General Care of Sheep and Lambs. 485 



earlier in the spring and more frequently during the summer. 

 Thoroly treating the ewes with some vermifuge will remove most of 

 the worms, and aid in preventing infection. Farmers often make 

 the serious mistake of allowing the lambs to remain with their dams 

 after weaning. Instead, they should at once be placed on fresh, 

 clean pasture on which no sheep have previously grazed that season. 

 Nothing is better than turning the lambs into a field of well-matured 

 rape connecting with a fresh grass pasture. Well-fed thrifty sheep 

 and lambs can much better resist parasites than those getting poor 

 feed and care. 



II. FATTENING SHEEP AND LAMBS. 



785. Mature sheep. It is generally conceded unwise to feed 

 yearlings for the block, since they are shedding teeth and therefore 

 are not in condition to give good returns for feed and care. Unless 

 prices for wool rule high the stockman cannot afford to carry wethers 

 past the period when they may be fed off as lambs. (732) Culls 

 from the flock can be prepared for the butcher at any time by the 

 use of a little extra grain. In the vicinity of cities profitable sales 

 can be made of fat culls at times when regular feeders have failed 

 to supply the market. 



786. Fattening lambs. The demand for well-fattened lambs 

 steadily increases, the tender, juicy, high-flavored meat finding favor 

 among Americans. Not only do prices for fat lambs rule high as 

 compared with mature sheep and farm animals generally, but there 

 are other advantages in feeding off lambs before they reach maturity. 

 A given weight of feed goes further with lambs than with mature 

 sheep, the money invested is sooner turned, and there is less risk from 

 death and accident. Thus everything tends toward marketing the 

 lambs as rapidly as they can be disposed of to secure the highest 

 prices. If they are not sufficiently fat in late summer or early fall 

 to meet the reasonable demands of the market, it shows that there has 

 been a lack of feed and care or that parasites have destroyed profits. 



787. Quarters for winter fattening. Fattening sheep should be 

 protected from wet coats and feet at all times. Ideal quarters in 

 the Northern states are a dry, littered yard, with a sunny exposure, 

 provided with a well-bedded, comfortable shed opening to the east 

 or south and extending along the windward side to break the cold 

 winds and driving storms. In such quarters the air is bracing, the 

 sunshine invigorating. Here the animals, covered with a heavy 

 coat and filled with rich grain and roughage, are warm and com- 



