THE SHEEP OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



otherwise things will not go well. We have indicated in general 

 terms how feeding should go on up to the lambing period ; but 

 we cannot farm by rule, and it may be that the experienced eye 

 of the shepherd sees something wrong. The skin ceases to look 

 healthy, the eye is dull, and then it is that the judicious stock- 

 owner will try a change. If we hope or expect for a successful 

 lambing there are certain things that must be attended to. 

 First and foremost the ewes must be strong and healthy, which 

 can only be when their food has been sufficient to grow the 

 foetus without drawing upon the mother. We must endeavour 

 to steer a mean between having them fat — in which case there 

 is a risk of fever — and poor, when they cannot nurse well. 



The value of and necessity for a ewe pen depends upon the 

 climate and period of the year at which the ewes lamb, and the 

 hardy or delicate character of the sheep themselves. When the 

 situation is exposed (as must be the case on the chalk and lime- 

 stone hills) we are greatly in favour of making ample provision 

 for comfort, remembering that warmth and shelter are most im- 

 portant aids to success. In selecting the site for a ewe pen the 

 following points should be borne in mind : To obtain all the 

 natural shelter, especially from the more boisterous winds ; to 

 have the pen near the food ; to select dry ground. The lee side of 

 a good thick plantation is a capital situation ; but if we have not 

 any natural shelter, we must make it artificially : this can be done 

 by stacking a wall of straw, and weighting the top so as to 

 resist wind ; then under this shelter we make the covered pens, 

 in which the ewes and produce are placed for three or four 

 days. We prefer to have these pens partly open and partly 

 covered. They are constructed with hurdles, one on the top 

 being covered with straw ; thus we get warm shelter, where the 

 dam and produce can be fed according to their wants. The 

 open portion of the ewe pen should be divided into two parts, 

 the division being made by a stack of pea straw, as has been 

 mentioned before. The walls, except on the more exposed side, 

 may be made by fixing double hurdles about a foot apart, and 

 filling the interval with straw closely trodden in ; this breaks 

 the force of the wind, and renders the pen very snug. It is a 

 good plan to house the ewes at night for a few days before the 

 process commences, and when the time arrives all the forwardest 



