Cornell Sheep Program - Cornell Sheep Farm Standard Diet

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Sample diets

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Creep feed
Lamb feed
Ewe feed

Creep feed (May 2009)

This is a high protein diet designed for young lambs. It can be used as a creep feed and as a transition feed during and after weaning until the the lambs are eating well. The diet should be finely ground to encourage consumption by very young lambs and lambs being reared artificially.

The nutrient composition of this feed is given in a FeedForm report.

Table 1. Creep feed.
Ingredient	As-fed, %	Per ton, lb
Corn grain (cracked)	52.2	1044
Soybean meal	20	400
Soy hulls	20	400
Water (add last)^a	5	100
Calcium carbonate	1.5	30
Mineral-vitamin premix (Table 2)	1.00	20
Calcium carbonate	0.80	16
CSF vitamin E premix^b	0.25	5
Deccox, 6% concentrate^c	0.05	1
Totals	100.00	2000
^aWater is included to reduce the dust and prevent lamb pneumonia. This has been shown to be more effective than either molasses or vegetable oil. The added water makes the diet about 13% moisture. It could mold in warm weather when it must be consumed within a week after adding water. ^bContains 8141 IU/lb (DM basis) or 7425 IU/lb (air dry basis) of vitamin E. This is in addition to the vitamin E in the premix, to meet the added requirements for lambs. ^cIn addition to the Deccox in the premix (to ensure that lambs consume sufficient amounts).

Table 2. Mineral & vitamin premix specifications (1% of diet)^a.
	Amount
Nutrient or ingredient^b	Diet	Premix	Units
Salt	0.50	50	%
Deccox, 6% premix	0.05	5	%
Mineral oil	0.005	0.5	%
Manganese	25	2,500	ppm
Vitamin E	42.5	4,250	IU/lb
Selenium	0.30	30	ppm
Zinc	20	2,000	ppm
Iodine	0.80	80	ppm
Vitamin A	1,200	120,000	IU/lb
Vitamin D	150	15,000	IU/lb
Cobalt	0.2	20	ppm
Molybdenum	0.7	70	ppm
^aThis premix was formulated and mixed by The Old Mill (800-945-4474) in Troy, VT and is available through Hewitt Bros, Inc Po Box 147, Locke, NY 13092 (315-497-0900). Alternatively, a different vitamin and mineral mix can be used if the concentrations of minerals and vitamins meet the specified dietary concentrations. ^bThe first three items are ingredients that make up 55.5% of the premix. The other items are nutrients to be supplied by ingredients that make up the other 44.5% of the premix and/or a filler like distillers grains.

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