326 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



is true. Valuable breeding sheep with poor teeth may be continued 

 in usefulness if given ground grain. Small, hard grains, such as 

 wheat, bald barley, and millet, should be ground, or better, crushed 

 for sheep. 



Trials at the Colorado Station ^ show that cutting or grinding good- 

 quality alfalfa hay is not profitable. With poor-quality hay, cutting 

 into three-fourth inch lengths may be profitable, provided the cost 

 is not more than $1 per ton, for less will be wasted. Even grinding 

 may be warranted, if the cost is not more than $3 to $4 per ton. 



Self feeders; feed racks. — To save time and labor some feeders 

 place grain sufficient for a week or more in a self feeder, and allow 

 fattening sheep or lambs to eat at will. From trials with lambs and 

 yearling wethers ^ F. B. Mumf ord concludes that fattening lambs by 

 means of a self-feeder is an expensive practice, since more feed is then 

 required for 100 lbs. gain. The advantage of a self feeder, even with 

 corn at a low price, is small, as it is necessary to feed by hand the first 

 5 or 6 weeks of the feeding period to accustom the sheep to a full 

 feed of grain before them all the time. Numerous observations show 

 that the death rate is higher when self feeders are used. The more 

 concentrated the grain, the greater the danger in feeding it thru the 

 self feeder. Bulky wheat screenings have been satisfactorily fed in 

 self feeders. 



Morton * reports that under Colorado conditions, when lambs are 

 fattened in the open, self -feed hay racks, costing $1 per running foot 

 and accommodating 4 lambs per foot, 2 on a side, saved sufficient hay, 

 compared with feeding it on the ground outside the pens, to pay their 

 cost in 3 seasons. 



Grain and roughage should be fed separately to sheep. If sheep are 

 fed in close quarters the hay should be supplied daily, since they dis- 

 like provender that has been "blown on," as shepherds say. In feed- 

 ing sheep in open lots, as is done thruout the West, racks sufficiently 

 large to hold roughage for several days are often used. Grain troughs 

 should have a wide, flat bottom, forcing the sheep to eat slowly. Fif- 

 teen inches of linear trough space should be provided for each animal. 



II. Hints on Feeding and Caring for Sheep 



Feed and care of ewes. — Experienced shepherds have found that 

 ewes which are gaining rapidly in flesh at breeding time are more 

 apt to produce twins or triplets than if they are poor in flesh. Hav- 

 ing more than one lamb per ewe is most profitable, except on the 



2 Morton, Colo. Buls. 151, 187. * Colo. Bui. 187. 



3 Mich. Bui. 128: Mo. Bui. 115 



