258 MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



handle them as a rule should go out to the "dropping" herd im- 

 mediately after dinner and begin getting together the ewes and 

 lambs that have dropped during the morning. By sunset, or a 

 little before, when it is time for the "dropping" herd to go into 

 camp, the night herders should have all the ewes that have dropped 

 lambs during the day pretty well rounded up, then the herders of 

 the "drop" herd take their herd and drive it straight into camp, 

 not allowing them to graze. Here the two night herders round up 

 the ewes and young lambs as close as they can without confusing 

 them too much and then make down their own beds nearby. It 

 is needless to say that they should have brought their beds out 

 with them when they came from dinner. 



Early the next morning the two night herders should start 

 in with their herd of ewes and young lambs and by noon they 

 should have them in camp, where, after having any ewes not car- 

 ing for their lambs properly taken out and put in the "bum 

 pens" this bunch of ewes and lambs should be put with the "in- 

 fant herd" nearby. 



That night the "infant" herd should be put in a roomy cor- 

 ral away from any other sheep and the next morning, after being 

 carefully inspected again to see that none of the ewes have de- 

 serted their lambs, they should be moved off a half mile or so to 

 a permanent lamb herd camp, where a lamb herd is started. 



The two night herders are sent out to the "dropping" herd 

 after dinner and the same thing is repeated that has just been 

 described. When the lamb herd gets up to about 200 to 250 ewes 

 and lambs it should be moved away to some nearby ranch, if such 

 is available; if not, to another camp, where a corral is available, 

 so as to mark, dock and castrate the lambs. This should be done 

 as soon after the lambs are five days old as possible, as the older 

 and fatter the lambs get the more danger there is of loss from 

 castration. 



DOCKING VS. NON-DOCKING. 



A great many New Mexico sheep owners do not dock their 

 wether lambs at all, while others do, each one claiming to be right 

 in his practice. 



We are of the opinion that docking wether lambs in New 

 Mexico is a very foolish practice. The men who practice it will 

 say that a wether that isn't docked doesn't look well, that a long 

 tail gives him a lanky appearance and that they won't sell well on 

 the market on that account. Now when a carload of sheep is put 

 on the market the buyers don't look at their long or short tails, 

 but they look to see whether they are fat or not, and if they are 

 fat enough, the right size, etc., to suit the buyer, he buys them 

 and buys them" by weight. So if they have not been docked there 



