SHEEP 223 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT 



Care and management have quite as much to do with 

 successful sheep husbandry as with the successful man- 

 agement of any kind of live stock. While sheep may be 

 able to live with less attention and shelter than are required 

 by other classes of live stock, they will not prove profitable 

 unless made comfortable and given attention when needed. 



During the winter the flock on the average farm con- 

 sists chiefly of ewes kept over winter with the expectation 

 that they will have lambs in the spring. 



Winter Care of Breeding Ewes. — Ewes kept on good 

 pasture during the summer and fall, are usually in good 

 flesh by the time they are put in winter quarters. Dur- 

 ing the winter they need food enough to maintain their 

 bodies, to provide for the growth of wool and to supply 

 the energy needed for what little exercise they take about 

 the sheds and yards. They do not need to be fed as heavily 

 in proportion to their weight as cows that are giving milk, 

 horses that are working, or cattle, sheep or hogs that are 

 being fattened. 



It is unwise to feed ewes any ration that will tend to fat- 

 ten them. They should be fed succulent and muscle-form- 

 ing foods, as clover hay, corn fodder, roots; and, if fed any 

 grain, it should be a kind rich in protein, as bran, oats, etc. 



To feed sheep properly is as much of a problem as to 

 feed other kinds of stock. If sheep are not well nourished, 

 they will lose some of their wool, and be weak and poor in 

 the spring. If breeding ewes are fed too much, the lambs 

 are likely to come weak in the spring; besides, there is an 

 unnecessary waste of feed. 



Require Little Labor. — Most of our farms need more 

 stock than is at present kept on them. Farm labor is so 

 scarce that it seems unwise, on the average farm, to increase 

 the number of cows kept beyond what can be cared for, 

 if necessary by the family. Sheep require comparatively 

 little labor, except for a short time during the lambing 

 season. Five to seven ewes will bring in about as much 

 income in a year as a cow, and less labor is required to care 

 for them. In view of these facts, the live stock of the farm 



