32 MANAGEMENT OF FLOCK. 



WEANING. 



Weaning-, If not conducted with care, and with proper fore- 

 thought, will inevitably lead to a derangement of the system of 

 the lambs. 



In some cases, at a very early period, the lambs are separated 

 from their mothers, and at once placed on seeds, which are 

 perhaps burnt up and totally unsuitable to the tender stomachs 

 of the lambs. The sudden transition from the milk of the ewe 

 to the dry summer food, is beyond the power of their digestive 

 organs. The new food is not properly assimilated, consequently, 

 general derangement of the stomach and system immediately 

 follows, of which the small threadlike worms that are found in 

 the lungs are but the indication. This is attended with fever and 

 loss of appetite, parasitic worms, as already alluded to, are 

 engendered in the vessels of the throat and lungs, and soon 

 terminate the life of the animal. 



To prevent these evil results, the food supplied at weaning time 

 should be of a highly nutritious quality, and such as can be easily 

 assimilated, and if the weather is hot and dry, a plentiful supply 

 of clean water should at all times be available. 



The date of weaning depends on the particular breed of sheep 

 and the locality, and the breeder must be guided by circum- 

 stances ; but in alt cases it is important to put the lambs, when 

 weaned, on a good pasture, or amplify their food as suggested 

 later on. Early weaning is in most cases to be recommended for 

 the following reasons : Keep is usually scarce at this season, and 

 this affords an opportunity of giving the lambs the best pastures, 

 and putting all the ewes into one field, instead of being all about 

 the farm robbing the lambs. As a matter of fact, ewes, after 

 weaning, should have a poor pasture. In some districts, weaning 

 is so late, that aftermath clovers are available ; but in the majority 

 of cases this will not be so, and if cabbage, mustard, or other 

 green crop be to hand, so much the better, as the object is to 

 minimise the loss of the milk as much as possible. A little corn 



