588 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



is given them, but this is not a matter 

 of importance and the ewes quickly re- 

 cover after weaning the lambs. English 

 breeders rather prefer to have the ewes 

 in a thin condition, so that when they 

 commence the feeding preparatory to 

 breeding, the ewes quickly respond and 

 are gaining in weight when mating 

 takes place. 



Shearing ewes_It is desirable that 

 shearing be done after the ewes have 

 dropped their lambs rather than before, 

 since any rough handling or crowding 

 of pregnant ewes may result in serious 

 loss of lambs. 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF 



LAMBS 



Lambing — The lambing period is the 

 most critical time in the life of the 

 flock. At this time the shepherd should 

 be in constant attendance day and night. 



is first sprinkled over the lamb. An- 

 other practice which is more common 

 among sheepmen is to remove the skin 

 of the dead lamb and tie it onto the 

 lamb which is to be adopted. 



Cow's milk for lambs—Sometimes the 

 ewe dies in giving birth to her lamb, 

 in which case it may be necessary to 

 give the lamb to another ewe or to bring 

 it up on cow's mill?. The milk should 

 be fed whole and warm and preferably 

 with a little sugar added. At first it 

 should be fed 12 to 15 times daily, at 

 the end . of the week, five to six times 

 daily and within two or three weeks, 

 three times daily will suffice. The milk 

 may be fed from a bottle, using a rub- 

 ber nipple. 



Reviving chilled lambs — Should a 

 lamb become chilled it can often be 

 resuscitated by putting it into a pail of 

 water as hot as it can stand. It should 



Fig. 374 LAMBS IN MAY 



If the lambing season occurs in cold 

 winter, the lambs may become chilled 

 before they are able to suck. If twins 

 are produced, the ewe may give atten- 

 tion to only the stronger one. The shep- 

 herd should see that the weaker one 

 gets its full supply of nourishment. If 

 the young lamb is unable to suckle with- 

 in a few minutes after birth it should 

 have help, and it is often necessary to 

 hold the ewe for this purpose. Some- 

 times the ewe refuses to own her lamb. 

 She can usually be made to do so by 

 shutting her up in an individual pen, 

 with only the lamb for company and 

 out of sight of the other sheep. It may 

 be necessary to hold her for a few days 

 for the lamb to suck. Should a ewe lose 

 her lamb, one may be taken from an- 

 other ewe which has produced twins or 

 triplets and given to her. The ewe is 

 sometimes more easily induced to own 

 the strange lamb if some of her milk 



be covered entirely with water, leaving 

 only the nose exposed. When the water 

 becomes cool, more warm water should 

 be added. It may be necessary to warm 

 the water two or three times if the lamb 

 is chilled, after which the lamb should 

 be rubbed dry with a towel and fed 

 with warm milk heated to 100° F. In 

 severe cases it may be desirable to give 

 a couple of drops of whiskey or brandy, 

 diluted with a teaspoonful of water, be- 

 fore the lamb is given milk. 



It can usually be put in the flock 

 within an hour or two and requires no 

 furthpt attention. 



Docking, castrating and dipping 

 lambs — Lambs should be docked and the 

 males castrated when they are two to 

 six weeks old. The tail may be cut off 

 with a good, sharp jack-knife, leaving 

 a stub of about 2 inches. With show 

 sheep a neater job can be done by pull- 

 ing up the skin of the tail toward the 



