Care and Management of Sheep. 



445 



3 parts of wheat bran and 1 of linseed meal, with fair-quality clover 

 hay and sliced potatoes for roughage. 



Feed and water consumed by ewes for each 100 Ibs. of milk produced. 



It is shown that the single ewe under trial produced 100 Ibs. of 

 milk while consuming 51 Ibs. of concentrates, 61.6 Ibs. of clover hay, 

 and 38 Ibs. of potatoes. The figures show that the ewe ranks with the 

 cow in ability to convert hay and grain economically into milk, tho 

 she is at the same time growing a fleece. (686, 687) 



722. Value of ewe's milk for lambs. Shepperd 1 further noted 

 the amount of milk consumed by lambs and the gains made by them. 

 The lambs, kept from the ewes except when sucking, were weighed 

 before and after sucking to ascertain the amount of milk they re- 

 ceived. 



Daily gain of young lambs and gain per Ib. of ewe's milk consumed. 



In this trial the lambs made an average daily gain of nearly 0.5 

 Ib., each Ib. of milk consumed producing about 0.15 Ib. increase in 

 live weight. Shepperd concludes that the gain of lambs, during the 

 first month of their lives at least, is largely controlled by the quan- 

 tity of milk they receive, and consequently that ewes should be care- 

 fully selected for their milking qualities. (473, 814) 



723. Feeding milk to lambs. At the Wisconsin Station 2 the au- 

 thor reared 4 vigorous cross-bred Shrop-Merino lambs on cow's milk 

 and other appropriate feeding stuff's. They were 10 days old and 

 averaged 10 Ibs. each in weight when the trial began. For the first 

 21 days cow's milk at blood heat constituted their sole food, and 



1 Loc. cit., pp. 397, 405. 



2 Rpt. 1890. 



