212 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



less grain, and the same is true of pea and oat and vetch 

 and oat fodder cut at a proper stage of growth. Rye straw 

 is very low in value for such feeding. Wheat straw has 

 more value, and barley and oat straw have a value still 

 higher. 



Too much importance cannot be attached to the qual- 

 ity of the fodder. When it has been grown and cured 

 properly, shredding or chaffing are seldom either neces- 

 sary or beneficial. Some waste will result from feeding 

 coarse clover or corn stalks, and considerable waste will 

 result from feeding straw, but sheep that are being fat- 

 tened should not be forced to consume such food. When 

 fodders are scarce and high, it is, of course, more impor- 

 tant that they shall be eaten somewhat closely. 



The aim should be to feed fodders in racks as a rule. 

 The exceptions are corn and sorghum fodders under some 

 conditions of feeding. It is allowable sometimes to feed 

 these by strewing them on frozen surfaces when the con- 

 ditions are cleanly. Usually they are fed twice a day, 

 that is, evening and morning, and the aim should be to 

 clean out the residue, if any, in the racks before each feed 

 is given. But when very large lots are fed, it may be, in 

 a sense, necessary to keep a supply of fodder where it will 

 be at all times accessible to the sheep, notwithstanding 

 the considerable waste of such fodder, which thenceforth 

 is only useful for bedding. When straw of the small 

 cereals is fed, it should be in conjunction with other and 

 better fodders. When corn or sorghum fodders are on 

 hand, also hay from the grasses or clovers, and also straw 

 from the small cereals, the foods mentioned first may be 

 fed with most profit in the morning. Those mentioned 

 second in the evening, and those mentioned third at noon. 

 The most palatable fodder is thus reserved for the even- 

 ing meal. Corn fodder has a higher feeding value in the 

 autumn and early winter than later, and this is probably 

 true of all the sorghum fodders ; hence the aim should be 

 to save the best fodders as far as practicable for feeding 



