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BULLETIN 573, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



a grain ration. A few flockmasters feed both roots and grain. There 

 are no silos on the project at present, but elsewhere in southern Idaho 

 corn silage is fed to the breeding flocks with excellent results. As it is 

 popularly believed that the excessive feeding of roots may result in the 

 productin of soft, flabby lambs, the quantity of roots fed during the 

 winter is not large, from 2 to 4 pounds per sheep being the daily allow- 

 ance. Roots commonly are fed whole and in the field, as illustrated 

 in figure 4. In some instances where grain is used, grain feeding begins 

 a month or six weeks before lambing. Other flockmasters do not 

 feed grain until after lambing time. There is, perhaps, no better 

 grain ration to supplement alfalfa than a mixture consisting of two 

 parts oats and one part bran. A half pound to a pound of this mix- 

 ture per head each day is sufficient. Unthrashed sheaf oats is a popu- 

 lar and desirable feed to use in connection with alfalfa. The practice 

 of feeding some supplement with alfalfa is rapidly gaining in popu- 

 larity. Where such feeding is not practiced, it is frequently found 

 that young ewes refuse to own their lambs and that neither young 

 nor old ewes produce sufficient milk to feed the lambs properly. It 

 is important to provide the flock with fresh water and salt at all 

 tunes. The practice of forcing the flocks to drink from stagnant 

 ponds or dirty drinking troughs is to be condemned. 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT. 



Except at lambing time, shelter is not absolutely necessary, 

 although open sheds and windbreaks are desirable, as there is need 

 for protection against west winds. A dry yard with an open shed 

 or windbreak or with an open shed and a closed lambing shed joined 



FIG. 7. A popular type of combination hay and grain rack for feeding sheep. 



