FEEDIXQ SHEEP 377 



flock. This is a good plan, for then the sheep are not likely 

 to eat more than they really need. According to Kellner,* 

 an ordinary mature sheep should have from one eighth to 

 one fourth ounce of salt a day, and, in case the food is 

 difficult of digestion, the amount of salt may be increased 

 to a half ounce. 



Water for sheep is essential, although the strange impres- 

 sion seems to prevail in some quarters that sheep do not 

 need water. It is true that sheep will go without water 

 longer than other farm animals, especially when on pasture; 

 but they unquestionably do best when they have an un- 

 limited supply. A variety of conditions affects the body 

 demands for water, such as temperature, kind of food, con- 

 dition of shelter, and covering of wool. According to Henry 

 and Morrison f a sheep needs from one to six quarts of water 

 daily, according to feed, temperature, and weather. 



The use of the self-feeder with sheep has not proven 

 generally satisfactory. Most of the feeding experiments 

 conducted with the self-feeder have shown that more con- 

 centrates are eaten when self-fed than with ordinary feed- 

 ing, and the cost of gains in weight is consequently too 

 great. On the basis of three years of trial with self-feeders 

 at the Michigan station, Prof. Mumford writes : "Fattening 

 lambs by means of a self-feeder is an expensive practice, and 

 economy of production requires more attention to the varia- 

 tions in the appetites of the animals than can be given by 

 this method." At the Nebraska station, Prof. Gramlich 

 found the use of the self-feeder containing corn and oil meal 

 in comparison with a heavy feed of corn supplemented with 

 alfalfa hay did not prove economical. It resulted in an in- 

 creased gain, a greater consumption of corn and concentrates, 

 but a much higher cost per 100 pounds gain.t 



*Scientific Feeding of Animals, O. Kellner, 1910. 



tFeeds and Feeding, 1917. 



Bulletin 128 Michigan Agr. Exp. Station. 



t Bulletin 170, Univ. of Nebraska Exp. Station, 1918. 



