding frenzy

With a vast range available, choosing feed for livestock is never simple. Nutritionists and smallholders give their top tips to Stephanie Bateman to make that selection more straightforward across a raft of species

- Stephanie Bateman

Just like humans, animals need certain nutrients in order to maintain good health. Each season brings with it different challenges for our livestock and birds and so getting their feeding regime right will help to support them through these times — the cold and the wet of winter and the hot and the dry of summer.

And just as with people, different species of farm animals have wide-ranging and specific feed requirements, from goats, who require a high-fiber diet to remain healthy, to chickens, for whom complete feeds make poultry-keeping easy as essentially their total nutritional intake can be found in one bag. Happy days!

FEEDING SHEEP

“The key to a healthy and productive smallholding flock is down to a successful annual feeding plan,” says Heygates’ nutritionist Lydia McCarrick. “When deciding a feeding regime, one of the main factors to consider is the influence of the seasons.”

SUMMER

The target for the summer period should be for the flock to enter the autumn mating period with adequate fat cover to achieve optimum fertility, but high temperatures and low rainfall have probably led to a reduction in grass growth and nutritional quality.

“For this scenario a highquality conserved forage and/or a high-energy compound feed can be offered to supplement grazing,” advises Lydia. “We recommend a high-energy lamb finisher diet, such as Heygates Hogget Nuts.”

AUTUMN

Autumn, when mating or ‘tupping’ occurs, means fertility should be the focus for feeding.