546 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



tening on alfalfa hay and grain with warm instead of cold water made 

 no difference either in the quantity of water drunk or in the rate and 

 economy of the gains produced. 



Gray and Ridgeway of the Alabama Station 22 found that in late sum- 

 mer ewes in confinement drank 2.5 Ibs. of water each while living on 

 green sorghum forage, and 6.1 Ibs. when on cottonseed meal and hulls. 



838. Salt; other mineral matter, Sheep require salt, and it should 

 be available at all times, for an irregular supply induces overeating of 

 the salt, which causes scours. Rather than limiting the supply of salt 

 or mixing it with their feed, it is best to let sheep eat as much as they 

 wish. In an experiment in France 23 sheep fed 0.5 ounce of salt daily 

 with their feed gained materially faster than those fed no salt, and also 

 somewhat more rapidly than others fed 0.75 ounce daily. The fleeces of 

 the salt-fed sheep were of better quality and heavier than those of the 

 sheep fed no salt. 



In winter salt may be given in a trough used only for this purpose. 

 In summer salt may be sometimes rendered doubly useful by scattering 

 it on sprouts growing about stumps, on brush patches, or over noxious 

 weeds. To get the salt sheep will eat down such vegetation. Some 

 western sheep raisers never salt their sheep but allow them to eat alkali, 

 which is safe when it contains 80 per ct. salt. 24 It is believed that salted 

 sheep are less liable to become locoed. (400) 



When fed well-balanced rations containing plenty of protein-rich 

 feeds and especially good legume hay, sheep will ordinarily receive ample 

 calcium (lime) and phosphorus, which are the other mineral nutrients 

 most apt to be lacking in the rations of farm stock. (95-9) The richness 

 of legume hay in calcium is one of the reasons why it is so important a 

 feed for breeding ewes. (884) Should it be necessary to feed breeding 

 ewes roughages low in calcium, especially straw, calcium should be fur- 

 nished in the form of ground limestone, chalk, bone meal, or rock phos- 

 phate, or weak lambs and even abortion may result. (98) 



If trouble is experienced from goitre, or "big-neck," in lambs, this 

 may be prevented by administering iodine, as has been pointed out in an 

 earlier chapter. The doses for ewes are the same as those for sows, 

 given in a later chapter. (927) 



839. Weight and gains of fattened wethers. By far the most compre- 

 hensive data on the weights and gains of fattened wethers of different 

 ages and from various breeds are furnished by the records of the animals 

 winning prizes at the Smithfield Club Show, London, England. In the 

 following table are presented these data for the years 1895 to 1912, 

 inclusive. 25 As given in these records, the daily gain includes the weight 

 of the animal at birth. 



^Ala. Bui. 148. 



Abs. in Agr. Jour, and Min. Rec., 5, 1902, p. 361. 



^Wilcox and Smith, Farmer's Cyclopedia of Live Stock, p. 590. 



"Lond. Live Stock Jour., Vols. 42-76. 



