Feeding sheep well is less about finding one perfect hay and more about matching the feed to the mob in front of you. A dry wether ticking over on maintenance has very different needs to a twin-bearing ewe six weeks off lambing, and the hay that keeps one in good order can fall well short for the other. This guide covers the main hays available in Australia, which class of sheep each one suits, and what to look for when you buy, so you can feed with confidence through every stage of the year.
Before the type, get the quality right. Good sheep hay is leafy, green, sweet-smelling and free of dust and mould. One thing matters more for sheep than for most other stock: grass seeds and awns. Barley grass, spear grass and heavy cereal awns can work their way into skin, eyes and mouths, and they downgrade wool with vegetable fault. Give any hay a good look and a shake, check it through the middle rather than just the outside, and steer clear of anything musty, heavily seeded or full of weeds.
Get the quality right and sheep do well on a wide range of hays. Get it wrong and even the best type will let the mob down.
This is the part that matters most with sheep, because their needs swing so much across the year.
Dry maintenance ewes and wethers do fine on good roughage that simply holds condition. But a ewe in the last six weeks of pregnancy, especially carrying twins, needs a big lift in energy and protein, and falling short here is how you end up with pregnancy toxaemia, or twin lamb disease. Lactating ewes need even more to milk well. Growing lambs and weaners need protein to put on frame. So the question is never just “what is the best hay for sheep,” it is “what is the best hay for these sheep, right now.”
A practical rule: cereal hays for energy and maintenance, legume hays like lucerne and vetch to lift protein for ewes and lambs that need it. For late pregnancy and lactation, having the hay feed-tested for energy and protein takes the guesswork out and is well worth the small cost.
Oaten hay is a staple sheep feed in Australia, and for good reason. It is palatable, provides good energy, and most sheep take to it readily, which makes it an excellent base for a maintenance or finishing ration. Browseoaten hay listings.
Barley hay is energy-dense and a strong choice for putting condition on sheep, including finishing lambs. The one thing to check is the awns. Heavily awned barley hay can irritate mouths and add seed to wool, so awnless or well-made barley hay cut before the heads harden is the pick. Browsebarley hay listings.
Wheaten hay is similar to oaten in feel and feed value, palatable and a sound general-purpose roughage for sheep. The same awn check applies, so favour soft, leafy, well-made bales. Browsewheaten hay listings.
Lucerne is the protein and calcium powerhouse of sheep hays, and it earns its place feeding the classes that need a lift: growing lambs and weaners, and ewes through late pregnancy and lactation. For dry maintenance sheep it is more than they need, so it is best fed to the mobs with real demand rather than across the board. Fed to the right class, it is hard to beat. Browselucerne hay listings.
Vetch is a legume hay that suits sheep well, offering good protein at a often more affordable price than lucerne. It is a useful option for lifting the protein in a ration for ewes and growing stock. Browsevetch hay listings.
Clover hay is a good, palatable legume feed with solid protein. One sheep-specific point is worth knowing: some clovers, particularly subterranean and red clover, contain plant oestrogens that can affect the fertility of breeding ewes, a condition known as clover disease. It is not a reason to avoid clover hay across the board, but it is worth knowing the clover type and having a word with your vet or adviser before feeding it heavily to ewes you are about to join. Browseclover hay listings.
For maintenance feeding, good grass hays do the job as everyday roughage.Rhodes grass hay and generalpasture and grass hay provide the fibre a dry mob needs to hold condition. Quality varies more with mixed pasture, so buy on a look-and-smell basis and keep an eye out for weeds and seeds.
Straw, whether barley, wheaten or oaten, is low in energy and protein, so it is not a feed on its own. It has a real place as a roughage source or a ration filler in maintenance and drought feeding, but it needs to be paired with something that supplies energy and protein, especially for any sheep with higher demands. You can find straw among thehay and fodder listings.
When feed is short and dear, it is tempting to buy on price and volume alone. In a dry year, though, quality matters more, not less, and it matters most for the classes that can least afford poor feed. A twin-bearing ewe or a mob of lactating ewes fed weathered, low-energy hay will drop condition fast, and that is how you slide into pregnancy toxaemia and lost lambs. A smaller amount of good, tested hay does more for those sheep than a shed full of poor hay, and once you factor in the extra supplement poor hay forces you to feed, the good stuff can work out cheaper per unit of feed value. This is exactly when afeed test earns its keep. When you are paying premium prices, it pays to know what you are buying.
Whatever type you choose, run the same checks. Look for green colour and plenty of leaf. Smell for a fresh, sweet scent and reject anything musty or mouldy. Shake a flake to check for dust. Watch closely for grass seeds and awns, which matter more for sheep than most stock. And ask the seller how and when it was cut and stored, since well-made, well-stored hay holds its value far longer. For ewes in late pregnancy or lactation, a feed test is the surest way to know the hay will meet the mob’s needs.
You can browse quality sheep hay from verified sellers across the country in ourhay and fodder listings, and if you are building or adding to a flock, you will findsheep for sale as well. Every sale is protected through CheckVault escrow, so your payment is held securely until the hay arrives and matches what was described. To go deeper on how the hays compare, our guides to thedifferent types of hay in Australia andprotein hays compared are a good next read.
Match the hay to the mob and the season, keep the quality high, and your sheep will do the rest.
Search our marketplace