RATION EXPERIMENT WITH LAMBS. 



1906 1907. 1907-1908. 



W. L. CABLYLE and G. E. MORTON. 



INTRODUCTION 



This bulletin covers two winters' work with lambs done under the 

 direction of W. L. Carlyle. The first winter's work, on Cut Hay 

 versus Whole Hay, was carried out by H. M. Cottrell, and the 

 second winter's work on Cut Hay versus Whole Hay, and on Self 

 Feeders for Hay compared with Old Style Hay Racks, was carried 

 out by the writer, G. E. Morton. 



CUT HAY VERSUS WHOLE HAY ALFALFAFIRST TRIAL 



The Fort Collins district furnishes an excellent field for the 

 study of the lamb feeding industry. Because of the large numbers 

 fed, and the high ranking of the finished lambs on Eastern markets, 

 feeders are unusually alert in their search for means of reducing 

 the cost of production. One of the questions frequently put to 

 live stock men of the College and Station has been concerning the 

 value of cutting alfalfa hay into short lengths. There is considerable 

 waste in feeding whole hay to sheep as they reject quite a large per- 

 centage of the stems. There is no doubt that cutting the hay causes 

 sheep to eat it more closely, but the question of interest is whether 

 enough saving is effected by the cutting to reimburse the feeder for 

 the cost of cutting 



The trial here reported was made with grade Shropshire lambs 

 from the Idaho range. The lambs were fed whole hay and corn for 

 a period of seven weeks, and were then put upon experiment, one 

 lot being fed whole hay and the other fed hay run through an ordi- 

 nary feed cutter, and cut to 1/8 of an inch in length. 



TABLE I. 



TOTAL WEIGHTS AND GAINS SIX WEEKS 

 Dec. ist, 1906, to Jan. i2th, 1907125 Lambs in Each Lot 



*Gain shown by final weight plus 90 Ibs., weight of lamb which died. 



