418 



MANAGEMENT ON RANGES IN THE WEST 



lambing period most sheepmen do their best to get a large per- 

 centage of lambs. Still, in all but a comparatively few regions, a 

 large percentage of twins is not wanted because, first, the feed on 

 the range is not plentiful enough to permit a ewe to grow two lambs 

 well and secondly, one of a pair of twins is likely to become lost 

 from its mother through the contusion which necessarily exists in 

 the lambing band. Such a lamb becomes a " bummer " and gains 



FIG. 231. A permanent lambing camp consisting of a wooden frame and canvas roof and 



walls. 



a living by stealing from several ewes. It does not develop well and 

 it hinders the growth of those lambs from whose mothers it steals. 

 Last Task of Lambing. Finishing the docking and castrating 

 is the last task of the lambing period. All the lambs not docked 

 and castrated are gathered together in a corral and handed out to 

 operators, who work on them at a rate of speed which varies witli 

 the size of the task and the familiarity of the operators with it. A 

 skilled operator can keep two men very busy catching lambs for him. 

 The testicles and tail are removed in a remarkably short time and 

 the lamb is in a large measure saved from the nervous exhaustion 



