350 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



vetch sown alone at intervals of two weeks. These last until the 

 lambs are weaned and the clover aftermath is ready for them. Suc- 

 ceeding this comes the rape crop and fall turnips. 



During the first winter the ewe and ram lambs should receive 

 special care. The aim should be to encourage growth as much as 

 possible by good feeding without making them fat. Some grain, 

 preferably oats, and wholesome fodders, such as clover hay, cut corn 

 fodder, and others that they relish, should be fed. Until they become 

 matured the ewe and ram lambs should be fed liberally, for any loss 

 in growth that they may suffer through scrimped or neglected feed- 

 ing can never be regained in later life. 



Feeding Rams. In feeding mature rams it is desirable to main- 

 tain them in a thrifty and vigorous condition without fattening. 

 This implies wholesome food and exercise. If rams are made too 

 heavy in flesh at any time, impotency or inability to serve ewes fre- 

 quently results, and if they are once overfed and made too fat it is 

 a very hard matter to reduce them without serious injury to their 

 vitality. Exercise and not the reduction of their ration is the best 

 remedy for reducing the flesh. 



During the winter the object should be to maintain the weight 

 if the ram is mature, and if a shearling or young ram to make con- 

 tinuous improvement. Oats are probably the best grain food, though 

 the addition of some bran is advisable. A mature ram will need from 

 0.5 pound to 1 pound of grain daily to keep him in proper condition. 



The fodders should be chosen so as to give as much variety as 

 possible. They may include clover hay, pea straw, corn fodder, and 

 others, fed at different intervals, or, perhaps better, one in the morn- 

 ing and another in the evening. Some succulent food should also 

 be fed, such as turnips or silage. Experienced shepherds are very 

 decided upon the danger from feeding mangel-wurzel. A great many 

 rams have died from a formation of crystals in the bladder, and these 

 have frequently been traced, it is believed, to the feeding of mangel- 

 wurzels. 



To secure the best results in the breeding season it is not ad- 

 visable to let the rams run with the ewes before that time. They 

 should be pastured as much as possible, for in this way they will keep 

 healthier and stronger on their legs. Though the fleeces of the rams 

 that run out may not appear to as good advantage as if housed, yet 

 for results in breeding it is much the better plan to keep them on 

 pasture as much as possible. They should get some grain, the 

 amount depending on their condition. 



The feeding of the rams during the breeding season is very im- 

 portant. The grain should be mostly oats, with the addition of some 

 bran and linseed meal. Such fodders as vetches and rape, fed in the 

 shed, are recommended. The breeding season is a severe strain on 

 the vitality of the ram, which has to be met by liberal feeding of grain 

 and other foods in as great variety as possible. About 1 pound of 

 grain daily will be required, with as much green food as the ram will 

 eat, (Agr. Dep. F. B. 49.) 



