The Cause of "Apoplexy " in Winter-Fed Lambs 45 



course of the regular experiment, December 15th to April 3d, or with 

 the lambs kept up to May 8, 191 1, for further data concerning the cause 

 of " apoplexy." 



The lambs were all weighed April 3d, and this date marked the close 

 of the regular experiment, as has been shown. From April 3d to April 

 8th the lambs were fed as usual in their several pens. On April 8th, 275 

 lambs were selected for shipment. This left 14 ewes and 27 wethers of 

 a rather poorer quality than those selected for shipment. It was de- 

 cided to feed these lambs about a month longer for further observations 

 on the cause of " apoplexy." 



The ewes were fed as one lot for a check and the wethers as the ex- 

 perimental lot. Both lots were fed the same narrow grain ration as fed 

 to Lots B and C during the regular experimental period. (Tables 3, 4.) 

 They were fed no silage after the tirst three days, being given mixed hay 

 alone for roughage. In the pen of ewes each ewe had a single feeding 

 place in the rack, but the space in the pen was large enough for more 

 exercise than they had had formerly. With the wethers, however, there 

 were more feeding places in the rack at all times than there were lambs_ 

 so that each lamb could gorge himself if he wished. The 14 ewes were 

 fed 10 pounds of grain per day up to J\Iay 8th, when this special exper- 

 iment closed. This amount was what they would eat up clean. The 

 conditions for them were the same as they had been since December 

 15th, except that the lambs had more exercising area. 



The 27 wethers were started April 8th on 10 pounds of grain, and on 

 the 9th this amount was doubled. On April 15th five wethers were 

 taken out and slaughtered, but the amount of grain was not decreased. 

 On April 24th seven more wethers were slaughtered and the same amount 

 of grain continued. The wethers now began to leave grain, which was 

 removed at each feeding time when fresh grain was put in. On May 

 1st seven more were slaughtered and on May 8th those remaining were 

 slaughtered. The grain was kept at 20 pounds regardless of the number 

 of wethers, and the amount uneaten was removed before the next feeding. 

 Thus, every lamb was allowed to eat all he possibly could at any time 

 from a narrow ration. 



No lamb was lost in either lot due to "apoplexy." One wether died 

 on April nth due to other causes than "apoplexy," as will be shown in 

 the report of the autopsy in this case. 



From this supplementary trial and the regular experiment, the conclu- 

 sion is that neither over-feeding nor the feeding of rations with a nutri- 

 tive ratio of i :5 may be looked on as a cause of " apoplexy." The nega- 

 tive conclusion from the experiment of 1910-11 agrees with the results 

 in the preliminary trial at Mr. Shepard's farm so far as the feeding of 

 narrow rations is concerned. The results from over-feeding do not 

 check so well with the results obtained there, in that losses from '* apo- 

 plexy " were suffered from over-feeding at Mr. Shepard's farm. It 



