IIO "MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



for lambs the cob should be excluded. The oil cake may 

 be best fed in the form of granules about the size of peas. 

 In the above ration, peas may be substituted for corn, 

 and oats for bran. Corn and wheat in the proportion of 

 two and one parts will also make a good grain ration. 

 For the latter, oats, bran and oilcake, in the proportions 

 of three, one, and one parts by weight will be found quite 

 suitable. 



The lamb creep For the first three or four weeks after 

 the lambs begin to -eat, they should take their food within 

 what is termed a "lamb creep," which means simply an in- 

 closure with suitably prepared openings, accessible to the 

 lambs and not accessible to the dams which nurse them. It 

 should be located in a nice, dry, airy place and as con- 

 venient to the pens in which the dams are kept as may 

 be practicable. When necessary the creep may be located 

 in the pasture. The size of the creep will, of course, de- 

 pend on the number of the lambs to be accommodated. 

 From 4 to 5 square feet should suffice for each lamb, 

 hence a creep, 12 x 15 feet, should accommodate 36 to 45 

 lambs, dependent on size and age. The aim should be, 

 however, to have smaller creeps and to have one in each 

 division where ewes are kept. The objection to large 

 creeps lies chiefly in the fact that lambs congregate in 

 them that differ too much in age. The grading of the 

 lambs with reference to size is more easily accomplished 

 when the creeps are not large. 



The furnishings of a creep consist of suitable openings 

 for ingress and egress on the part of the lambs, a trough 

 in which grain and succulent food may be fed and a little 

 manger or rack for holding the fodder. The opening or 

 openings may consist of slats nailed up and down, but 

 not far enough apart to give access to the ewes. Rollers 

 are preferable for the openings to slats. They may be 

 made, say, 3 inches in diameter and are set upright in the 

 frame. They are fastened with springs above and be- 

 low, which spread as the lamb passes between. They are, 



