General Care of Sheep. 525 



write as follows concerning the consumption of food by sheep 

 while being fattened: 



" Sheep of different breeds consume quantities of food in pro- 

 portion to their respective weights when at an equal age, stage 

 of feeding, etc. ; that is to say, three sheep weighing 100 pounds 

 each will consume the same quantity of food as two sheep of 150 

 pounds each. 



" Sheep on good fattening food, such as oil cake or corn, with 

 chaff and roots, will consume weekly about 4. 75 pounds of oil 

 cake, 4. 75 pounds of hay, and about 70 pounds of roots, for every 

 100 pounds of their live weight. 



"When fed as above, they will consume every week about one- 

 seventh of their own weight of the dry substance of food; that is, 

 after deducting the moisture it contains." 



811. Rate of increase. Lawes and Gilbert drew the following 

 conclusions from the same experiments concerning the rate of 

 increase: 



"Sheep well fed and under cover will increase about two per 

 cent, per week upon their weight; that is to say, 100 pounds live 

 weight will increase from 1.75 pounds to 2 pounds per week. 



"To increase 100 pounds in live weight, sheep will consume 

 about 225 pounds of oil cake or corn, 225 pounds of hay-chaff, 

 and from 3,000 to 3,750 pounds of roots. 



"The increase of a fattening sheep is at the rate of about one 

 pound live weight to eight or nine pounds of the dry substance of 

 the food consumed." 



812. Cost of gain. The numerous trials reported elsewhere 

 giving the quantities of feed required for 100 pounds of gain will 

 enable the feeder to calculate very closely what it will cost to pro- 

 duce 100 pounds of gain with fattening lambs. For instance, if 

 it requires 500 pounds of corn and 400 of clover hay for 100 

 pounds of gain, and corn is worth 28 cents a bushel (50 cents 

 per 100 pounds) and hay $8 per ton (40 cents per 100 pounds), 

 the cost will be as follows: 



500 pounds of corn at 50 cents $2 50 



400 pounds of hay at 40 cents 1 60 



Cost of 100 pounds gain, live weight $4 10 



