FEEDING AND CARE OF BREEDING EWES 129 



do not usually furnish grazing at that season when the 

 ewes are confined to the sheds. 



Where the ewes can have access more or less to the 

 pastures in the winter season, the advantage from hav- 

 ing the pastures not too distant will be at once appar- 

 ent. To have a winter pasture near may be in some in- 

 stances of sufficient importance to make this question a 

 subject of careful thought. The more stern the winter 

 climate, the more important is it to have such a pasture 

 near the sheds. 



The grading of the flock When the flock is small, as 

 when, for instance, it does not number more than 20 to 

 30 ewes, and when these are all strong and vigorous, but 

 little grading of the ewes may be necessary. But it is 

 different with large flocks. In any event the aim should 

 be to put the ewe lambs retained for breeding in quarters 

 separate from the breeding ewes, as the food best suited 

 to the needs of both is not the same, although in some 

 instances the difference may not be marked. Where many 

 ewes are kept for breeding, they will not be alike in age, 

 in the amount of flesh they carry, and in all-round vigor. 

 Where such is the case, they should be divided into lots 

 that will admit of feeding each according to its precise 

 needs. The basis of the grading may rest upon condition 

 of flesh or age or on both. As the winter advances and 

 the lambing season approaches, the necessity for regrad- 

 ing may exist, based upon the advanced condition of 

 pregnancy or the opposite. Of course, after the lambs 

 begin to come, further regrading may be necessary to 

 meet the needs of the ewes and lambs, based upon the age 

 of the latter. Some grading may also be necessary for 

 the rams, as when, for instance, ram lambs and older 

 males are wintered over, the food requirements for the 

 two being different. Any selected for feeding for the 

 block must also have separate quarters. 



Where the flocks are large, the divisions, or some 

 of them that make such grading possible, should be per- 



