Workshop, 2015 Black Sheep Gathering: Feeding Sheep and Goats 101

At the Black Sheep Gathering, Eugene, Oregon:

I will conduct a practical workshop on how to feed sheep and goats. We’ll cover the basic principles of energy and protein nutrition and how to apply these principles to day-to-day choices of rations and feeds. We’ll focus on the different periods of your animals’ production cycle: growth, flushing, gestation, lactation, and weaning. Some topics will include matching animal needs with pastures, growing replacement animals, how, what, and when to supplement grain, vitamins and minerals. We’ll especially concentrate on how nutrition affects fiber growth and quality. We’ll also cover some common nutritional problems such as bloat, urinary calculi, grain overload, pregnancy disease, moldy hay, selenium, and copper. And of course, there will be plenty of time for discussion and questions.