324 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



the hay she will eat three times a day. Clover hay is preferred. 

 Should the hay be coarse they are not required to eat all, but permitted 

 to select the dainty bits. The hay should be cut early, and, if clover, 

 after one- third of the blossoms have turned brown. Timothy should 

 be cut before it has passed into full bloom. Early cut and well-cared 

 hay is of prime necessity. To the hay is usually added one gill of oats, 

 or peas and oats, and a like quantity of bran, mixed, to each sheep per 

 day, after they come to the barn and are fed hay in the fall and early 

 winter. During the whole period of her pregnancy the ewe is kept in 

 a thrifty condition, unless she is too fleshy, which is more likely to be 

 the case with young ewes than with old ones. They are permitted to 

 gain very slowly until their lambs are dropped. When necessary to get 

 them in good condition grain is given to put them in better flesh before 

 lambing time. This is done very carefully and gradually, and the best 

 breeders see that this improvement begins early in the period when the 

 lamb is being carried. 



When the lambs are dropped the ewes are fed liberally until they go 

 to pasture. This is necessary to give the lambs a good start, so essen- 

 tial to them in reaching the largest size and most perfect development, 

 for if they do not have plenty of milk nothing can properly replace it. 

 It is preferred to have the ewes all drop their lambs, part with their 

 fleeces and the lambs docked, before the ewes are permitted to pasture; 

 therefore April is considered the best month in which the lambs should 

 be dropped. A month earlier would be much more expensive, as the 

 ewes would require higher feed that month to prevent a decrease in 

 the milk. Experience shows that lambs dropped in April usually are 

 larger at one year than those dropped earlier, and that a ewe turned on 

 grass within a few weeks after dropping the lamb is more likely to in- 

 crease her yield of milk than one which has been giving milk for a much 

 longer period. 



From five to ten days before the first lambs of the flock are dropped 

 there is added to the feed of all the ewes a small allowance of oil cake 

 and a gradual increase of other feed. Until six to ten days after the 

 first lamb of the flock is dropped the ewes are given one to two pints each 

 day of a mixture of three parts oats, three of bran, and one of oil meal, 

 fed twice daily and continued for fifteen to twenty days, at which time 

 nearly all the ewes have lambed, the ewes being turned out daily, weather 

 permitting, to pasture gradually and the feeding diminished in proportion 

 as the pasture is increased. While this gradual reduction of feed is tak- 

 ing place with the ewes, the lambs are being prepared to be turned out 

 by labeling and docking them. They are usually docked when about 

 ten days old. A dry clear day should be selected, not too cold nor 

 damp and cloudy, for the weather has a great effect upon the amount of 

 blood lost, and this matter needs close attention. Some breeders cas- 

 trate the young rams at the same time that they are docked, but this 

 practice is less followed now than formerly, and they are usually cas- 



