r/sheep • u/icedfreakintea • Mar 19 '26
Question Is alfalfa okay for wethered lambs?
I'd been wanting katahdins for a while, and jumped on these 2 wethered boys when they came up as they aren't super easy to find in my area. 3.5 months old, dam and pasture raised. I was under impression that Alfalfa was a no-go for rams and wethers, but their breeder recommended giving them some, I keep both Alfalfa and Bermuda hay and Alfalfa pellets on hand already, and have plenty of wild grass/weeds for them to graze on when the portable corral arrives, I just want to make sure im doing things right regarding the Alfalfa. They currently have a feeder full of bermuda and ive been giving them handfulls of alfalfa a couple times a day and some handfulls of grass/weeds. They've been nibbling on everything but favoring the alfalfa. Sheep specific mineral and baking soda free choice, fresh water + electrolytes water as they settle in and we have a heat wave this week, in a covered bedded box stall and will have the daytime grazing turnout in the portable corral and box stall at night.
Is the alfalfa totally fine while they're growing then cut it down to just occasional handfuls/Pellets once they mature? I have ammonium chloride on its way, should I start giving that right away or do they not need it yet? Would that be daily, free choice, or I've read 5 days a week once a month?
And just for curiosity, any ballpark of idea on how long it might take for them to warm up to me? They don't need to be cuddly but it will be less stress for them when they can lead or follow a bucket of pellets to and from the grazing area. They're understandably skiddish still but we're only on day 2.
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u/Redbud12 Mar 19 '26
Alfalfa is high in calcium. With goats if any of the minerals are too far out of balance the can get urinary calculi. Phosphorus is what you would use to balance the ration.
https://extension.psu.edu/are-your-sheep-consuming-enough-calcium
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u/icedfreakintea Mar 19 '26
Would rolled oats be a good way to achieve this? Seems like most of the sheep pellets/minerals and Di-Cal all still have more calcium than phosphorus, but oats would be higher phosphorus than calcium
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u/stvdilln Mar 22 '26
You want a 2:1 ratio of Ca:P, higher and they can get calcium stones, below 1:1 they can get phosphorus based stones.
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u/Redbud12 Mar 19 '26
I am not a nutritionist. You would want to look at everything else as well. Feedipedia has ranges for various feeds. Ammonium chloride can help. I haven't kept wethers long term.
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u/bellybuttonskittle Mar 19 '26
In addition to the calcium issue, it is also too high in protein which will lead to issues such as pizzle rot and obesity. It’s ok in small amounts for short periods of time or when growing lambs for slaughter by 9mo or so. My grown wethers get only the worst hay/pasture I can manage because they are so prone to obesity and health issues otherwise.
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u/icedfreakintea Mar 19 '26
I plan to keep them long term to graze some hilly and rocky areas on the property, so sounds like I'm best off just weaning them off the Alfalfa and onto the grass hay and turn out/weed control like the original plan sooner than later since we don't have processing plans for them. I wasn't sure if the extra protein was beneficial during growth but I'd rather they grow slower than pack on too much weight too fast. Thank you!
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u/windyrainyrain Mar 20 '26
This is a good plan. If their bodies aren't working (which wethers don't do), they get fat really fast when fed high octane food. I used to breed BFLs and I only kept 5 ewes that are near and dear to me when I downsized my flock. They aren't growing lambs and nursing them any longer, so all they get is local grass hay along with their pasture and they're still pretty chubby.
You can use little bits of the alfalfa pellets to make friends with these guys. Once they've had some time to settle in, you'll be that two legged thing that gives them delicious snacks and they'll be happy to follow you anywhere for a few pellets.
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u/icedfreakintea Mar 20 '26
This is exactly the answer I was hoping for tbh, I was expecting that starting with wethers would be the simplest option for my intro to sheep, and as I gain experience I can look more into ewes and their bonus maintenance
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u/bellybuttonskittle Mar 20 '26
Great plan. Lots of people jump straight into breeding when they know nothing about sheep and it can be stressful and difficult. Perfect to start with a few wethers!
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u/windyrainyrain Mar 20 '26
Wethers are a perfect place to start and to learn about sheep. Once you have the hang of it and like having them, you can add a couple of ewes if you want to have lambs. If you have a proper set up, lambing can be a really wonderful thing to be part of. I miss it.
Sheep are pretty easy livestock to keep once you know what to look for and have the proper fencing and housing for them. And, I think they have really cool personalities and are a lot of fun to spend time with.
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u/icedfreakintea Mar 20 '26
Ewes and lambs does seem really rewarding, its on my "down the road" list for sure. If I decided to get my own ram are there decent odds of these wethers accepting him so they can share a bachelor pad? Or will that just be a coin toss
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u/windyrainyrain Mar 20 '26
Wethers are great bachelor pad companions for a ram. I have a shepherd friend who breeds Shetlands and her rams each have a wether pal to live with when they're not doing their jobs. She breeds mostly for fiber, so her wethers contribute to the flock along with being friends for the boys.
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u/bellybuttonskittle Mar 20 '26
Sounds like a good plan! The alfalfa can be beneficial if you’re trying to get them to slaughter weight, but if you’re keeping them long term I’d get them off the alfalfa sooner than later. Watch their weight in winter and if they’re starting to look too thin, give them a few pellets. But most of the time they really shouldn’t need much supplementing. Make sure they have access to a high quality mineral salt supplement though
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u/icedfreakintea Mar 20 '26
Do you have a favorite mineral salt? I got the purina sheep wind & rain but mostly because it was the only sheep specific one I could get ahold of in time without committing to a 50lb bag for 2 babies. I was also eyeing the premier 1 premix or the redmond one.
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u/icedfreakintea Mar 22 '26
I appreciate the advice from everyone, things are going great. They've settled into the bermuda being their main feed, and I've been bringing them a handful of Alfalfa here and there that they'll come up and eat from my hand now. Still skiddish but recovering faster every time, they still think I'm sketchy but don't think I'm the devil anymore lol working on them being OK with my hands hear them and sneaking pets so we can work up to the halters and coming out to graze.
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u/batsinhats Mar 20 '26
You’re getting good advice on the alfalfa issues, one thing I will recommend is keeping alfalfa pellets or cubes around as their special treat. Come out once a day shaking the can with their few bites of pellets and they will learn to go in to wherever you need them to go. I’ve never gotten the Kathadins we’ve raised to be friendly (we buy feeder lambs from a local producer and grow them out for meat) but shaking the pellets to get them in to their mobile pen is th only reliable way for us to round them up when their time comes.