Sheep and goat owners - do you feed by the sun or the clock?

norseofcourse

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With time change this weekend, I got to thinking, how do other livestock owners handle it?

I feed twice a day, morning and evening (sheep, ponies). I have to feed more by the clock in the morning due to work. But in the evening, I've been trying to feed close to sundown, which gradually gets later this time of year. I have to rush home after work during the dead of winter, and barely have enough time to feed before it's dark. As the days lengthen, it's nice not to have to rush so fast, or even have time to run an errand or two on my way home.

Do you feed by the sun or by the clock? Do you vary the timing when days get shorter and/or longer? Do you switch when daylight savings time begins/ends, do you stay on the 'old' time, or do you gradually move feeding time over the course of a few days?
 

HoneyDreameMomma

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We're a bit more lax on the weekends, but because of our schedules, we usually feed by the clock. Animals get fed before kids go to school and DH and I go to work (usually around 5:45-6:00am), and the kids feed them when they get home from school (between 4:30-5:00pm). LOL - the goats and dogs know the sound of the school bus, and they get excited when it comes around the corner!
 

babsbag

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It is never a precise time around here. Morning can be anytime between 6 and 10 AM and night can be anytime after 5 up until I go to bed. The house dogs are a little more "normal", but not always.
 

SheepGirl

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I used to feed everyday at 5 pm. Now I just kind of go out whenever I feel like it :hide

My work schedule varies day to day (same with school) so I can work as early as 12 pm to as late as 6 pm or go to school as early as 11 am... which means I need to be up at least 1 hour before I have to be somewhere. With my late hours (working til 8 pm to as late as 2 am), and my friends wanting to go to Sheetz or IHOP after work or walk around Walmart, I don't go to bed until 3 to 5 in the morning so I don't wake up until 10, 11, 12... haha. Usually I will feed them before I go to work, but if I have to be somewhere at 12 or before, I feed them when I get home (around 4 pm or 9 pm). So I feed them between 11 and 2 pm 4 days of the week and 4 pm 2 days of the week and 9 pm 1 day of the week. They are pretty flexible and they don't mind. They bleat and holler at me even louder when I feed them earlier (11) rather than later (2 or 3 pm). Kind of weird how that works!
 

AriesX

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We are pretty flexible. They get fed sometime between 8 and 10 in the morning and anywhere from 6-9 at night. They seem to be fine with it though they prefer to be fed earlier than later. They always have some hay leftover from the last feeding so they are not starved by any means. They are grain addicts though and LOVE their brewers grain or commercial feed in the evening.
 

vt_mountainman

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I feed more by the sun than by the clock. In the morning I let them out of the barn as soon as it gets light out. At night I bring them in from their pasture, and put them in the barn, just before it gets dark. They seem to like to graze late in the evening when it's cooler, so I like to leave them outside as long as I can. In the winter I also wait until the sun comes up to let them out and feed them. I feed them again in the early afternoon, just before the sun sets.
 

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