SHEEP RAISING FOR BEGINNERS. 



19 





FIG. 5. Sheep on good summer pasture with shade. Sheep need shade in summer days. 

 They graze most toward evening and early in the morning. The sheep shown are 

 part of a Louisiana grade flock having two crosses of mutton sires on native ewes. 

 The average fleece weight of the native ewes was 3 pounds and of the three-quarter 

 breds 5.6 pounds. (Photograph from Louisiana Extension Service.) 



poses should be weaned at the same time and put on fresh pastures 

 where there is no danger of stomach worms. When the weaning is 

 done at this time the ewes can be put in better condition for the fall 

 breeding. Earn lambs left in the flock worry the ewes and may get 

 some of them in lamb. When lambs are to be kept on the farm the 

 best method of weaning is to leave them on the old pasture for three 

 or four days and remove the ewes to a scanty pasture to check their 

 milk flow. As soon as the lambs cease fretting for their dams they 

 may be moved to fresh pastures where the ewes have not been. Ewes 

 with large udders should be partially milked once every three days 

 until they go dry. 



SUMMER PASTURES. 



The breeding flock in summer needs little but good pasture, shade, 

 salt, and plenty of fresh water. Bluegrass is one of the most popular 

 pastures, but is likely to be too dry in late summer and too unbalanced 

 in its food nutrients for ideal feed. It is at its best when used in the 

 spring and fall and supplemented by forage crops in the summer. 

 Alfalfa is sometimes pastured in the summer, but is better used when 

 cut and fed as hay in the winter. There is serious danger of loss 

 from bloating when sheep are grazed on alfalfa or clover. Sweet 

 clover is worse than the red and alsike in this regard. Rape makes 

 an excellent supplement for bluegrass, but is a forage crop rather 

 than a summer pasture, though it may well supplement bluegrass. 

 Soy beans are good, and if the flock is changed to another part of 

 the field when most of the leaves have been eaten off, the plants will 



