EXPERIMENTS IN WINTER LAMB PRODUCTION 201 



Since 1911 the Ohio Experiment Station has been conducting 

 some experimental work in the production of hothouse lambs at the 

 Southeastern Test Farm, at Carpenter, and the data already secured 

 are presented in this bulletin. Part I deals with a comparison of 

 different rations for ewes and lambs, and Part II deals with the 

 cost of producing- hothouse lambs. 



PART I 

 RATIONS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF WINTER LAMBS 



During- the winter of 1912-13, 122 winter lambs were raised and 

 used in three different experiments to compare different grain 

 rations for ewes and lam DS. rortyofthe oldest lambs were fat- 

 tened and shipped to New York as hothouse lambs. The remain- 

 ing younger lambs were reserved for experimental feeding the fol- 

 lowing summer, and were not fed quite as heavily as if they had 

 been intended for hothouse lambs. The results thus secured from 

 fattening hothouse or winter lambs will doubtless apply, in a 

 measure at least, to the fattening of any kind of lambs. 





Grade Delaine ewes from which hothouse lambs were raised. 

 RAISING THE LAMBS 



The ewes from which the lambs were raised were principally 

 grade Delaines averaging about 85 pounds in weight. There were 

 also a few pure bred Delaine ewes in the flock. The lambs were 

 sired by pure bred Southdown rams. Seventy-nine of the ewes 

 were either young ewes or ewes which had raised hothouse lambs the 

 previous winter. They were turned out on bluegrass pasture April 

 15, 1912, and breeding was begun May 20. The remaining 43 ewes 

 had raised lambs during the spring and summer of 1912. The 

 lambs were weaned July 8, and on July 23, these ewes were put 

 with the breeding lot and bred for late fall and winter lambs. Begin- 

 ning shortly before breeding was started and continuing throughout 

 the breeding season, the ewes were fed about }{ pound of corn per 

 head daily to keep them gaining slightly in flesh. At frequent 



