556 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



tening lambs. Frosted wheat, in a trial by Foster and Merrill 14 at the 

 Utah Station, produced as large and more economical gains than market- 

 able wheat. 



850. Wheat screenings, The value of wheat screenings from the ele- 

 vators and mills depends on their quality, the light, chaffy grades being 

 more like a roughage than a concentrate. Successful feeders wisely util- 

 ize screenings of low grade in getting the lambs on feed, and as fatten- 

 ing advances change to the heavier screenings. Hundreds of thousands 

 of Montana sheep and lambs were annually fed during the nineties on 

 wheat screenings in feed lots near St. Paul, Minnesota. The screenings 

 were fed in sheds and usually from self feeders, as the bits of chaff and 

 straw in the feed render it so bulky that there is less danger of founder- 

 ing than when corn is fed in self feeders. With the bulky class of screen- 

 ings which were used, little or no hay was required. During the season 

 of 1902 about 330,000 sheep and lambs were fattened in these feed lots. 

 Two years later the number fell below 200,000, and at the present time 

 this district has ceased to be a factor of importance in the winter mutton 

 supply. Screenings are still employed more or less extensively in other 

 sections of the country for sheep feeding. (222) 



Trials at the Montana and Utah Stations 15 show that a good grade of 

 heavy wheat screenings may be worth fully as much as good wheat when 

 fed with clover or alfalfa hay. On the other hand, it required 35 per ct. 

 more light-weight, chaffy screenings for 100 Ibs. of gain by lambs than of 

 screenings of heavy weight. Screenings should be fed close to the mills 

 or elevators, thereby avoiding large freight bills. As with wheat, the 

 best returns come thru feeding in combination with legume hay. To pre- 

 vent the spread of weeds, screenings should be ground before feeding. 



851. Oats. -This grain, well liked by sheep, is excellent for the 

 breeding flock. (223, 883) It is also one of the best feeds to mix with 

 heavier grains, like corn, in starting fattening lambs or sheep on feed. 

 (899) However, as oats are bulky and quite high in fiber, they are not 

 well suited to form the chief grain for fattening animals. Therefore, 

 when oats are used in starting lambs on feed, the proportion of this 

 grain is gradually decreased and the oats usually omitted entirely after 

 the lambs are on full feed. 



In a trial at the South Dakota Station 16 by Wilson and H. G. Skin- 

 ner, lambs fed corn with mixed prairie and brome hay gained 0.28 Ib. 

 per head daily, while those fed oats in place of corn gained 0.25 Ib. The 

 lambs fed oats required 16 per ct. more grain and 10 per ct. more hay 

 for 100 Ibs. gain. In two trials at the Iowa Station 17 Eward and 

 Dunn found that lambs fed oats, clover hay, corn silage, and enough 

 linseed meal to balance the ration, made satisfactory gains compared 

 with others fed shelled corn, but tended to grow rather than fatten, 



"Utah Bui. 78. 



15 Linfield, Montana Buls. 47, 59; Foster and Merrill, Utah Bui. 78. 



16 S. D. Bui. 86. "Information to the authors. 



