Short answer: A sheep pen in Ghana must stay dry in the rains, cool and ventilated through the coastal humidity, and fed through a dry season that can last half the year in the north. Raise the floor, give each animal enough feeder length, and store dry-season roughage before the grass runs out. Feed ewes, rams and lambs on separate plans, and keep poultry feed sealed away from them.
Key takeaways
- Raise the floor and drain the site. A wet pen causes more sheep trouble than any single feed mistake.
- Allow enough feeder length and floor space so the weakest animal can eat at the same time as the strongest.
- Cut and carry forage in the wet season and store roughage for the dry months before you need it.
- Feed pregnant ewes and lambs on their own plans, because their needs differ from those of a fattening ram.
- Keep water clean and the trough scrubbed, and check the lick and water every morning.
A sheep shed is a drainage problem with a roof on top
Walk into a sheep pen in Ghana in the middle of the rains and the first thing that hits you is the smell of wet dung and wet bedding. The second is the sight of the animals standing in the one dry corner they can find. Most people building their first pen think about the roof. The people who keep sheep for years think about the floor, the drain and the slope of the ground outside the door.
A sheep shed is, in practical terms, a drainage problem with a roof on top. Water that pools under the pen softens the hooves, rots the feed and breeds the worms and the bacteria that cause foot trouble and chest infections. Get the ground right, and the rest of the housing is much easier to run. Get it wrong, and no amount of concentrate will make up for the lost condition.
This guide covers the housing and feeding of sheep on a small or medium holding in Ghana. It takes account of the coastal humid zone, the forest belt and the drier savannah north, because a pen that works in Ashanti may fail in Tamale and the other way round. It is written by a poultry hatchery that knows how much a good shed matters, and it routes you back to the chick side where it helps. Halaal Farms does not sell sheep or building materials.
Site first: higher ground, shade and a breeze you can count on
Choose the site before you measure a single post. Stand on the proposed spot after a heavy rain and look at where the water goes. If it runs towards the pen, or if it sits in a hollow that stays wet for days, find another place. A slope of even a little fall away from the building is worth more than a bag of cement.
Shade matters as much as dryness. A sheep in full sun on a hot coastal afternoon will pant, stop eating and lose weight. Trees on the eastern or western side give shade without blocking the wind. Do not plant the pen under a tree that drops fruit or sap onto the roof, and keep the building clear of branches that can scratch the animals or give them a route to escape.
In the north, the harmattan wind is dusty and cold at night. A pen that is open on the windward side loses warmth quickly, and a pen closed on all four sides traps ammonia and damp. Look for a site that is sheltered from the prevailing wind but still allows air to move through the building at the height of the animals' heads.
Keep the site close enough to water and to your feed store that you can do the morning round without a long walk, but far enough from the house that the smell and the noise do not cause conflict with the neighbours. Sheep bleat early.
Floor types and what each one costs you in labour
There are three floor types that work in Ghana. Each one trades up-front effort for ongoing effort, and the right choice depends on your rainfall, your labour and how many animals you plan to keep.
| Floor type | Good for | Main drawback | Labour to keep it right |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raised slatted floor, with the dung falling through to a pit or a cleared gap | Wet coastal and forest zones, and larger flocks | Needs careful build so the slats do not trap a hoof, and the pit must be emptied | Low day to day, periodic clearing of the pit |
| Packed earth floor on raised ground, with dry bedding added regularly | Savannah and the north, where the rains are short | Bedding gets wet and smells in a long wet season | Medium, daily forking and fresh bedding |
| Concrete floor with a slope, covered with deep litter | Small pens and families who want easy washing | Hard on feet if bare, cold at night in the north, and slippery when wet | Medium, litter turned and topped up each week |
For most people starting out, a raised earth floor on compacted ground, with a shallow drain cut around the outside, is the cheapest and most forgiving choice. It works in the north and it can be made to work in the south if the ground is high enough. Slatted floors are better in the wettest areas, but they need a builder who knows how wide to space the slats for young lambs, because a lamb can get a foot stuck in a gap that is too wide.
