As ruminants with four stomachs, sheep are used to digesting highly fibrous foods. Grass, hay and silage are ideal for these frugal animals. But are sheep occasionally allowed to eat apples, carrots or bread?
Apples and carrots
In fact, sheep are allowed to eat many types of fruit and vegetables - especially apples and carrots. However, you shouldonly feed this food occasionally and in small quantities, whereper animalaboutone apple or one to two carrots per animal week should be completely sufficient. Remember that sheep are real roughage specialists, especially since many of the older breeds are very frugal and good feed converters. These sheep should not be fed high-calorie feed as you can easily overfeed them.
Note:
However, apples and carrots in particular contain a lot of fructose and should therefore be treated like candy for sheep.
Feeding Rules
So that your sheep are not harmed when you give them apples and carrots to eat, you should also pay attention to these rules when feeding them:
- don't feed rotten or moldy fruit and vegetables
- only give perfect apples and carrots
- make sure that individual sheep do not eat large quantities
- best to feed by hand
- don't leave leftover food lying around
Leftover apples and carrots can quickly start to rot or ferment, especially when it is damp. Both can harm the animals and, in the worst case, even lead to their death.
Tip:
In addition to apples and carrots, sheep also like to eat beetroot, boiled potatoes and potato peelings. But the same applies here: only feed in small quantities!
Bread
The same rules apply to bread and rolls as to apples and carrots: Since these carbohydrate-rich foods are not made for sheep's stomachs, they shouldonly be fed rarely and in small quantities. A piece of bread is okay, as long as it
- well dried
- not moldy
- and not wet
is! Soggy and/or moldy bread can start to ferment in the sheep's digestive tract, causing the animals to become seriously ill or even die. When feeding bread, please note that these foods can contain a lot of s alt, spices and other ingredients that are not suitable for sheep. Yeast contained in it continues to ferment in the stomach and intestines and causes problems there.
Note:
For this reason, you should never feed strange animals by feeding them at the fence or throwing feed onto the pasture! This is often well-intentioned, but it makes the animals sick. Many grazing animals die from external feeding.
Frequently asked questions
What are sheep not allowed to eat?
Under no circumstances should you feed sheep maple and oak branches, buttercups (dandelions), docks, ferns, meadowfoam, buttercups, sour grasses or sedges. The yew, arborvitae (thuja), ragwort, autumn crocus, horsetail and sweet clover are particularly poisonous to animals. Check the forage meadows regularly for this growth and remove potentially dangerous plants.
What do sheep particularly like to eat?
Sheep particularly like to eat grass, hay and straw. The animals also like silage very much, but they should only be fed a little. Silage is very rich in energy and protein. Sheep also like to nibble on fresh twigs and branches of unsprayed and non-toxic deciduous trees, such as fruit trees. Beets and other root vegetables can also be given in moderation - but be careful, the same applies here as described under “Apples and carrots”.
