Feeding Sheep for Market. 157 



HAND-FEEDING OR SELF-FEEDERS. 



Where a large number of sheep or lambs are fed 

 at any one place and good feeders of sheep are 

 scarce it is perhaps feasible to employ self-feeders, 

 for by the use of self-feeders a great deal of hand 

 labor is saved. Where smaller lots are being fed, 

 however, hand-feeding can be much more highly 

 recommended, since sheep are greedy, and when 

 they have free access to the grain they often eat 

 too much of it. In many instances a large number 

 of lambs have been lost on account of overloaded 

 stomachs caused by eating too much grain. 



The writer at one time visited a large feeding 

 plant and counted as many as eleven dead lambs 

 one morning. When the man in charge was ques- 

 tioned as to the cause of death, his reply was that 

 the self-feeders had killed them by allowing them 

 to eat too much grain. The writer was informed 

 that out of the two thousand lambs in the feed lot 

 some were lost every day through the use of self- 

 feeders. The danger of eating too much grain is 

 prevented when hand-feeding is practiced. Where 

 large numbers are fed, and labor is high, however, 

 the large operator cannot be blamed for using self- 

 feeders. 



SHELTER. 



Whenever possible, shelter should be provided 

 for the fattening sheep. Yet at many western feed- 



