582 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



ing time rather than after, because, owing to the many demands made 

 upon them, ewes with lambs should have nutritious, easily digested feeds. 



Succulent feeds aid greatly in keeping the ewes thrifty in winter when 

 no green feed is available. Chopped roots are highly esteemed in Eng- 

 land, Canada, and the northern United States as succulent feed for 

 ewes, but it has been proven beyond doubt that good silage, free from 

 mold and low in acid, is equally satisfactory and in most sections of the 

 United States, less expensive. It is not wise to supply too much succu- 

 lent feed to pregnant ewes, for shepherds declare that it produces soft, 

 flabby lambs. Tho larger allowances are sometimes successfully used 

 when silage of excellent quality, high in dry matter, is fed, it is usually 

 best not to feed more than 2 or perhaps 3 Ibs. of silage per head daily to 

 ewes weighing about 150 Ibs. While larger allowances of roots are 

 often fed in England, most shepherds in this country feed no greater 

 allowances of roots than they would of silage. Silage or roots should 

 never be fed without plenty of dry roughage in addition. 



885. Cost of maintaining ewes. The most extensive investigations on 

 the cost of maintaining breeding ewes have been those carried on at 

 the Pennsylvania Station 10 by Severson and others. In these studies 

 lots of pure-bred Shropshire and Delaine-Merino ewes were fed on vari- 

 ous rations for several years. The following table summarizes the re- 

 sults during the 3 years, 1913 to 1916, for the lots fed a ration of al- 

 falfa hay, corn silage, and a small amount of concentrates, this being 

 the most economical ration tested. The Shropshire ewes averaged 172.4 

 Ibs. in weight and the Delaine-Merinos, 122.4 Ibs. 



Average costs of maintaining breeding ewes 



Shropshires Delaine-Merinos 



Average ration for winter 



Concentrates 0.22 Ib. 0.27 Ib. 



Alfalfa hay 2.50 Ibs. 2.30 Ibs. 



Corn silage 3.07 Ibs. 2.95 Ibs. 



Bedding per ewe for winter 81 . 14 Ibs. 90.03 Ibs. 



Manure per ewe for winter 695.68 Ibs. 773.51 Ibs. 



Average weight of fleece 7.66 Ibs. 11 . 13 Ibs. 



Average weight of lambs at weaning 59 . 00 Ibs. 53 . 10 Ibs. 



Cost of winter feed and bedding per ewe $4 . 65 $4 . 52 



Cost of labor in winter per ewe .56 .56 



Interest on equipment per ewe .18 .18 



Credit for manure per ewe .87 .97 



Net cost of wintering per ewe 4 . 52 4 . 29 



Cost of summer feed and care per ewe 1 . 76 1 . 56 



Interest on value of ewe , .60 .48 



Depreciation of ewe .50 



Mortality risk per ewe .22 .17 



Total annual cost per ewe $7.60 $7.00 



Profit with 125 per ct. lambs raised $1 .40 $1 . 51 



10 Penn. Bui. 144. 



