146 Sheep Management, Breeds and Judging. 



ers are very high-priced in the fall one cannot ex- 

 pect a large margin over the purchase price, feed, 

 and labor, unless high prices for finished mutton 

 are realized. 



In the Eastern and Middle States not as many 

 sheep and lambs are annually fed as in the West- 

 ern States. Michigan perhaps leads in the East, 

 while Colorado is foremost in the West. However, 

 smaller numbers of them are fed for market in 

 nearly every state. Since the writer cannot dis- 

 cuss the large feeding operations in the West from 

 personal experience, he will confine his discussion 

 of the subject to the home industry where sheep 

 are fed for market on a smaller scale. In many 

 sections of the country a considerable number of 

 men feed one or two carloads each winter. Oth- 

 ers may just be starting in, and it is to these that 

 the writer wishes to speak in particular. 



AGE OF SHEEP TO BE FED. 



It is generally admitted among feeders that 

 lambs bring more profit when put in the feed lot 

 than older sheep, for the simple reason that it re- 

 quires less pounds of feed to produce a pound of 

 gain in lambs than in yearlings or still older sheep. 

 The lamb in the feed lot is not only putting on 

 flesh, but is at the same time growing in size, while 

 the older sheep though spreading and developing 



