LAMB FEEDING AND SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN IDAHO 



BY 



W. L. CARLYLE E. J. IDDINGS 



INTRODUCTION 



The numbers and values of various kinds of live stock on January 

 1, 1913, are reported by the Bureau of Statistics, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. This estimate gives Idaho fifth place in number 

 of sheep among the states of the Union, with 2,957,000 head. 

 These sheep, from the same source of information, are valued at $11,- 

 S04, 000.00, which exceeds the total value of any other class of animals 

 except horses. Sheep Husbandry, though conducted largely under 

 range conditions, is chief among the live stock industries of Idaho. 

 Development and extension of sheep husbandry in the state, must 

 follow two principal lines, viz: lamb feeding and the keeping of more 

 sheep on the farm. 



During the past year a great many letters of inquiry, many more 

 than ever before, have come to the Idaho Experiment Station re- 

 questing first, detailed advice as to relative value of native feeds for, 

 and methods to pursue, in lamb feeding; and second, information as 

 to the breeds best adapted to the farm and the feeding and manage- 

 ment of a small flock. It is the purpose of this bulletin to give such 

 information as is possible concerning lamb feeding by reporting in detail 

 data secured in two feeding experiments with a total of 813 lambs, 

 and also to supply information as to breeds and management by 

 briefly discussing the chief characteristics of the more popular types 

 and breeds and outlining the essential features of successful flock 

 management. 



A FUTURE FOE SHEEP 



Sheep raising in America has passed through many important 

 changes. In the earlier days of the industry sheep were kept largely 

 for wool, and those types showing the heaviest and finest quality of 

 fleeces were as a rule most popular. Mutton was then commonly re- 

 garded as inferior meat of uncertain flavor and palatability. Gradually 

 these old prejudices against the eating of the meat of sheep have given 

 way, and mutton has come rapidly into public favor. 



The receipts of sheep at the Union Stock Yards of Chicago show 



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