544 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



times considerable passes thru the animals unmasticated. Where grain 

 is prepared for sheep, it should be ground coarsely or crushed, instead 

 of being ground to a fine meal, which is not so palatable to sheep. 



834. Cutting or grinding hay. "Whether to cut or grind alfalfa or 

 other hay for lambs or sheep will depend on the price of the hay and the 

 cost of such preparation. From 4 trials in which he tested the value of 

 cutting and grinding alfalfa hay for fattening lambs, Morton of the Colo- 

 rado Station 15 concludes that grinding ordinary alfalfa hay to a meal 

 may increase its value 15 to 25 per ct., because the coarser parts of the 

 hay will be consumed and the sheep saved some energy in masticating 

 the hay. With hay of choice quality there is little saving thru grind- 

 ing or cutting. (424) In a trial at the Caldwell, Idaho, Substation 16 

 by Hickman, Rinehart, and Johnson, lambs fed good-quality uncut al- 

 falfa hay made more rapid gains than other lots fed either cut alfalfa 

 hay or alfalfa meal. The cut hay was worth no more per ton than the 

 uncut hay, and. the alfalfa meal was not worth enough more to pay for 

 the grinding. In sections where there are rains or snows during the 

 feeding period, if hay which is in stacks is to be cut it should be cut when 

 dry and stored where it is protected from the weather, or it will mold. 



835. Self-feeders. In the days when most of the western lambs and 

 sheep were fattened for market by large operators (850), it was a 

 common practice to feed the grain in self-feeders. This system is most 

 successful when a bulky concentrate, like chaffy wheat screenings, is 

 fed for the first few weeks, or when the grain is mixed with finely cut 

 or ground hay, to lighten the mixture and prevent the lambs eating 

 so much heavy grain as to go off feed. (900) The more concentrated 

 the grain, the greater is the danger in self -feeding it. Where large 

 numbers of lambs are fed, self-feeders save considerable labor, but trials 

 at several stations 17 show that lambs which are self-fed require more 

 feed for 100 Ibs. gain, and furthermore are more apt to go off feed and 

 even die from digestive trouble than when hand-fed by careful men. 

 While self-feeding various feeds by the free choice system gives excel- 

 lent results with swine, if suitable feeds are used, this system is not 

 suited to fattening lambs. In a trial at the Kansas Station 18 by Pater- 

 son, lambs self-fed shelled corn and linseed meal free choice, with al- 

 falfa hay and sorghum silage in addition, made slightly more rapid 

 gains than others hand-fed the same feeds, but at a considerably greater 

 cost for feed. 



Certain extensive feeders in Nebraska start lambs on feed by giving 

 them free access to feed bunks or self-feeders filled with pea-size lin- 

 seed meal, with prairie hay in addition. Contrary to what we might 



15 Colo. Buls. 151, 187. 

 16 Idaho Cir. 19. 



17 F. B. Mumford, Mich. Buls. 113, 128; Mo. Bui. 115; Shaw, Minn. Bui. 44; 

 Gramlich, Nebr. Buls. 170, 173. 

 18 Kan. Cir. 88. 



