SHEEP RAISING IN WISCONSIN 



9 



they are the only kind that are profitable. The owner will 

 be repaid many fold for a few dollars spent in the purchase 

 of a better ram. The following season he will have a better 

 crop of lambs. 



It is not a good practice to use ram lambs for breeding. 

 The ram lamb should be given time to develop and get his 

 growth. A ram should be a year and a half old before he is 

 used for breeding purposes. This age also holds true for the 

 ewe lambs. Ewes should never be bred until they are past 



FIG. 5. SIX WESTERN EWES AT WISCONSIN STATION 

 These six ewes raised ten lambs in spring of 1914 and proved to be excellent mothers. 



a year old. In order to secure the best results and the strongest 

 lambs no ram should be bred to more than 50 ewes in a single 

 season. 



Each year before the breeding season, the ewe flock should 

 be carefully culled. All the old ewes which have lost some of 

 their teeth should be fattened as much as possible and sold 

 to the butcher. The younger ewes that have proved poor 

 mothers or poor milkers, raising only tiny lambs, should also 

 be removed from the flock, and sold. Only the best ewe lambs 

 from each year's crop which show the most promising mutton 

 form should be kept to take the place of the unfit ewes. 



BEGIN WITH SMALL FLOCKS 



The settler who goes to upper Wisconsin should begin 

 with a small flock. It is not a wise plan to buy large numbers 



