PART II-SHEEP 



INTRODUCTION 



The United States ranks as one of the principal mutton-producing 

 and wool-growing countries of the world. The sheep industry in 

 America dates back to early times. It has experienced more ups and 

 downs, due to changing conditions and varying prices than has the 

 cattle industry or the hog industry. At the present time the sheep 

 business is in a transitional stage. The number and size of flocks in 

 most of the western range states continue to decline. In the farming 

 states increased interest in sheep and increased production are now 

 noticeable. Lamb and wool production is a profitable business at the 

 present time and promises to continue so, not only under range condi- 

 tions but also in intensive farming. 



Feed and labor requirements. — F. R. Marshall, formerly in charge 

 of sheep investigations, U. S. Bureau of Animal Industry, has pointed 

 out that sheep are markedly different from other farm animals in their 

 requirements for feed and labor: ^ 



Lamb and wool production require a smaller use of grain feeds 

 than is required with other kinds of live-stock farming. A majority 

 of lambs are marketed at weaning time and without having had any 

 feed other than the milk of their dams and a slight amount of grazing. 

 The lamb carcass requires less fat to render it suitable for the table 

 than is necessary in any other class of meat. This fact adapts sheep 

 raising to sections that are not adapted to the production of grains 

 but can furnish good pasturage and forage crops. Lambs born late 

 in the season, lambs raised by ewes which are not good milkers, and 

 lambs raised under conditions which do not produce a good milk flow 

 in the ewes go into the hands of feeders and consume considerable 

 grain, but their finish is largely produced from hay and other roughages 

 of comparatively lower value. Breeding ewes require little grain, and 

 good fleeces are produced without the use of concentrated feeds. 



Sheep have been advocated on the ground that no labor or atten- 

 tion is needed. It has been said that they are farm scavengers, that 

 they will clear the farm of weeds. It is true that sheep will eat most 

 weeds, and that farms which have a flock of sheep usually give evidence 

 of that fact in cleaner fence rows and corners and a tidier appearance 

 generally. It is also true that sheep raising requires comparatively 



1 Sheep and Intensive Farming, U. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook, 1917, pp. 311-320. 

 213 



