SHEEP RAISING FOE BEGINNERS. 23 



RAISING ON PASTURE ALONE. 



The plan of having lambs dropped after ewes go to pasture and 

 marketing them without the use of other feed for the flock can no 

 longer be recommended for general use. The main advantages of 

 this plan lie in the small amount of care needed and the lower feed 

 cost. The cost, however, depends upon the quality of the pasture 

 and the value of the land. Late lambs that have never received 

 grain are particularly likely to be injured by stomach worms. 

 Lambs make smaller gains in hot weather, and there is the possibil- 

 ity of droughts drying up the pastures and decreasing the ewes' milk 

 at the time of the lambs' greatest need. Feeding grain to lambs on 

 pasture is only partially satisfactory and is particularly unlikely to 

 be profitable with lambs that have not learned to eat before going 

 to pasture. 



Unless grass is very good and cheap, and grain very high, this 

 plan of raising lambs can not be expected to prove continuously 

 profitable. When grass pastures are to be used for a flock turned 

 out when the lambs are 5 to 8 weeks old, it is desirable to have suffi- 

 cient divisions to allow frequent changes without the lambs being re- 

 turned to any ground previously grazed in the same season. Lambs 

 that are 6 weeks old when sent to pasture and have received some 

 grain can withstand a considerable degree of parasitic infection. 



THE DRY-LOT METHOD. 



Some breeders of pure-bred sheep have practiced a dry-lot method 

 of raising lambs, mainly to avoid stomach-worm troubles. Under 

 this plan the lambs do not leave the sheds or yards until they are 

 weaned, when they are put on clean, fresh pastures. In the mean- 

 time they are fed hay and grain, and their dams are returned from 

 the pastures two or three times each day to allow the lambs to nurse. 

 Because they do not graze, the lambs have slight chance of becom- 

 ing seriously infected with stomach worms. 



Some raisers of market lambs follow the plan of keeping both 

 ewes and lambs in dry lots. This plan also prevents serious stom- 

 ach-worm infection. Where green feeds or soiling crops are grown 

 near by and fed in the lot, the ewes milk well and the lambs grow 

 at a profitable rate. The main advantage from such a soiling system is 

 that it insures freedom from injury by internal parasites. Less fenc- 

 ing is needed if the ewes can be grazed elsewhere after the lambs are 

 sold. If this can not be done, as much fencing will be needed for the 

 ewes in the fall as would have been required for the spring flock. 



This plan is most likely to work well where alfalfa is the main 

 crop. Feeding in the yards prevents loss from bloat, and there is no 

 need for plowing the land, as would be necessary if sheep were to 

 graze on it a number of times each season, 



