AFTER-MANAGEMENT OF EWES AND LAMBS. 119 



healthy condition as the husk of peas " pea chaff " as it is often 

 called. Though not containing so much nutriment from an analytical 

 point of view as some other foods, it appears to be easily digested, 

 and the digestive organs are kept in vigorous condition by it. 



It is astonishing what a large quantity of rich corn and cake 

 lambs are capable of digesting when they receive their mother's 

 milk. The one seems to aid the digestion of the other, and they 

 do not suffer from overdoing, as is frequently the case in after 

 life. With the improvement in systems of feeding, and the greater 

 aptitude to fatten, sheep of the Down breeds particularly mature 

 early. 



On Grass. Less attention in the matter of feeding the ewe is 

 generally practised as the lamb becomes more independent of her. 

 It is a mistake to let the ewe get too low in condition ; at the same 

 time, extravagant feeding at this period is not warranted. In 

 the management of a breeding flock economy, consistent with the 

 health of the sheep, must be exercised, or the cost of the lamb 

 becomes excessive. An ewe when drafted lean from the flock 

 after breeding three or four lambs is worth no more often less 

 than she was when put in the flock as a theave. She spends each 

 year in producing a lamb, and the lamb's cost at the time of birth 

 is that at which the ewe has been kept through the year, with 

 slight additions for percentage of loss and a proportionate share 

 in the cost of the ram. On grass this expense is slight, and on 

 arable land it is dependent on the cost of raising crops. 



A lamb (expecting that by good management there will be a 

 good percentage of twins) ought to be born costing not more 

 than ten shillings, although it may pay in highly bred show flocks 

 for it to cost twice that sum, a large portion of it going in the cost 

 of the ram, though on hill land the lambs of small breeds must 

 cost considerably less than 10s. It is fair to charge the lamb 

 with the cost of the corn the ewe receives for two months after 

 lambing, as it is taken that the lamb is receiving corn through 

 its mother. When the lamb gets its own living, however, the ewe 

 ought to be costing little more than at other seasons. The food 

 of the ewe should not cost more than twopence a week throughout 

 the year, as other incidental charges bring up the total to ten 

 shillings. The advantage of getting a good percentage of twin 

 lambs is easily apparent, as is the necessity of keeping as many 

 as possible alive. It does not pay to let ewes get feeble from 

 lowness of condition, as some permanent injury is often brought 

 about by so doing. Except, however, for a short period after 

 lambing, the ewe must be regarded as the farm scavenger, often 

 utilising that which it would be unprofitable to keep other sheep 

 on. The first picking of the food should therefore be given to the 

 lambs from the time they are strong enough to feed. 



