526 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Table 1. — Acreage of corn, oats, and hay required liy fixed stock. 



This talile shows that about 12 acres of the farm must be devoted to 

 growing hay and grain for the fixed stock. If to the 12 acres of corn, 

 oats, and hay required for the fixed stoclc 8 acres more are added for the 

 buildings, orchard, garden, and permanent pasture for the cows, colts, 

 and pigs, there will be left for sheep only 60 acres of the farm. The prob- 

 lem now is: How many sheep will this area support? What is the 

 maximum number of ewes that can be maintained on this area and what 

 are the average returns that may be expected per annum. 



To answer these questions it is first necessary to find out how much 

 land will be required to support one sheep. This, in turn, depends on 

 what the sheep eats, and so at the outset it is found necessary to adopt 

 a, feeding system and plan of management for the flock. 



FLOCK MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING SYSTEM. 



1j00d grade Merino-Shropshire ewes will be used and pure-bred bucks 

 of either the Shropshire, Oxford, Hampshire, or Southdown breeds. It is 

 assumed that on the average each ewe in the flock will drop one lamb. 

 It is planned to have the lambs dropped in February and sold the last 

 of June or first of July, at a weight of from 40 to 50 pounds. This will 

 avoid carrying the lambs through the hot summer months, when pastures 

 are short, gains slow, and danger from infestation by stomach worms 

 great. Besides the ewes will be relieved by weaning the lambs at this 

 season of the year and more pasture will be available for grazing; hence 

 more ewes can be kept and the ewes will be in better condition for Sep- 

 tember and October breeding. 



The general scheme of feeding ewes and lambs will be about as follows: 

 Ewes. — The ewes will run at pasture from May 1 to Novemlier 30, and 

 it is assumed that an acre of good clover pasture will support about 4 ewes 

 with their lambs. From December 1 to April 30, the ewes will receive 

 about 3 pounds of clover hay daily, and in addition during the month of 

 February when the lambs are coming, each ewe will "be fed about 1 pound 

 of oats daily, while during March and April the same quantity of grain 

 will be fed the ewes with the idea of thus increasing the growth of the 

 lambs, but half the grain will be oats and the other half corn. 



Lavibs. — The lambs will run with the ewes up to the time they are 

 sold, and from March 15 to June 30 will each receive daily on the average 

 about three-eighths of a pound of corn until sold the latter part of June 

 or early in July. 



