490 Feeds and Feeding. 



and clover hay at the prices given. The feed required for a given 

 gain will, for various reasons, often exceed the amount here stated, 

 and it may fall somewhat below under skillful management. The 

 cost of gain with other combinations of feed may easily be worked 

 out in the same manner from data in the tables. Comparing the 

 cost of gains, it will be found that lambs give better returns for 

 the feed supplied than do steers. Mature sheep will cost from 25 to 

 30 per ct. more for a given gain than lambs. 



799. Hints on sheep feeding. Sheep feeders do not begin opera- 

 tions at an early hour in winter, preferring not to disturb the ani- 

 mals until after daybreak. Usually grain is first given, followed 

 by hay and water. The trough in which grain is fed should be kept 

 clean at all times, and there should be ample space, so that each 

 animal may get its share of grain. Nowhere does the skill of the 

 feeder show more plainly than in getting sheep to full grain feed 

 without getting a single one ''off feed." Western sheep may not 

 be able at first to take over 0.1 Ib. of grain per day. If so, 2 

 months or 10 weeks may be required in getting the flock to full 

 feed. English mutton sheep take grain more readily, and in some 

 cases no more than 3 or 4 weeks need intervene between placing the 

 lambs on feed and full feeding. In no case should this operation 

 be hurried, for it means waste of feed and injury to, if not loss of, 

 some of the animals. 



While regularity and quiet are of importance at all times in the 

 management of all farm animals, they are paramount with fatten- 

 ing sheep. The flock should always be cared for by the same at- 

 tendant, who should move among them quietly, giving notice of his 

 approach by speaking in a low voice and closing doors and gates 

 gently. Dogs and strangers should be kept from the feeding pens 

 at all times. (93) 



HI. FATTENING PLAINS SHEEP. 



800. The Colorado system. Fattening range sheep and lambs on 

 grain and alfalfa is a vast industry in Colorado, where in 1907 about 

 2,000,000 1 were fed. Some locally grown barley or wheat is fed when 

 low enough in price, but shelled corn from further eastward and 

 locally grown alfalfa hay form 95 per ct. of the feed used. The 

 whole western range is drawn on for feeders, and the small fine- 

 wool type of earlier times has been largely replaced by the cross- 



1 Breeder 'a Gazette, 51, p. 348. 



