FIRST STEPS IN FEEDING 385 



may be sorted out and sent to market in 25 or 30 days after the 

 feeding period begins. This is possible because all of the feeders 

 purchased are rarely if ever in the same condition, and it requires 

 but a few pounds of gain to make some of them ready for the 

 mutton market. If there are enough of them to make one or more 

 carloads, and if the market is satisfactory, it is better to market 

 them before the thinner animals are ready to go. 



First Steps in Feeding. Sheep and lambs should receive very 

 close attention for the first two or three days after they arrive at 

 the place of feeding. The reason for this is that, as a rule, they 

 have been through several days of rather rough treatment while 

 enroute to the market and passing through it. During this time 

 they may not have had enough feed to satisfy their appetite and 

 perhaps not enough water to quench their thirst. Care should be 

 taken not to allow them to rush to the watering troughs and drink 

 all they can hold ; it is better to allow them to drink a little every 

 few hours until their thirst is satisfied. In dry weather it is a good 

 plan to scatter the first feed on the ground. In case it is advisable 

 to feed from racks, there should be sufficient space to accommodate 

 all of the animals, and the feed should be in place before they are 

 turned in. If these precautions are not taken the sheep are likely to 

 " pile up " in their anxiety to get to the feed and, as a result, some 

 of them may be smothered. 



Nothing but dry roughage should be given at first. Succulent 

 feed is likely to cause scours, and western sheep and lambs are not 

 accustomed to a large amount of grain. 



There is practically no danger in giving feeder sheep and lambs 

 all the choice roughage they will eat as soon as they arrive at the 

 place of feeding. Alfalfa hay may prove an exception because a 

 large quantity of it causes scours and occasionally bloat. 



The chief problem in getting sheep or lambs on feed in the dry 

 lot or in the fields, is to get them accustomed to feeds which are 

 entirely new to them and which may cause physical disorders if not 

 fed with caution. Clover hay may be entirely new to them it 

 usually is but fortunately they may eat all they want of it from 

 the very first. On the other hand, all heavy concentrates, except 

 linseed oil meal fed in cool weather, must be fed in small or at 

 least moderate quantities at first and gradually increased. Nor is 

 it advisable to feed corn silage in large amounts until the animals 

 have become accustomed to it. 



