LECTURE L. 



FEED, CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE EWE AT 

 WEANING AND MATING TIME. 



There is no more important subject to the shepherd than 

 this, for upon the right work at this season depends the next 

 year's crop of lambs. He who raises a strong, healthy lot of 

 lambs, with a high percentage of twins and triplets, will be 

 financially ahead of the man whose flock yields low returns 

 at lambing season. 



About the 1st of September for Iowa conditions the lambs 

 and ewes should be separated and put in separate fields, 

 preferably not adjoining. Under ordinary conditions the ewes 

 will need no special attention at weaning time, but if pasture 

 is very good and the ewes milking freely, it is best to turn 

 them on scant pasture for a few days to avoid troubles 

 arising from fever due to the sudden diversion of a large 

 blood stream from the mammary glands to the body circu- 

 lation. When the lambs have been taught to eat grain be- 

 fore weaning, and when pasturage is a trifle scant, the ewes 

 will usually be so reduced in milk flow that no precautions 

 are necessary, and the ewes may be turned at once on good 

 pasture and pushed for gains, or, as old shepherds express it, 

 "flushed." The reason of this is that it is an established 

 principle of breeding that females will breed more readily, 

 and will be surer to "catch," if they are pushed for gains at 

 breeding season; and there is but little doubt that the per- 

 centage of lambs is considerably increased where ewes are 

 so handled. 



The matter of feeding to produce rapid, vigorous gains is 

 also of interest. The feed should be succulent, yet strong. 

 When pasture is abundant the ewes may be turned on this 

 and fed some shelled corn and bran in proportions of about 

 half and half. If pasture is limited, a field of rape, or rye 

 and oats, should be provided, and there is no better feed for 

 the ewes than a field of rye and oats, sown at the rate of two 

 bushels rye and one bushel oats per acre broadcast. This, 



