374 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



brought for safe keeping for the night. The protection 

 sought is against dogs and beasts of prey. On the arable 

 farm where the sheep are corraled at night the yard and 

 the shed which opens into it is usually made to serve the 

 purposes of a corral. On the range this is frequently im- 

 practicable ; in fact, it is so usually during the grazing sea- 

 son, owing to the distance of the grazing grounds from 

 the sheds. 



A corral is always a necessity on the open range, as 

 under such conditions the danger is always more or less 

 present that the flock may be preyed upon by beasts of 

 prey. When the range is very large, it may be necessary 

 to have more than one corral. Of course, on the arable 

 farm such increased protection is never necessary, un- 

 less the sheep should be kept during a part of the grazing 

 season on pastures too distant to admit of driving them to 

 the home corral. 



Although the corral is indispensable under many 

 conditions of sheep husbandry, it is nevertheless a 

 hindrance in some respects to the production attainable 

 were it not necessary to corral the sheep. It calls for 

 travel that would not otherwise be necessary; it fosters 

 to some extent the spread of disease should it be present 

 in the flock, and it prevents the sheep from grazing as 

 they otherwise would in the coolest portion of the day. 



When sheep are sustained by grazing alone, they get 

 all the exercise they need when taking their food, and 

 should the pasture be sparse, they get more than they 

 need. Every additional step taken beyond the require- 

 ments of health is taken at the expense of flesh, hence the 

 more distant that the corral is from the pastures, the 

 greater is the loss from such journeying. The aim should 

 be, therefore, to so locate the corral that unnecessary 

 time on the part of the sheep would be prevented. This 

 may call for the construction of more than one corral 

 on large grazing grounds. The other conditions to be 

 considered in locating a corral include: (i) Protection 



