WINTER MANAGEMENT OF EWES. 



of preventable mortality among breeding ewes is very serious 

 and our object is to enquire how far improved management 

 can lower it. 



In the case of ewes we find most deaths occur during and 

 immediately after lambing, and that fatal cases are confined to 

 about three months out of the twelve. Still, as already said, 

 the evil is often done months before death occurs, and con- 

 sequently continuous care is needed. We have known a heavy 

 mortality among two-tooth ewes in January, which had been 

 shorn as lambs eighteen months previously. They showed 

 symptoms of having contracted a chill, as the flesh under the 

 skin was red with congested blood, and we attributed the 

 unhealthy condition of the animals to the removal of the wool, 

 and exposure to cold and rain. Much damage may be done 

 to a ewe flock by turning the animals out on cold nights im- 

 mediately after shearing, and a yard with thatched hurdles or a 

 well-sheltered paddock will be found serviceable at this period. 

 Better still is it to put off shearing until the weather is warm, 

 and the loss of the fleece can be borne without risk. 



One day's starvation will tell injuriously upon ewes. They 

 should not be allowed to become ravenously hungry or to be 

 mistimed in feeding, as such mismanagement may easily result 

 in losses at lambing time. Over driving and dogging have 

 often been mentioned as injurious to ewes, as they no doubt 

 .are, and careful shepherds know how the injury remains after 

 the cause has ceased to be apparent. A fruitful cause of loss 

 among ewes is exposure to untoward conditions in November. 

 The ewes are th^n getting heavy in lamb. They have been 

 maintained on wholesome food and on a sound footing through 

 summer and early autumn. During October they have 

 scarcely felt the effects of the changing season, but in 

 November the nights become cold, and frosty rimes cover the 

 grass. Hoar frosts are proverbially followed by rain, and the 

 flock is exposed to those steady downpours which are charac- 

 teristic of the month. 



The ewes show symptoms of having had a " rough " time, 

 8 



