CHAPTER XVI 



Hothouse Lambs 



The production of hothouse lambs on farms 

 within reasonable proximity to large cities has 

 become one of the important specialized forms of 

 animal husbandry within recent years. By hot- 

 house lambs, which are also called milk lambs or 

 winter lambs, is meant lambs which are born in 

 late autumn or early winter, and so managed that 

 a rapid forced growth is secured and the animals 

 marketed while they are still being suckled by their 

 dams. The meat of such lambs is juicy, tender 

 and of a delicate flavor and commands relatively 

 high prices in certain city markets. The principal 

 consumers of this product are the large hotels, 

 fashionable clubs and wealthy families of large 

 cities. 



EQUIPMENT AND MANAGEMENT 



Success in this industry, perhaps more than in 

 any other branch of stock raising, requires the 

 proper equipment for handling the stock and pro- 

 tecting it in winter. It also requires skill and judg- 

 ment in breeding and feeding in a very marked 

 degree. The ewes must be bred so that the lambs 

 will arrive at the desired time, which is seldom 

 later than the first week in December and may be 

 any time in November. The ewes should have a 

 marked tendency toward being heavy milkers, so 

 that the young lambs will grow rapidly and become 

 fat at the proper time for marketing. Good shelter 



