210 MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



the sheep allowed to drink rather than be forced to drink. The 

 best way to drench the sheep is to back it into a corner, straddle 

 it, hold the head high and simply pour the drench into its mouth 

 and give it its own time to swallow it. A sheep usually takes its 

 medicine well. 



THE CARE OF YOUNG STOCK. 



Good sheep can not be raised from poorly-taken-care-of lambs. 

 One great essential in getting the proper growth from a lamb is to 

 keep its baby fat on it as long as possible. If it loses this desirable 

 property before well on toward maturity, it can not possibly make 

 a first-class mature animal. If a lamb becomes stunted, no amount 

 of feed will ever counteract the effect of the setback. Pure-bred 

 lambs of both sexes should have a small allowance of grain, no 

 matter how good their pastures may be, the outlay is more than 

 offset by the superior growth of the lamb. After the fall sales of 

 ram lambs are over there will be a number of small or indifferent 

 ones in most all flocks left to winter over. These, no matter how 

 robust they, may be, should never be kept with the yearling rams, but 

 should have separate enclosures and be fed liberally so that they 

 may be forced on as fast as possible and the best possible results 

 gotten out of them as yearlings. Those that come under the cate- 

 gory of culls, no matter of what breed or pedigree they may be, 

 should be fattened and sent to the butcher. Eoots should be pro- 

 vided for the young stock. 



In the attempt to raise good sires, nothing but the most lib- 

 eral methods of feeding should be employed. Especially is this true 

 so far as the lambs go. Sheep whose ancestors have been fed 

 for nearly a century under the most improved and scientific meth- 

 ods of feeding, can not be expected to thrive under common every- 

 day treatment; therefore, the best results can only be obtained by 

 starting the young animal well and keeping him going from birth to 

 maturity. The first six months of the lamb's life are the most im- 

 portant so far as feeding and care go. After then it seems better 

 able to rustle for itself, but that does not mean he's to be treated 

 as a scavenger. The lamb that is dull and listless is not making 

 growth; those that run races are the ones that are making head- 

 way. Bran, oats and oilmeal, with an abundance of roots, are what 

 make lambs grow into useful sheep. As some one has said, "the 

 care of young stock should commence long before they are born," 

 and, he should have added, "should certainly continue as 

 long as they live." The points to be studied in the young and 

 growing lamb should be constitution, character, bone, flesh, form, 

 fleece and management. If these features are kept in view there 

 is a pretty good chance of success. 