Whatever you choose, keep the floor level with the ground outside. A step up into the pen gives you a lip where water settles and the animals will not walk over it. Check the floor after each heavy rain and fill any hole before the next one.
Pen size, feeder length and how many sheep share a pen
Space is the first thing overcrowding takes away. A pen that holds the right number of sheep on a dry morning can hold twice as many when the rain keeps everyone inside for a week. Plan the floor area for normal conditions, then leave some margin for the wet season or the day you bring in extra animals.
As a planning rule, allow roughly one square metre of floor space for each adult sheep in a pen where the animals also feed and rest, and more for rams that are kept together for long periods. Lambs need less, but they also need room to get away from an adult that is pushing them off the feeder. Check any figure you take from a book against the animals you actually have, and ask your agric extension officer to look at the plan before you build.
Feeder length is the number people underestimate. Every sheep in the pen should be able to reach the feed at the same time without a fight. A short feeder means the stronger animals eat first and the weaker ones go hungry. Divide the length of the feeder by the number of animals and you get a rough figure for the space each one has, then add a margin for the bossy ones.
Separate pens are worth the extra posts. Keep rams apart from ewes outside the breeding season, and keep the ewes that are close to lambing in their own pen where you can watch them. Lambs need a creep, a small enclosure with a low opening, so they can reach creep feed and get out of the way of the adults. A creep costs little to build and it saves more lambs than most owners expect.
Ventilation in the coastal humidity and the northern cold
A sheep house needs air moving at the height of the animals' noses, not just a hole in the roof. In the coastal and forest zones the air is humid for much of the year, and humid air holds dung smell, ammonia and dust close to the sheep. Chest infections start in pens where the air stands still.
Build the walls with gaps or open mesh along the upper half, and leave the lower wall open or low enough that a breeze can pass through when the animals are standing. Put the ridge of the roof higher than the eaves so warm air rises out of the building. Overhang the eaves a little to keep rain off the walls without closing the gap.
In the north the same openings cause a different problem at night. During the harmattan the temperature can drop sharply after dark, and wind pushes cold air straight through a wide-open pen. The solution is not to close the building. Use a windbreak of woven mat, sacking or a row of trees on the windward side, and deep bedding on the floor that the animals can burrow into. Keep the animals dry, and most of the cold risk goes away.
Watch the animals themselves. Sheep that are bunched tightly in one corner are cold. Sheep that stand with their heads low and their noses running are struggling with damp or dust. Sheep that lie in the open at midday in the shade are telling you the pen is too hot, and the shade needs to move or a sunshade needs to go up.
Feeders and drinkers that waste nothing
A feeder that lets the sheep pull feed out and drop it on the floor is paying for the dung pile rather than the animal. The feed that gets trampled, soiled or wet is lost, and it is usually the best feed in the bin because it is the bit the sheep could reach.
Build feeders at a height the sheep can reach comfortably without putting their feet in the trough. A low board on the front stops the animals from pulling out the hay in mouthfuls and dragging it around. For roughage, a hay rack on the wall works well, because it holds the forage above the bedding. For concentrate, a trough with a lid or a lip keeps rain and dung out and stops the animals from climbing in.
Drinkers need the same care. Place them where the animals walk past them without having to climb, and keep them off the floor where dung and urine collect. A raised bucket or trough, emptied and scrubbed at least once a week, stops the algae and the biofilm that puts sheep off drinking. Sheep that do not drink enough eat less, and sheep that eat less lose condition.
- Feeder board or lip set at a height the sheep can reach without standing in the trough.
- Hay racks fixed above the bedding line, not on the floor.
- Concentrate troughs covered or fitted with a lip against rain and dung.
- Drinkers raised off the floor and scrubbed weekly.
- Feed and water checked at morning and evening, every day, without exception.
Wet-season forage: what to cut and when
The rains are when the grass grows, and the rains are when a lot of forage goes to waste. Cut too late and the stems are tough, the leaves are thin and the sheep turn their noses up. Cut too early and the plant is all water, which gives little dry matter for the money. The sweet spot is usually when the grass is growing strongly but the leaves are still leafy and green.
Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) is the workhorse in most parts of Ghana. It grows in clumps, responds well to cutting and makes good fodder for sheep when it is cut young. Elephant grass, also called Napier grass, grows taller and produces more bulk. It needs a sunny site and regular cutting, and it is best chopped into short lengths before it goes into the trough, because the stems are coarse. Legume forage such as stylo or leucaena can add protein, but leucaena contains a compound that can harm ruminants if they eat too much of it, so introduce it slowly and keep it to a fraction of the diet. Ask your agric extension officer which legume is best suited to your zone. Our article on leucaena leaf meal is a useful reference for the same plant, seen from the poultry side.
Cut and carry is the simplest way to run forage on a small holding. Cut a bundle each morning or evening, carry it to the pen and feed what the sheep will clean up. Do not let cut grass sit in a heap in the sun, because it heats, rots and becomes unsafe. A cut-and-carry plot close to the pen saves a lot of walking, and the cut grass can be fed fresh, which keeps the sheep eating well.
Keep a record of which plot you cut and when. Grass cut at the same stage each time grows back faster and gives steadier yields. This matters more than most people realise when the dry season comes.
The dry-season bridge: hay, residues and storage
The dry season is the hungry season, and in the north it can feel like the longest half of the year. The grass browns off, the stems lose their goodness and the sheep start to chew at anything that looks edible. The answer is a feed bank built before the rains end, not a scramble in February.
Hay is the best store for most small holdings. Cut guinea grass or other grass at the flowering stage, dry it in the field for a day or two until it is crisp, then turn it and stack it under cover. Good hay is green, dry and sweet-smelling. Mouldy hay, hay that has been rained on and hay that smells sour should not be fed.
Crop residues make up the rest of the bank. Groundnut haulm, cowpea haulm and maize stover are common in the north and the middle belt. Cowpea haulm is often richer in protein than most grasses, so it adds value to a hay ration. Maize stover is bulkier and thinner in protein, so it needs a partner such as cowpea haulm or a cake. Rice straw is very low in nutrients on its own and should be treated as bedding or bulk rather than the main feed.
| Store | Typical source | What it does in the ration | Storage note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guinea grass hay | Cut at flowering, dried in the field | Main bulk roughage | Stack off the ground, under cover, dry |
| Cowpea haulm | Harvested after pods are picked | Roughage with more protein | Dry fully and keep out of damp |
| Groundnut haulm | Harvested after groundnuts are lifted | Roughage with useful protein | Dry in the sun, then store on a raised rack |
| Maize stover | Stalks and leaves after the maize harvest | Bulk, low in protein | Chop and store in a dry shed |
| Rice straw | After threshing | Bedding or bulk, not a main feed | Keep dry, watch for mould |
Groundnut haulm is the one most poultry keepers already know, and our guide on groundnut haulm as forage explains the drying step in more detail. Store the feed bank in a dry, ventilated place that rats and damp cannot reach. Raise the bales off the floor on pallets or poles, and keep a clear gap between the stack and the wall. Count the bundles at the start of the dry season and again each month, so you know how far the stock will last and when the next cut is needed.
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Feeding ewes, rams and lambs on separate plans
A flock is not one animal repeated. A breeding ewe, a ram that is kept entire, a weaned lamb and a ewe close to lambing each need something different, and feeding them all from the same bowl is the surest way to shortchange at least one of them.
Ewes in the last weeks of pregnancy carry the heaviest demand in the flock, because the unborn lambs grow fastest in the final stage. A ewe that is under-fed then can develop pregnancy toxaemia, a serious metabolic problem that is hard to reverse once the animal is down. Give pregnant ewes good roughage, a sensible concentrate and a steady supply of water. If a ewe stops eating, call the vet the same day. Do not wait to see whether she picks up.
Ewes that are feeding lambs need extra energy and protein, and their milk supply depends on what they eat. Keep them on a richer ration than the dry ewes, and watch the lambs' growth. A lamb that is not gaining weight is often a sign that the ewe is short of feed.
Rams kept entire through the breeding season need enough condition to work without going thin, and they need protein. A ram that is much too fat in the mating period can be slow to serve. A ram that is too thin will lose interest. Weigh the rams and score their condition alongside the ewes, and adjust the ration to keep them in the middle of the scale.
