Treats
& Feed For Our Soay
Our Soay forage through our woods and eat everything
in sight except foxglove - they leave that alone, which is good as it is toxic
to them.
Our
Soay love blackberries, salmon berries, wild raspberries, huckleberries, and ferns
- all of which grow in abundance in the woods. As we expand the fenced areas the
Soay clear the undergrowth. We will eventually have enough fenced areas to seed
and do pasture rotations.
Until
the cleared areas are seeded and established all of this forage is not sufficient
to grow healthy Soay or to support pregnant Soay. We supplement their forage with
orchard grass and local grass hay year around. Our sheep also like timothy grass
hay. We feed very little alfalfa - though it is a Soay favorite, because we have
been told it's too hot for them as a primary diet.
We
offer occasional treats to our flock. We offer orchard and timothy grass pellets,
occasional COB that is fortified with vitamins, sheep show rations, and diced
dried apples.
This
year we are also planting pumpkins with the intention of storing enough through
the winter to give them weekly treats. Pumpkin seeds are reported to be a natural
parasite control.
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