204 LIVE STOCK MANAGEMENT. 



serve eighty ewes, and may be allowed four or five every 

 evening, and the same again in the morning the "teaser" 

 should be turned in again in the morning to sort out the 

 ewes which are in heat. A young ram yearling or lamb 

 should not be allowed so many in a season nor in a single 

 night. A yearling should be able to care for forty-five ewes 

 and a lamb about twenty-five, if carefully handled, and their 

 energies conserved. A ram that is in high flesh should never 

 be turned out on pasture with the ewes even though it be 

 a small flock the strain of repeated services and the excite- 

 ment tend to impair his usefulness. A very simple and ef- 

 fective plan of marking the ewes that are bred is to smear 

 the breast of the breeding ram with some paint; he will then 

 mark each ewe he serves; and by changing the color of the 

 paint each week it is possible for the flock master to deter- 

 mine just what week certain ewes were bred in. 



The other policy, which saves labor, is that of allowing 

 the rams to run with the ewes in pasture. Under this plan 

 not more than thirty-five ewes should be allotted to each 

 ram, and the same plan for marking the ewes should be 

 adopted as outlined above. 



The feeding of the breeding ram during the breeding season 

 is extremely important, for led away by the excitement, he 

 will rapidly lose flesh, vigor and masculinity unless carefully 

 fed. He should receive an abundance of green pasturage, 

 with plenty of room for exercise, and should receive an abund- 

 ance of oats and bran, mixed in proportions of two parts 

 oats to one bran by weight; besides this he should be given 

 a little oil meal now and then, and a fair allowance of tur- 

 nips or beets but never mangels, as these nearly always 

 cause urinary troubles, which may result in the death of 

 the ram. Why this should be no one knows, but such is the 

 result in practice. 



The ram should be carefully watched during the breeding 

 season and any disorder of the penis should be promptly 

 attended to. Inflammation of the penis may be simple or 

 cancerous. In the first, it is only necessary to give the ram 

 a dose of Epsom salts (4 ounces), and to inject a solution 

 of chlorate of potash into the sheath, which should first have 

 been washed with some warm water containing some dis- 

 infectant as Chloro-Naphtholeum, Zenoleum, or Creolin. If 

 the inflammation be cancerous, it will be necessary to turn 

 the ram on his back, the penis withdrawn, and the diseased 



