590 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



a ton, the cheapest gains in every test, 

 either before weaning or after weaning 

 have been made on ground corn._ This 

 is especially true of all the experiments 

 before weaning. 



Just as good or even better gains have 

 been made before weaning on coarsely 

 cracked peas, and the lambs appeared 

 to relish peas more, especially as they 

 grew older. But the cheapest gains have 

 been made on corn. Next in cheap- 

 ness to corn is bran, but this feed has 

 never given very good results when fed 

 to very young animals. It seems to be 

 too bulky and not easy of digestion. 

 With older lambs it is entirely satisfac- 

 tory. In feeding a ration consisting 

 wholly of ground corn, greater watch- 

 fulness has been found necessary, as 

 there is more likelihood of sickness 

 among the lambs than when a mixed 

 ration was fed. The addition to the 

 corn of oats or peas has made a ration 

 which the lambs seem to relish, but aside 

 from this the mixture had no appre- 

 ciable benefit, while it regularly in- 

 creased the cost. Oats and peas were 

 about equally valuable and the gains on 

 these feeds were about equal to those 

 made on corn, either before or after 

 weaning, but they were more expensive 

 rations. Coarsely ground feeds seem to 

 be much more relished by the lambs 

 than finely ground. 



Winter care of the breeding lambs — 

 Ewe lambs that are to constitute the 

 breeding flock should be fed liberally 

 during the winter months. The aim is 

 to get as much growth as possible dur- 

 ing the first nine or 10 months of the 

 life of the lamb. Craig states that 

 "the growth and development of the 

 lamb the first year of its life determines 

 very largely the size, weight of the fleece 

 and the vigor and power it will attain. 

 In every case the better the lambs are 

 cared for the first year, the more satis- 

 factory they will prove as breeders 

 in the flock." 



Fully as good attention should be 

 given to the buck lambs. By the system 

 of farming here described, it will be seen 

 that the ewe lambs born in May or June 

 are wintered over and not used for 

 breeding purposes until the following 

 fall, when they are about a year and a 

 half old. Some breeds of sheep, more 

 especially the Hampshires, may be safely 

 bred when a year old without injury, 

 but as a general thing, a better flock 



can be built up and maintained if the 

 ewe lambs are not bred until 16 to 18 

 months old. 



Water and salt — Sheep require a sup- 

 ply of pure, fresh water. Owing to the 

 danger from stomach worms they should 

 never be required to drink stagnant wa- 

 ter. In very wet weather or when there 

 are heavy dews, or when succulent feeds 

 are given, water may not be necessary, 

 but it is wise to plan liberally for a 

 daily supply of pure water, allowing 

 from 1 to 6 quarts a head for each sheep. 



At the Montana station in some winter 

 fattening experiments, lambs allowed 

 access to fresh water gained over 2 

 pounds each a month more and made 

 gains a cent a pound cheaper than lambs 

 fed the same food, but allowed water 

 only once a day. 



On the arid ranges of the Southwest 

 sheep, when grazing on certain succulent 

 plants, like singed cacti, sometimes go 

 60 days or more without water. In the 

 northwestern states sheep are watered 

 once, twice or three times a day, or 

 more rarely every other day. In a test 

 at the Colorado station, cold water 

 proved as satisfactory in fattening ex- 

 periments" as warm water. 



Salt is essential for sheep and should 

 be fed at regular intervals. Rock salt, 

 in lump form left where the sheep can 

 get at it at will, is a very satisfactory 

 method of feeding it. With sheep at 

 pasture, many shepherds make a prac- 

 tice of salting once a week with coarse 

 barrel salt. When it is desired to clean 

 out a batch of Canada thistles the salt 

 may be thrown on the wet plants and 

 the sheep will usually keep them well 

 grazed down. 



In some French experiments recently 

 reported, three lots of sheep were fed 

 like rations except that one lot was given 

 no salt, another lot a /2 ounce daily each, 

 and the third lot % ounce daily. The 

 lot fed \'-2. ounce gained 4Vo pounds more 

 than the lot fed no salt, and 1.2 pounds 

 more than the lot fed 3 /4 of an ounce. 

 The sheep fed the salt also produced 

 l 1 /! pounds more wool than those not 

 fed the salt. 



On the western ranges some sheep 

 raisers never salt their sheep, but allow 

 them to eat alkali. The belief is gain- 

 ing ground, however, that salt is better 

 than alkali and that salted sheep are less 

 likely to become locoed. When the 

 alkali contains as much as 80 per cent 

 of salt it is then quite safe for sheep. 



