GENERAL CARE OF SHEEP AND LAMBS 597 



910. The lambs A creep should be provided and the lambs taught 



to eat from a trough as soon as possible. To this end, a little sugar may 

 sometimes be sprinkled on the grain to render it specially palatable. The 

 lambs begin to eat freely when 2 or 3 weeks old, and are forced on bran, 

 cracked corn, linseed meal, ground oats, barley, gluten feed, etc. They 

 should be induced not only to eat, but to eat a large quantity, and to 

 keep eating. Alfalfa, clover, or soybean hay is indispensable, while roots 

 and silage are helpful. The feed troughs should be cleaned each morn- 

 ing, and the grain and hay supply be changed 2 or 3 times a day. When 

 necessary, lambs are fed new milk from a nursing bottle or from a tea- 

 pot having a punctured rubber cot placed on the spout. Ewes bereft 

 of their lambs thru sale are given one of a pair of twin lambs. Thus 

 forced, the best lambs weigh from 50 to 60 Ibs. alive at 10 to 12 weeks. 

 For the eastern markets the lambs are * ' hog dressed " ; i. e., the feet and 

 all the viscera, except the heart, liver, and kidneys, are removed, but 

 the pelt and frequently the head left on. The caul fat is carefully spread 

 over the exposed parts, and the carcass sewed up in muslin after thoro 

 cooling. This specialty can be conducted with profit only by experts 

 who have gained their experience thru patient and discreet effort, and 

 who have nearby markets that will pay the high prices such products 

 must command. 



911. Spring lambs. A less intensive system than the preceding is the 

 production of spring lambs. These should be dropped from January to 

 March and are usually marketed in May and June, weighing 65 to 90 

 Ibs., at a time of the year when there is a good demand for lambs. Rais- 

 ing spring lambs is especially profitable in Tennessee, Kentucky, Vir- 

 ginia, and states to the southward, for here the ewe may be largely 

 maintained on pasture thruout the year, greatly lowering the feed bill. 

 In the middle Tennessee basin the raising of spring lambs is an important 

 industry. 36 The ewes are pastured in summer and allowed to run on the 

 fields after the crops are removed. Such crops as winter rye and oats 

 provide pasture at practically all times during the winter. The sheep 

 receive little grain and commonly no shelter is furnished except a wind- 

 break or trees. The profits could be materially increased by using better 

 rams than is the practice, and by feeding the lambs more grain so as to 

 have them well-finished when prices are high. 



912. Goats. The raising of Angora goats for their mohair has be- 

 come an industry of considerable importance in certain districts of the 

 United States, especially Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon, and 

 California. According to the census of 1920 there were 1,753,112 goats 

 in Texas and 226,862 head in New Mexico. In the western states the 

 goats graze upon rough land, utilizing browse which even sheep would 

 refuse. In the cut-over districts of the North, Angora goats are useful 

 in clearing land of brush. 



Tenn. Buls. 84, 114; Willson, Breeder's Gaz., 80, 1921, p. 587. 



