CHAPTER VI 

 THE NATURE OF SHEEP 



The Life of a Sheep. Most sheep are fully grown at eighteen 

 to twenty-four months of age. The manner in which they are fed 

 has some influence on their rate of development; sheep that are 

 forced by heavy feeding may at one year of age show indications of 

 being two years old. As a rule, the Merino breeds are later in devel- 

 oping than the mutton breeds, but whether this later development is 

 altogether a breed characteristic is not wholly clear. The method 

 of growing Merinos generally in vogue may be different enough 

 from that employed in growing the mutton breeds to cause some 

 of the difference in rapidity of development. But the early im- 

 provers of the mutton breeds apparently sought early maturity 

 more persistently than the early improvers of the Merinos. It is, 

 therefore, only fair to assume that the mutton breeds are disposed 

 to develop at a more rapid rate. 



In general, sheep are old at five or six years of age. But there 

 are many exceptions to this rule, so many, in fact, that the flock- 

 master ought to be his own judge as to when his sheep are old. On 

 the ranges in the western part of the United States where the flocks 

 are very large, it is common practice to discard ewes when they 

 become five or six years old solely on account of their age, because 

 they usually begin to decline in yield of wool after their fifth year. 

 But the owners of small flocks can afford to base their discarding on 

 a study of individuals, for not infrequently seven- and eight-year- 

 old ewes when members of a small group, produce quite as well or 

 even better, than younger ewes. 



Unfavorable environment and improper care, exposure, and poor 

 feed often hasten the approach of old age. In dry, sandy countries, 

 sheep may become old at a comparatively early age through the teeth 

 being worn down short by the excessive amounts of sand both in and 

 on the vegetation. Then, too, a scanty supply of feed on the range 

 may require the sheep to do so much travelling when it is not ade- 

 quately fed that physical decline sets in prematurely. 



It frequently happens that sheep which have become too old for 

 one set of conditions are moved into more favorable surroundings 



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