FEEDING YOUNG ANIMALS 139 



ewe's udder should be examined to see that it is in 

 a healthy condition. If the ewe is receiving the 

 proper kind of food and her udder is doing its work, 

 no further attention is necessary. From the time 

 the lambs are dropped until taken from the flock 

 they are dependent on the mother ewe both for milk 

 and for companionship. If the lambs are taken from 

 the ewe and compelled to suffer from hunger and 

 lonesomeness, it is no wonder that they bewail their 

 condition and shrink in flesh. The good flock- 

 master avoids this, because it is inhumane and al- 

 ways acts as a physical shock that requires some 

 time for recovery. 



The mother ewes should be given some grain 

 food, in addition to pasture or other roughage, dur- 

 ing the period the lambs are with them. If the lambs 

 are thrifty, they will soon learn to eat of the same 

 kind of food. Such lambs, being thrifty, are always 

 good eaters and make but little fuss when removed 

 at weaning time. It is good practice to prepare for 

 weaning. Prior to weaning, teach the lambs to eat 

 some food that will take the place of the mother's 

 milk better than the grass of the pasture. Get the 

 flock into an inclosure where they will be com- 

 fortable after having fed on grass in the morning, 

 and give them a light feed of some mixture of con- 

 centrates like oats and bran, half and half, or oats 

 and bran with some oil meal added. The ewes will 

 enjoy a light feed of this morning and night, and the 

 lambs will learn to eat with them. When the lambs 

 have learned to eat these concentrates in the in- 

 closure, the ewes may be separated from the lambs. 



