Apr. 15, 19.9 Quantity and Composition 0} Ewes' Milk 



31 



of milk and growth of lambs the best experimental results in this investi- 

 gation would have been obtained if all ewes were allowed to raise only 

 one lamb. In future work it is hoped that this condition may be ful- 

 filled. However, many factors prevented such an arrangement. At 

 the time of this investigation, which is an outgrowth of a more extended 

 investigation on sheep, it was desired to make the work correspond as 

 closely as possible to the actual conditions found in sheep husbandry, 

 and other data were collected besides those included in this paper. 



Table VI. — Relation of Milk Constituents of Breeds to Growth of Lambs 



Breed. 



Hampshire. 

 CotswoH ... 

 Shropshire. . 

 Rajnbouiilet 



Lincobi 



Southdo-wn . 



Total 

 quantity 

 of milk. 



Total 

 casein 



Gm. 



108, 506. 6 

 77.913-3 

 76,636.3 

 75.110 

 63,250 

 61,963.3 



Gm. 



3'33I 

 2,427 

 2.69s 

 2.677 

 1-933 

 2. 136 



Total 

 albu- 

 min. 



Gm. 



796 

 572 

 570 

 590 

 480 

 484 



Total 

 non- 

 pro- 

 teids. 



Gm. 



Total 

 fat. 



Gm. 



1, 585 

 S-968 

 6, 107 

 5.797 

 5,219 

 4-554 



Total 

 lactose. 



Gm. 



5, 126 

 3,749 

 3.452 

 3.624 

 2.999 

 2,926 



Total 

 ash. 



Gm. 



852 

 639 

 674 

 634 



388 

 554 



Num- 

 ber of 

 lambs 



to 

 ewes. 



Total 

 growth. 



Gm,. 



21,028 

 14,318 

 14,093 

 12.488 

 io,04S 

 11,618 



It is quite evident that twin lambs, given a sufficient quantity of milk, 

 will make a greater total gain than a single lamb, provided their initial 

 weights correspond and they are equally strong at birth. A certain 

 amount of milk is essential for the growiih of a lamb, but on the other 

 hand there is a limit to the amount of milk that an animal can assimilate. 

 Therefore, two lambs, given a sufficient quantity of milk, will have an 

 advantage in total gain over a single lamb. The single lamb, however, 

 is generally larger than either of the twin lambs at birth, but from an 

 economical standpoint it is obvious that twins are more desirable in the 

 flock than singles. 



A compilation of the data on the Hampshire breed shows the single 

 lamb of ewe No. 33 gained nearly as much in the same period of time 

 as the twin lambs of ewe No, 30. A comparison of the total yield of 

 milk shows ewe No. 33 produced slightly less than ewe No. 30. 



In the Cotswold breed we have ewe No. 753 giving more than either 

 of the other two ewes, and the single lamb has made a gain almost equal 

 to the gain of the twin lambs of ewe No. 2518. Ewe No. 2518 has twin 

 lambs, and their total gain is only slightly greater than the single lamb 

 of ewe No. 753. The third ewe. No. 2097, shows a smaller milk yield 

 than ewe No. 2518 with the twin lambs, and the gain of her single lamb 

 is a little more than one-half as much as the total gain of the twin lambs. 

 In the Rambouillet and Southdown breeds we find the total gain in 

 weight of the lambs is proportional to the amount of milk consumed. 

 In the Lincoln breed, the only breed where there are three single lambs, 

 their gain in weight is also proportional to the quantity of milk consumed. 

 However, the lamb belonging to the Lincoln ewe, No. 1996, became sick 

 at the end of 20 days and did not thrive thereafter. 