Weaned lambs grow fastest in the first months after weaning. Give them access to a creep ration and good roughage from the start, and move them onto the flock ration when they are big enough to compete at the feeder. Scouring in weaned lambs is worth catching early, and our sheep diseases guide covers the usual causes. A ram being fattened for a festive sale is a different job, and our guide to fattening rams for the festive season covers it. The table below sets out the broad approach. The exact quantities depend on the weights and the feeds you use, so check them with your extension officer.
| Group | Main need | Feed approach | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry ewes | Maintenance | Good roughage, a small concentrate, mineral lick | Body score drifting down |
| Ewes close to lambing | Extra energy for the growing lambs | Richer roughage and a planned concentrate increase | Refusing feed, lethargy, weight loss |
| Ewes with lambs | Milk production | Higher energy and protein, plenty of water | Lambs not gaining weight |
| Rams in the breeding season | Condition without excess fat | Balanced ration, weighed each month | Too thin or too fat for the mating period |
| Weaned lambs | Fast, steady growth | Creep feed and good roughage, then the flock ration | Diarrhoea, a dull coat, poor gain |
Water, trough hygiene and the lick
Clean water is the cheapest medicine a sheep keeper has, and it is the one most often neglected in the dry season. A trough that has not been emptied for a week grows a skin of algae, collects dung and dries out at the edges. Sheep will refuse it, and the ones that drink anyway pick up the germs.
Fill the drinker morning and evening. Scrub it with a brush at least once a week, and rinse it before the next fill. Shade the water point if you can, because warm water tastes worse and sheep drink less of it. Where the water comes from a well or a borehole, have it tested now and then through the district assembly or the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, and do not assume that water which looks clear is safe.
A salt lick is the second half of the job. Sheep need sodium, and the grass they eat in the rains is often short on it. A salt block in a dry, covered holder lets them lick as they need it. Choose a ruminant mineral block when the dry grass is poor, and let the label and your vet set the amount. Keep the block off the wet floor, because wet salt softens and the sheep will not eat it.
Put the water and the lick where the animals walk past them on the way to the feeder, so they drink and lick without being pushed out of the way by the bigger animals.
A year of feeding in three seasons
Most feeding plans fall apart because they are written for one season and used in another. Ghana does not have one climate. The south has two rainy seasons, the middle belt has one long wet season and the north has one wet season and a long dry one. The harmattan adds a dry, dusty spell that hits the whole country in the winter months. A year of feeding should be planned around the three seasons you actually live through.
| Season | Typical feeding focus | Housing focus | Health focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rainy season | Cut and carry fresh grass and legumes, and store surplus as hay | Dry bedding, raised floor, drainage cleared | Worms, foot problems, chest infections in damp pens |
| Dry season | Feed from the hay and residue store, add protein and a mineral lick | Check the feed store for pests and damp, keep water flowing | Poor condition, weight loss, pregnancy demands of ewes |
| Harmattan | Keep roughage up, watch dust in the feed | Windbreak up, deep bedding, cover the trough | Coughs, dusty eyes, cold-stressed lambs |
Use the table as a monthly check rather than a fixed programme. In a dry year the rains will come late and the forage will be thin, so the dry-season bank has to stretch further. In a wet year the forage is plentiful and the risk shifts to damp and worms. Note the actual season each year on your feeding sheet, and adjust the next year's plan from what happened.
Dung, bedding and what they do for the plot
Sheep dung is one of the most useful things a small holding produces, if it is handled well. Left in a heap next to the pen, it stinks, it draws flies and it leaches into the ground. Turned, dried and rotted down, it becomes a good soil conditioner for maize, vegetables and the forage plot that feeds the flock.
Clean out the pen regularly, and move the dung to a covered heap on a concrete or packed earth base. Keep it moist but not soaking, turn it every few weeks, and let it rot for several months before it goes onto the field. Used bedding such as sawdust, chopped stover or groundnut haulm can go into the same heap. Our piece on composting poultry litter covers the turning and moisture routine, which works the same way for sheep dung.
