Hi Brenda. We live in Deer Park, Texas (East side of Houston) and have had a small flock (6) of Barbados for eight years now. I know our winters are slightly warmer than yours, but for what it's worth we've found the same phenomenon you described.... our sheep will do nothing but slightly nibble at hay (just enough to humor us). Our native pasture grass goes dormant, but there still seems to be a marginal nutritional value at the bottom, which remains pale green, to keep them happy and healthy along with the feed we supply. We increase their feed ration for the winter months from 1/2 coffee can per sheep per day to 1/3 can per day. The feed we use is Purina Sheep and Goat Range Checkers. Our sheep have remained very healthy all these years.
We would like to purchase a young, registerable, polled Blackbelly Barbado ram. Any chance y'all will or do have one for sale? Geoff Horn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wayne Harding" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2003 5:58 PM Subject: [blackbelly] Requesting advice re winter supplemental feeding > Hi. My husband and I have a small 60-acre ranch in the beautiful hill > country of Fredericksburg, Texas, and are raising a small, but growing, > flock (19) of BBB sheep. Since obtaining the sheep in early spring this > year, they have fed solely on pasture grass, with bi-weekly supplements of > 3/8" sheep pellets. They have been content and healthy. However, now that > winter has set in (does Texas REALLY have a winter, I ask you, or is that a > joke?), and our pasture grass is dormant and without nutritional value, we > recently attempted to feed them coastal hay, but these little guys must have > more discriminate palates than, say, donkeys, as our BBB's are turning their > little black noses up at the presence of this unsophisticated food as if we > have inflicted the ultimate insult upon them. While I would like to believe > that if they are hungry enough, they will eat even simple coastal hay, I'm > not convinced of that, and I do not wish for them to suddenly become starved > and unhealthy. I have been unable to reach the rancher from whom I purchased > my BBB's, and believe that he is likely out of the country for the holiday > season. Therefore, I am requesting advice from all of the knowledgeable BBB > owners and members who contribute so much to my enjoyment and learning of > this wonderful breed via this helpful mailing list. Will someone please tell > me what I should be feeding my BBB's during the winter months in Texas? > Help...ASAP, please. > > Brenda > > =============================================== > This message is from the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep mailing list. > To respond to this message, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe or change your membership options, go to http://lists.coyotenet.net/mailman/listinfo/blackbelly =============================================== This message is from the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep mailing list. To respond to this message, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe or change your membership options, go to http://lists.coyotenet.net/mailman/listinfo/blackbelly
