96 Sheep Management. 



SHEARING EWES BEFORE OR AFTER LAMBING. 



When ewes have been bred late in the fall, which 

 of course, brings them to lamb late in the spring, 

 they can be sheared before lambing. Shearing the 

 ewes before lambing has the following advantages: 

 Ewes sheared before coming in keep much cleaner 

 at the rear than those with their wool on. There 

 is also no danger of lambs biting olT wool from 

 their mothers and swallowing it, which will cause 

 balls of wool to form in their intestines, thus stop- 

 ping up the bowels and killing the lambs. When 

 the ewes a IT shorn lambs will find their mother's 

 teats more easily, and the time taken to trim the 

 wool away around the udder is saved. An- 

 other point in favor of shearing before lambing 

 is the fact that ewes with their coats on often re- 

 main outdoors during rains or severe cold, and 

 their lambs naturally stay at their side. The old 

 sheep, being well protected by their fleeces, do 

 not mind the rain or the cold, but the young lamb 

 with its short wool gets chilled or \vel to the skin 

 and catches cold, this often bringing on pneu- 

 monia and finally resulting in the death of the 

 lamb. On the other hand, if the old sheep have 

 been sheared at this time and the barn doors are 

 left open for them, they will run to the barn and 

 seek shelter just as soon as it turns cold or begins 

 to rain, thereby protecting not only themselves 



