PROFITABLE SYSTEMS FOR FEEDING SHEEP 43 



the sheep into them, but this varies greatly, depending on 

 how good a growth there was to start with and the num- 

 ber of sheep per acre that grazed it. From the cowpeas the 

 sheep are turned into the rape, and to make sure that they 

 will begin eating it without a setback it is advisable to give 

 them a taste of it a few hours each day before all the cow- 

 peas are gone, or perhaps better still have a sprinkling of 

 it in the cowpea fielti. If the rape has made a satisfactory 

 growth, it will furnish abundant feed for another thirty to 

 forty-five days, and by that time the lambs should be fat. 

 There is another chance for loss from bloat when changing 

 from the peas to the rape, so the lambs should be watched 

 carefully. 



Lambs not apt to eat the corn. A question that always 

 comes up in connection with this system of feeding is, Do 

 the lambs eat the corn or break down the stalks ? If the 

 stalks are down badly when the lambs are turned in, or if 

 the undergrowth gets scarce, there is a liability of the lambs' 

 eating the corn, but under ordinary conditions they do not 

 bother it. Here it might be well to quote a northern Mis- 

 souri farmer who has fed sheep by this method since 1902. 

 This is one of the best feeds he ever made. " In 1904 I 

 purchased three hundred and thirteen head of lambs ; there 

 were some yearlings in the bunch, weighing seventy-nine 

 pounds in Kansas City. They ate the undergrowth, which 

 was very good indeed, in thirty-five acres of corn, and some 

 of the ears, but not more than twenty-five bushels. In sixty 

 days they were back in Kansas City weighing one hundred 

 pounds." This example should not be taken as an average, 

 but rather as showing the possibilities of the method. This 

 man generally uses lambs alone, and makes a longer feed, 

 but seldom receives such good gains. 



