General Care of Sheep. 523 



803. Wheat screenings.— Enormous quantities of broken and 

 shrunken wheat are annually turned out by the elevators and 

 mills of the Northwest. There are also large quantities of pigeon- 

 grass seed, wild buckwheat, etc., screened from grain. All these, 

 usually in combination, are sold at low rates. Eeports of feeding 

 trials show these substances of value in the feed lot, and their 

 nse should be carefully considered in localities where they can be 

 obtained without the payment of heavy freight bills. If possible, 

 corn should be mixed with screenings, as these no doubt, like 

 wheat, tend to produce growth as well as to fatten. 



804. Oats. — Where oats are low in price they may be used 

 for sheep feeding and will produce excellent mutton. Like wheat, 

 oats conduce to growth in lambs rather than immediate fattening; 

 hence it is best to mix corn with them for fattening lambs when 

 possible. 



805. Bran. — Experiments show that bran is not especially 

 desirable for fattening sheep, a large quantity being required for 

 a given gain. Like wheat and oats, bran conduces to growth 

 rather than fattening; its bulky character is also against its use 

 for this purpose, though a limited quantity may be useful. It is 

 better in most cases to supply the sheep with concentrated food 

 like corn, and cheaper roughage like clover hay, to furnish the 

 bulk required in feed during fattening. 



806. Grinding grain. — Of all farm animals the sheep is best 

 able to do its own grinding, and, except in rare cases, whole grain 

 only should be furnished. The common saying of feeders, that 

 a sheep which cannot grind its own grain is not worth feeding, is 

 a truthful one. Valuable breeding sheep with poor, teeth may 

 be perpetuated in usefulness by being fed ground grain. At the 

 Colorado Station, Cooke, in feeding Western sheep on wheat, ob- 

 served that much of the grain passed through the animals un- 

 broken. This experience is certainly unusual, but shows what 

 may occasionally happen. 



807. Roughage. — The Eastern stockman should provide clover 

 hay in abundance for his flock, both red and alsike varieties 

 proving satisfactory. So long as there is an ample supply of 

 good clover hay, sheep show little desire for other varieties of 



