FEEDS FOR SHEEP 339 



enough gain from grinding the other grains to pay for the expense. 



Barley is extensively used for fattening sheep and lambs thruout 

 the western range district, where but little corn is grown. Trials at 

 the western stations show that with alfalfa hay for roughage, lambs 

 fed good heavy Scotch or brewing barley make nearly as large gains 

 as those fed corn, and require but 5 per ct. more grain and 10 per ct. 

 more hay for 100 lbs. gain. 



Wheat is rarely fed to sheep unless off grade or low in price. Grain 

 of good quality is slightly superior to barley and practically equal to 

 corn for fattening sheep. 



The value of wheat screenings varies widely, heavy screenings being 

 equal to wheat, while the light, chaft'y grades are more like a rough- 

 age than a concentrate. Successful feeders wisely use screenings of 

 low grade in getting the lambs on feed and as fattening advances 

 change to the heavier screenings. 



Oats are bulky and, being well liked by sheep, are widely used in 

 starting sheep on grain at the beginning of the fattening period. 

 They are also excellent for the breeding flock. Owing to their usual 

 high price and the fact that they induce growth rather than fatten- 

 ing, it is rarely economical to feed much oats to fattening sheep. 

 Trials at the Indiana Station^ show that after lambs are on full feed 

 corn as the only grain is as satisfactory as a mixture of corn and oats. 

 At the iMontana Station* lambs fed clover hay and oats required 6 

 l)er ct. more grain and 5 per ct. more hay than those fed barley and 

 clover hay, and at the South Dakota Station^ lambs fed on oats and 

 mixed hay required 16 per ct. more grain and 9 per ct. more hay per 

 100 lbs. gain than others fed corn and clover hay. 



Emmer is an important grain for sheep and lambs in the northern 

 plains states. AVhen used as the only grain, it is worth but three- 

 fourths as much as corn per 100 lbs., tho its value is somewhat higher 

 when fed with barley or corn, 



Kafir and milo, of increasing importance in the southern plains 

 region, are worth slightly less than barley for sheep feeding. 



Miscellaneous carbonaceous concentrates. — Dried beet pulp has 

 proved equal to corn for growing or fattening lambs, when fed as 

 part of the concentrate allowance. Beet molasses is sometifhes fed 

 to sheep in the vicinity of beet-sugar factories in the AVest. In some 

 cases no other concentrate is fed, and in others wet beet pulp and a 

 little cottonseed cake are added to the ration. To avoid smearing 

 the wool, the molasses is preferably mixed thoroly with cut hay or 

 straw. 



3 Skinner and King, Ind. Buls. 168, 179; information to the authors. 



4 Linfield, Mont. Buls. 47, 50. s s. D. Bui. 86. 



