172 



THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



FEEDING G It ASS LAMBS. 



When the lambs are weaned they must not be neglected. 

 Anything neglected brings all concerned to shame, as the 

 proverb says very truly. And a newly weaned lamb will be 

 a sorry object if treated with neglect. It is desirable to feed 

 the lambs before they are weaned, and while pasturing with 

 the ewes. Some little grain food, as chopped oats with as 

 much bran, should be given them in a creep in which a 

 shallow trough is kept with a moderate allowance of the 



grain food. The creep is 

 a useful contrivance by 

 which the lambs may 

 squeeze themselves 

 through bars held by 

 springs, and on which 

 rollers are put to avoid 

 tearing the fleeces. The 

 rollers a r e arranged 

 with springs, and a slot 

 in which the ends slide, 

 so that they open under 

 the pressure of the 

 lambs, and close when they have passed through. Constant 

 watchfulness is needed to avoid the possible occurrence of 

 looseness of the bowels, which is an indication of indigestion, 

 and waste of food, but still more of a rapid loss of condition, 

 by which the growth may be set back a month or more, 

 thus destroying the profit of the feeding. A lamb must be 

 kept continually growing. It is this steady advance that 

 counts. Fits and starts, and frequent stoppage, must not 

 be permitted, and it need not be if due care is given. 



An instructive record of the feeding of a large lot of 

 lambs is given by Mr. John E. Law of Colorado. He writes: 

 "Last winter I made something of a comparative test with 

 three classes of lambs a good sample lot of- Mexican lambs, 

 a lot of native Colorado Shropshire lambs (bred by my 

 neighbor, J. A. Slayton), and my ow r n native bred Colorado 

 Delaine Merinos. On Dec. 3d the whole number was 

 weighed up and put in pens of about 500 each : 



A LAMB CREEP. 



