482 



Feeds and Feeding. 



cow's milk and other appropriate feeding stufia. Tlie fonr lambs 

 in the trial were from large high-grade merino ewes sired by a 

 pure -bred Shropshire ram. They were vigorous, growthy speci- 

 mens, ten days old at the beginning of the trial, averaging ten 

 pounds each in weight. At first they were fed cow's milk at 

 blood heat, this milk constituting their only food for twenty -one 

 days, after which skim milk, oats and green clover were supplied. 

 The following data show the food required for 100 pouuds of gain 



with these lambs, beginning at 10 days of age: 



Feed per 100 

 Period, Feed given. i6«. f/ain. 



Pounds. 

 First period, 21 days Cow's milk 579 



(Sweet skim milk 830 

 Ground oats 119 

 Green clover 262 



At the close of the last period, when 167 days old, the lambs 

 averaged 79 pounds each, showing a daily gain, including birth 

 weight, of nearly one-half pound each. (356, 659) 



The heavy gains which followed the use of cow's milk in thw 

 trial suggest the profitable use of that article in forcing lambs 

 to meet the requirements of special markets, e. g., "Christmas 

 lambs." 



737. Lambs compared with pigs. — At the Michigan Agricult- 

 ural College,^ Miles fed Essex pigs, eleven days old, cow's milk 

 for four weeks, with the results shown in the following table: 



Gaw^s milk required for 100 pounds gain by young Essex pigs — 

 Michigan Agricultural College. 



Ist week. 

 720 lbs. 



2d week. 

 792 lbs. 



3d week. 

 1.181 lbs. 



4th week. 

 1.013 lbs. 



Av. for four 



weeks. 



925 lbs. 



During the third week of the trial the pigs were ''off feed," 

 80 tliat the average is somewhat too high. 



Making i f;isonable allowance for this, the lambs fed in the Wis- 

 consin trial noted above lead in the gains made from cow's nuik. 



•Kept. Mich. Bd. of Agr., 1866, p. 61. 



