474 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



as when salt is kept before them. Of course, salting at regular 

 intervals of a few days is good, but not nearly so satisfactory 

 as keeping it before them at all times. 



When starting western lambs on feed it must be remem- 

 bered that they have never eaten grain and must acquire the 

 habit. We have found oats to be about the best feed for teach- 

 ing lambs to eat. To each lot of twenty lambs five pounds of 

 oats are given at the first feed. The lambs, which should always 

 be hungry at feeding time, finding the oats in the trough and not 

 greatly different from the finer portion of hay which they have 

 been accustomed to, soon learn to eat. For several feeds oats 

 is the only grain offered the lambs. After they have acquired 

 the taste of grain so they rush at the feed the moment it is 

 offered to them, a few grains of shelled corn per lamb is added 

 to the oats and a little more added each day until it is seldom 

 more than ten days before the lambs have learned to eat shelled 

 corn as readily as they do hay. The grain, however, should 

 never be increased very much until all the lambs are eating well. 



After all lambs are eating well the grain is gradually in- 

 creased until the amount is reached where it is all just cleaned 

 up readily. Lambs are made to clean their troughs before they 

 quit eating. When so much feed is offered that the lambs do 

 not come with a rush for their feed as good results cannot be 

 expected as when everything is cleaned up and the lambs are 

 anxious for the feed. Experimental data from many different 

 sources show that the cost of gains is higher when a self-feeder 

 is used than when the grain is given in quantities that will be 

 readily eaten. Hay is given in such amounts as they will clean 

 up before next feeding time. 



In planning our experimental work it was our object to 

 secure some figures in black and white on things that some 

 sheepmen already know. Even when starting into the trial 

 we knew from general experience about what the results would 

 be. Knowing, however, as we did that many men are making 

 just such mistakes as to feed rations such as corn and timothy 

 hay, it was considered advisable on our part to make a com- 

 parison as to the feeding value for lambs of corn and timothy 

 hay with corn and clover hay. Timothy hay represents the 

 great class of nonleguminous roughages such as oat hay, wheat 

 straw and to a certain extent corn stover, while the clover hay 

 represents fairly well the leguminous roughages such as alfalfa 

 hay, cowpea hay and soy bean hay. Therefore for the purpose 



