GENERAL CARE OF SHEEP AND LAMBS 595 



in Colorado. Many are also fattened largely on pea-vine silage in the 

 vicinity of pea canneries, especially in Wisconsin. 



906. Winter fattening in the corn belt. In the corn belt and eastward 

 corn, clover or alfalfa hay, and usually , silage in addition are commonly 

 used for fattening lambs, with or without cottonseed meal, linseed meal, 

 or other protein-rich supplements. Thruout these districts it is usually 

 most profitable to feed the lambs all the grain they will eat after be- 

 ing brought to full feed. Feeders frequently fatten two lots of lambs 

 the same season, marketing the first in January and the second late in 

 spring. Should the weather grow warm before the lambs are finished, 

 shearing results in better gains. Shelter is required to protect the 

 lambs from winter storms. In the corn belt lambs are commonly al- 

 lowed the freedom of small yards with an open shed or barn adjacent. 



907. Winter fattening in the East. In the East a more forced system 

 of fattening is often followed, the lambs never being turned out from the 

 barn or shed for exercise. In this system the grain troughs are pro- 

 tected by vertical slats in such a manner that there is just room for 

 a lamb to feed in each opening, and only one space is provided for each 

 lamb. The lambs are brought to full feed as quickly as possible, and 

 they are then given all the grain they will clean up. With such heavy 

 feeding and scant exercise, care must be taken to keep the lambs quiet, 

 and a feeding space must be closed up whenever a lamb is removed 

 from the pen, for excitement and overeating cause heavy losses from 

 apoplexy. 



III. HOT HOUSE AND SPRING LAMBS; GOATS 



During recent years an increasing demand has developed for winter, 

 or "hot house " lambs. The term "hot house" lambs does not mean that 

 they are reared in artificially heated quarters, but has been applied be- 

 cause the lambs are produced at an unusual season and are hence com- 

 parable to the out-of -season products of hot houses. The greatest obsta- 

 cles to success in this specialty are getting the ewes to breed sufficiently 

 early, and producing carcasses which meet the exactions of the epicure. 

 The demand for winter lambs prevails from the last of December to 

 Easter, the price usually being the best between New Year's and the first 

 of April. The condition of the carcasses of such lambs is more impor- 

 tant than their size. They must be fat and present a well-developed leg of 

 mutton with plenty of tender, juicy lean meat and a thick caul to spread 

 over the exposed flesh of the carcass when on exhibition. Winter lambs 

 should weigh alive from 45 to 60 Ibs. Large but lean and bony ones 

 present a staggy appearance and bring unsatisfactory prices. Early in 

 the season small lambs top the market, but later the heavier ones are 

 in demand. 



908. Breeding for winter lambs. The ewes best suited for winter 

 lamb production are pure-breds or grades of the Dorset, Tunis, and 

 Merino or Rambouillet breeds, for the other breeds can not usually be 



