LAMBS FROM BIRTH UNTIL WEANED IO7 



lambs are weaned ; when they are two weeks old, five or 

 six feeds a day should suffice; when a month old, 

 three or four; when two months old, two; and when three 

 months old, one. In getting young lambs to drink, no 

 little patience may be necessary. They should be given 

 the finger when drinking for a time. 



The excessive cost usually incurred in rearing lambs 

 on cow's milk arises from the fact that in nearly all in- 

 stances the milk from start to finish is given in the whole 

 form. There would seem to be no good reasons, how- 

 ever, why skim milk should not be substituted for whole 

 milk, as in the case of rearing calves. No experiments 

 apparently have been conducted in this line. The change 

 would have to be made gradually as in the case of calves, 

 and as a matter of convenience in feeding, may be made 

 when the lambs have been brought down to say three 

 feeds a day. Flaxseed jelly may be added, as in feeding 

 calves, and in such quantities as the lambs can utilize. 

 If too much is fed the bowels will become too lax. When 

 the lambs have learned to eat grain freely, the equivalent 

 of the flax gruel may be given as oil meal, and along 

 with the grain. When thus fed the cost of food should 

 be less than the value of the meat made from it. Such 

 lambs should, of course, be furnished with good grazing. 



Supplemental food for lambs No substitute for the 

 milk of the dams can be given to lambs that will meet 

 their needs equally well. As long, therefore, as the milk 

 of the dam meets the requirements of the lamb, supple- 

 mental food is not necessary. But few dams, however, 

 can furnish a lamb with all the food that it needs beyond 

 the first three or four weeks of its life, and many ewes 

 will not come up to this standard. Especially is this 

 true of ewes that are not abundantly supplied with suc- 

 culent food. 



As soon, therefore, as the dam is unable to meet the 

 full needs of the lambs, supplemental food should be 

 given. When the ewes are out on pastures succulent, 



