SILAGE FOR SHEEP

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 886, 1 February 1930, Page 33

SILAGE FOR SHEEP

TASTE TO BE ACQUIRED Although silage is one of the best substitutes for green grass and a' reserve of it is of great value in a season such as the present, a certain amount of disappointment is sometimes expressed by those who are feeding it for the first time. Writing to the New South Wales Department of Agriculture recently, says Dalgety’s Review, a sheep-owner stated that he had been feeding silage with lucerne hay, but that the sheep showed a marked discrimination in favour of the lucerne, and if they picked up a bit of silage immediately dropped it again. He had been feeding it for four or five days. Such an experience Is by no means unusual, stock apparently having to acquire a taste for milage. To begin with, only a small quantity'should be fed to sheep in a smay paddock, and it is best to feed it out in the evening, for if large quantities are put out in the morning and the sheep do not at once take to It, it will dry out in the hot sun in a few hours and be wasted. Once the sheep become accustomed to silage they greatly relish it and will follow the "wagons when the silage is being carted out.

Although sheep are often satisfactorily fed on silage alone, continued feeding on silage exclusively results in loss of condition, the feed being lacking In protein. It is, therefore, preferable to feed silage in combination with a small quantity of wheaten, oaten or lucerne hay—especially the last mentioned, because of its high protein content. Feeding should be commenced while the sheep are still in good, strong condition, and while there is some rough grass about. The silage need only be thrown over a clean piece of ground, but it should be well spread out, and it is best to get a good deal out every day before the sheep are allowed to feed. The sheep should be drafted into lots according to their strength. A plentiful supply of salt should he ■provided for sheep when feeding on silage, even in districts, such as saltbush country, where it is not ordinarily used to any extent. The lick is improved by adding about. Coz of Epsom salts to about 1001 b of coarse salt.