1907.] SHEEP BREEDING. 255 



it is about two weeks old. Sometimes at ten days old they 

 will begin to eat. Their digestion is not strong enough to 

 take any of the foods usually prescribed for young lambs, 

 and it is better to leave them to the mothers. After they have 

 got along so that it is prudent, take some coarse winter wheat 

 bran. I cannot tell you from a scientific standpoint why 

 winter wheat is better, but from my experience I know that 

 from the standpoint of the sheep they like it better. With 

 the coarse winter wheat bran feed some fine ground old process 

 linseed meal. Feed them about equal parts of bran or oat cake, 

 and one part, of bulk, in ten of linseed meal. In feeding 

 linseed meal you want to begin very low down in quantity. 

 If you begin by feeding them a considerable quantity you are 

 very apt to throw the whole machine out of balance. You 

 want to begin with just a little and increase it slowly. I do 

 not know where the limit is. I have fed a single sheep a 

 pound of oil-cake per day for months in succession, and I never 

 sav/ sheep that were in more vigorous, healthy and strong 

 condition than those, but understand, a pound a day is enough 

 to kill a sheep if you feed them that amount, or anywhere near 

 that to begin with. To begin with, one part in ten, and add 

 slowly of the oil-cake until you have one part in five. When 

 the lambs are three weeks old, I would begin to add a little 

 ground oats in place of the winter wheat. I would also add 

 a little fine ground corn. 



Now as to the hay rack. I believe in feeding them a little 

 nice early cut clover or alfalfa. If not that, feed a little corn 

 ensilage. Above all that, see that the hay rack is cleaned out 

 thoroughly. It should be cleaned out at least three times a 

 day. Put what there is left in for the older sheep. It will 

 take but a moment to do it, and you will be repaid ten times 

 over by seeing those little fellows grow so rapidly. Then we 

 want another piece of furniture in that lamb parlor, and that 

 is a clean water pail, and have water in it all the time. With 

 such feeding as that they will eat the feed up clean in a reason- 

 able time, and you will be able to grow them rapidly. 



If you are going to sell those lambs, put them on the 

 market, feed them in addition a little brown sugar. Let them 

 have quite a lot of it. Put in about half as much sugar as 

 you do of bran. They are very fond of it. Do not, however, 

 make the mistake of giving the lambs sugar unless they are 



