Sheep love to graze and spend most of their time outdoors when the weather permits. This means that they have access to grass and weeds, which they eat voraciously. While most people think of broadleaf herbs as something used in cooking, there are several other herbs that sheep love to eat.
These include basil, which is also an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Read on to learn more about whether sheep can eat basil and its benefits for them.
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Nutritional Value Of Basil
Basil is an excellent herb for both humans and animals. It is rich in antioxidants and vitamins, potassium, iron, and magnesium. In fact, basil has more calcium than milk, and it also has anti-inflammatory properties.
Sheep can eat basil fresh or dried as both have the same nutritional value. They love the smell of basil and will nibble on it if they find it in the pasture. If you want to add basil to the diet of your sheep, you’ll need to grow it in a pot, as it isn’t frost-tolerant.
You can then feed it to your sheep fresh or dry it out to make it last longer.
Benefits of Feeding Sheep Basil
If your sheep are grazing on pasture, they’re likely to be getting plenty of basil. But if you’re feeding them hay or a commercial feed, you can add some to their diet to get the following benefits:
– Basil can help prevent coccidiosis, which is a parasitic disease that kills 80% of lambs raised on commercial feed.
– Basil is rich in antioxidants, which can help prevent oxidative stress that can lead to anemia.
– Basil is an excellent source of calcium, which is great for pregnant ewes and growing lambs.
– Feeding sheep basil can help increase milk production in dairy sheep.
How to Feed Basil to Sheep?
You can feed basil to your sheep either fresh or dried. Be careful to avoid the stems and leaves that are closest to the ground, as they’re more likely to be contaminated with dirt.
– Feed fresh basil: Pick the leaves from the basil and chop them up into small pieces. Sprinkle them onto the ground for the sheep to nibble. You can also feed the leaves to pregnant ewes or growing lambs by hand.
– Feed dried basil: Sprinkle dried basil onto the ground or mix it with a commercial feed.
What Should Sheep Eat?
Sheep have complex digestive systems that can break down lots of different plants. They have a rumen, which acts as a fermentation vat where lots of microorganisms break down the nutrition in the food.
This is why it’s important to provide a wide variety of feed, to ensure that all the different microorganisms are fed. This can prevent disease and allow the sheep to get the most nutrition from the feed.
The best feed for sheep is a mix of grass and other plants, such as legumes, clovers, or alfalfa. You can also feed them hay, which is dried and chopped up plants.
You can even feed the sheep your kitchen scraps, just make sure they don’t have any citrus in them.
Conclusion
Sheep are herbivores, meaning that their digestive tract is best equipped to handle roughage. They can eat a wide variety of plants, including vegetables and herbs. There are many herbs that sheep love to eat, including basil.
Basil is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It can help prevent coccidiosis in lambs and increase milk production in dairy sheep. If you want to feed basil to your sheep, you can either pick the leaves and chop them up or sprinkle dried basil onto the ground or mixed with a commercial feed.
If you want your flock to be healthy and happy, make sure to include plenty of fresh herbs in their diet.
