CHAPTER II 



PRESENT TYPES OF SHEEP RAISING IN LEADING 

 SHEEP COUNTRIES 



Range Method, Using Herdfers. In the western part of the 

 United States sheep raising is commonly carried on in the large 

 flock or band under the care of a herder who keeps the sheep on a 

 comparatively large, area of unenclosed land plains, foot-hills, and 

 mountains. A band varies in number from 1500 to 3000, and 

 besides the herder, requires the services of a camp tender, whose 

 duties are to get provisions, move camp, select a new site where there 

 is comparatively good feed, assist in cooking, and count the sheep 

 (Figs. 7 and 8). 



Range Supplemented by Cultivated Crops, At first range 

 sheepmen in the United States depended solely upon the wild growth 

 of the land for their sheep feed. Aside from selecting as good 

 natural range as possible no preparation was made for feeding in 

 the stormy periods of winter when the snow covered the feed too 

 deep for the sheep to get to it. Consequently many starved. But, 

 now very few deaths result from lack of feed because the winter 

 range is supplemented with such feeds as corn, cottonseed cake, 

 barley, oats and alfalfa hay. The corn and cottonseed cake are 

 shipped in, but the other feeds are raised in the West in dry farm- 

 ing and irrigated regions. Alfalfa ranks first in importance for it 

 is used more extensively than any other feed in supplementing the 

 winter range, and the practice of using it for summer range is 

 increasing (Fig. 9). 



Ranging on Enclosed Lands. Many of the large flocks of 

 Australia and New Zealand are kept on large tracts of enclosed 

 land where no herders are required. It is claimed that the sheep 

 can make much better use of the range under this system than they 

 can under the herding system. Under the herding system each sheep 

 regularly maintains a fairly definite position in the band. For 

 example, certain sheep are always at the front while others are 

 always in the rear. Those in the rear do not find as much to eat as 

 those at the front; hence the band as a whole cannot be so uni- 

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