140 



MAN\GKMENT OF SHEEP. 



(103.) Fatting. The age ut which sheep are pre- 

 parea for the butcher depends upon the breed, its 

 situation, and its propensity to take on fat. The heath 

 sheep may be considered as requiring to be the greatest 

 length of time in the hands of the fanner, and the 

 Leicesters as the reverse ; wethers of the former 

 variety being usually disposed off when from three to 

 four years old, and ewes when from four to five ; while 

 wethers of the latter kind are fit for market often at 

 eighteen months, and the ewes are in general fed off 

 after the third year. 



Sheep, in spring and autumn, are peculiarly liable to 

 diseases of the intestines, a circumstance mainly to be 

 ascribed to the changes which are, in these seasons, 

 constantly occurring in the nature of their food. Much 

 of this is owing to careless management in the economy 

 of the pastures, and to restricting them for great lengths 

 of time to one kind of provender, a thing guarded 

 against by all good breeders. Sudden transitions, 

 however, from a poor to a nutritive pasture, and the 

 reverse, are always bad, and therefore to be avoided ; 

 but change of feeding ground, with these restrictions, 

 cannot be too much inculcated — it is, in fact, the soul 

 of sheep husbandry. The bleakest portions of a farm 

 should be pastured off in autumn, so as to reserve the 

 sheltered spots for winter use. The cast ewes may 

 then be drafted off to feed on a more succulent herb- 

 age, ])revious to being penned on turnips. 



Most of the points worthy of attention in sheep feed- 

 ing having already been detailed in the article on 

 Crossing, I shall only add a few particulars in regard 

 to management on turnips. 



