CHAPTER II 



THE DETERMINING FACTORS IN THE SELECTION 

 OF FEEDING SHEEP 



No best class of feeders. What kind or class of sheep 

 makes the best feeders is a question quite frequently asked, 

 but impossible to answer. We must remember that there is 

 no more a best feeder sheep than there is a best horse or 

 hog. However, under specified and definite conditions this 

 question may have at least a partial answer, and with this 

 in mind the following suggestions concerning the character- 

 istics of the different feeder subclasses are given, with the 

 desire that they may prove helpful to the intending pur- 

 chaser in his selection of the best feeders for his conditions. 

 Natives are of so little importance in the feeder classes that 

 they will not be considered in this discussion. 



Duplication of climatic conditions in selection of feeders. 

 Other things being equal, the feeder who lives in northern 

 feeding districts Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illi- 

 nois, Ohio, and the New England States should feed 

 the Western sheep that come from the northern sheep 

 regions, namely, Idahos, Montanas, Dakotas, and perhaps 

 the Wyomings. The central and southern feeders have the 

 Wyomings and Mexicans to select from. The Mexicans 

 are especially well adapted to Colorado, Nebraska, and 

 Kansas conditions, while the Wyomings fill many yards 

 in eastern Nebraska and Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, southern 

 Illinois, and Ohio. This is a broad classification and only 

 applies in a very general way. 



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