General Care of Sheep. 533 



" In feeding southern (New Mexico) lambs they are put on 

 hay alone from one to three weeks and then grain feeding begins. 

 In feeding sheep on a large scale, the grain is fed in a separate 

 corral. The sheep are kept in bunches of about 400. The grain 

 is put in feed troughs, the gates are opened, and they are allowed 

 about ten minutes to eat the grain; then they are driven back 

 and the next bunch brought in. By this method all of the sheep 

 have a chance to get some grain, and even the greediest sheep 

 cannot get very much. 



" The first grain fed is merely sprinkled in the trough to get 

 the sheep used to it. The principal skill in feeding sheep is to 

 increase the grain so gradually that the sheep will eat it greedily 

 all the time. Most feeders use pails and reckon feed by the 

 number of bucketfuls fed per day. A bucketful of 20 pounds to 

 400 sheep twice a day is one-tenth of a pound per day, and this is 

 as much of an increase as it is considered safe to make at any one 

 time, and it is customary to increase only one-half of this. 



"Lambs put in the pens in November will receive their first 

 grain at the beginning of December, and for the first week will 

 get less than one- tenth of a pound per day per head; that is, the 

 feeder will use a week in getting them up from nothing to one-tenth 

 of a pound. The rest of the month to the first of January they 

 will not get over one-fourth pound. Some hold through the 

 whole month of January on one-fourth pound, while some gradu- 

 ally increase through the month to one-half pound. 



"This is all considered preparatory, and real grain feeding 

 begins the first of February. Feeders vary in the speed with 

 which they increase the grain; but by the first of March few will 

 be feeding less than one pound, and the sheep are kept on full 

 feed from then until they go on the market. If nothing but 

 wheat is fed, it is hard to get the sheep to eat over a pound per 

 head per day. . . . The hay fed to sheep in Colorado is all 

 alfalfa. It is fed in racks that are about 14 feet wide. These 

 racks are simply low fences inclosing a space of 14 feet wide and 

 any desired length. The fences are made of three 8-inch boards 

 running lengthwise of the racks, the bottom one resting on the 

 ground, the others above with 8-inch spaces, making a fence 40 



