584 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



should be fat, but they should be kept in 

 a good healthy condition. 



Late fall and winter shelter for ewes 

 • — Sheep require no shelter from the 

 standpoint of warmth. In clear weather 

 they can sleep out of doors the coldest 

 night without suffering from cold. They 

 do need shelter to protect them from the 

 drizzling rains of late fall, from snow 

 and from bleak winds. A well covered 

 shed, closely boarded up with matched 

 lumber so that winds do not blow 



and colds, snuffles, and other disorders 

 follow. In case sheep are bred so that 

 the lambs come in the winter, it will 

 be necessary to have comfortable quart- 

 ers so that the lambs do not become 

 chilled before they are able to get up and 

 suck the ewe. But with May lambing, 

 no special provision for warm shelter 

 need be made. 



Attached to the sheep shed, or adja- 

 cent to it, should be a large, dry yard in 

 which the sheep may take daily ex- 



Fig. 371 — CHAMPION LINCOLN EWE 



through the cracks causing drafts on the 

 sheep, will suffice. This shed may be 

 entirely open on the south, but it is 

 better to have it arranged so that it can 

 be closed up in case of a storm. The 

 sheep door should be 8 to 12 feet wide 

 to prevent crowding in going in and out, 

 and should be made in two parts, so that 

 the bottom half can be closed if desired 

 to keep the sheep in. 



If the flock is left out in chilling 

 rains and heavy snowstorms, the fleece 

 becomes wet through, the sheep chilled 



ercise. It should have a sunny exposure 

 and be protected from bleak, cold winds 

 and driving storms. In clear weather, 

 the sheep should be fed in the open 

 yard. A common mistake, according to 

 Professor Hays, of the Minnesota sta- 

 tion, and one always attended with fatal 

 consequences to the lamb, is to keep the 

 ewes too warm in winter. Any crowd- 

 ing of the ewes in the sheds sweats them 

 so that they take cold when turned out. 

 In one instance when sheep were thus 

 confined, out of 50 lambs born in the 



