330 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



good. Ram lambs should be given grain in fall to insure good de- 

 velopment. 



Stomach worms. — East of the Mississippi stomach worms are a 

 serious menace to sheep raising, lambs being especially liable to at- 

 tack. The eggs of the parasite, which are scattered over the pastures 

 in the droppings of the sheep, soon hatch and the worms may be swal- 

 lowed by the sheep while grazing. Fields on which no cattle, sheep, 

 or goats have grazed for a year, and those that have been plowed and 

 cultivated since sheep grazed on them, are usually free from worms. 

 Old permanent pastures are apt to be infested, as are stagnant water 

 pools. 



Trouble from stomach worms may be avoided by changing sheep 

 and lambs to fresh pasture frequently. It is especially necessary to 

 place the lambs on fresh, clean pasture when they are taken from 

 their dams at weaning time. Where sheep are suffering from the 

 worms, various drenches may be used. The most common one is 1 

 tablespoonful of gasoline for lambs and 1% tablespoonfuls for large, 

 older sheep, mixed with one-third pint of fresh cow's milk and 1 

 tablespoonful of raw linseed oil. The treatment should be repeated 

 each morning for three days, the sheep getting no feed over night. 



Fattening lambs in the fall. — Finishing lambs for the market in 

 the fall is common with farmers who raise their own lambs and with 

 many who buy feeder lambs from the western ranges. Until cold 

 weather the lambs may be grazed on rape, stubble fields, or other 

 pasture, being fed grain in addition. Sometimes the lambs are 

 shifted to fields of standing corn after the stubble fields are well 

 gleaned. Here they feed on the lower leaves of the corn stalks and 

 on rape or turnips sown at the last cultivation, finally eating more 

 or less of the corn on the ears. Thrifty lambs placed on feed in the 

 early fall should be ready for sale by December or early in January, 

 a season when there is usually a scarcity of good lambs on the market, 

 since the grass-fed lambs have been marketed and those in winter feed 

 lots are not yet finished. 



Fattening lambs in winter. — Most western lambs are fattened for 

 market in winter. As they usually have never had grain, they must 

 be started on feed slowly lest some be injured or even killed. At first 

 they should be given all the roughage they will eat, with a little grain 

 — not over 0.1 lb. per head daily — sprinkled thinly in the troughs. 

 The allowance may be gradually increased until in 2 months or less 

 they are on full feed. 



Farm-raised lambs take grain more readily, and in some cases but 

 3 or 4 weeks need intervene between placing the lambs on feed and 

 full feeding. In all cases, before sheep are admitted to the fatten- 