Keep the sheep heap and the poultry heap separate if you can. Mixing them is fine once both are rotted, but a fresh heap of mixed litter can get hot, lose nitrogen and attract flies. Label each heap with the date you started it. Once it has rested, spread it on the plot before the planting rains, and note the field and the crop. Over a few seasons that record tells you which plot is responding and which needs more.
If you already use poultry manure on your maize or vegetables, read our guide to using poultry manure as fertiliser alongside this. The same care with timing, drying and application applies to sheep dung, although the quantities and the nutrient mix differ.
Checklist before the first ewe moves in
A new pen is easier to fix before the animals are in it. Walk the checklist with a friend who has kept sheep before, and ask them to point out anything you have missed. A second pair of eyes is cheap, and a pen that is wrong on day one is expensive to repair with the flock inside.
- Site drains away from the pen, and the ground outside the door is level or sloping away.
- Floor is raised, firm and clear of holes, with any slats spaced for lambs.
- Each animal has enough floor space and feeder length, with a creep for lambs.
- Walls are open at the top and mesh or gaps allow air to move at animal height.
- Windbreak in place for the north or the harmattan, and shade in place for the south.
- Feeders and hay racks are raised, covered where needed and easy to clean.
- Drinkers are raised off the floor, scrubbed and filled twice a day.
- Dry-season feed bank counted and stored off the ground under cover.
- Salt lick in a dry holder, and a mineral block chosen with your vet or extension officer.
- Separate pens ready for rams, ewes close to lambing and weaned lambs.
- Poultry feed in sealed bins, labelled and out of the sheep's reach.
Once the pen is ready and the checklist is ticked, the animals can move in. If you are still deciding whether sheep suit your holding, our article on small-scale cattle farming in Ghana covers the next step up in size, and the general planning questions are similar. For the birds that many sheep keepers keep alongside, you can start with day-old chicks from Halaal Farms, compare the current starting prices on the prices page, place an order through the order form, or speak to our team on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503. If you are thinking about a longer supply arrangement, the partner page is the place to start.
Questions farmers ask
Do sheep need a roofed house in Ghana?
Yes, in most places. A roof keeps the rain off the bedding and the feed, and it gives the animals shelter from the midday sun. The roof does not need to be sealed. Open walls at animal height keep the air moving, which matters more than the roof material.
How much floor space does a sheep need?
As a planning rule, about one square metre for each adult sheep in a pen where the animals also feed and rest, with more margin for rams and for the wet season. Treat that as a starting figure, and check it against the animals you keep and the pen you build with your extension officer.
Can I keep sheep on a concrete floor?
You can, with deep litter on top and a slope for drainage. Bare concrete is hard on feet and slippery when wet, and it is cold at night in the north. A raised earth floor with dry bedding is often kinder to the animals and cheaper to put right.
What is the best forage to grow for sheep?
Guinea grass is the usual first choice because it is hardy, responds to cutting and works across most zones. Elephant grass gives more bulk on good soil. Legumes add protein, but some, such as leucaena, must be introduced slowly and kept to a fraction of the diet. Ask your agric extension officer which combination suits your zone.
How much hay should I store for the dry season?
There is no single number that fits every holding, because it depends on how many animals you keep, how long the dry season runs and how much forage you can cut. Count the animals, estimate the months without fresh grass, and check the stock monthly. Keep a margin, because a poor rainy season can shorten the harvest.
Why are my lambs not gaining weight?
The most common causes are a ewe short of milk, lambs crowded out of the feeder, worms, or a creep that is too small or too far from the water. Weigh the lambs, check the ewes' body scores and look at the dung. If the lambs stay thin, put the case to your vet with the weights and the body scores to hand.
Can sheep and chickens use the same water point?
They can share a water point if it is raised and scrubbed regularly, and if the chickens cannot foul the trough. Keep the sheep drinker separate where possible, and keep poultry feed out of the sheep's reach, because some poultry feeds contain additives that are not suitable for sheep.
Where can I buy day-old chicks if I keep sheep as well?
Chicks are the one stock we sell, raised and supplied from Opeikuma near Kasoa. Read about the birds on the day-old chicks page, compare prices on the prices page, or order from the homepage. Sheep are outside what we offer.
