SHEEP 



595 



Feeding qualities of lambs — There is 

 a marked difference in the feeding qual- 

 ities of lambs. All the larger mutton 

 breeds and crosses eat more, mature 

 faster, and are ready for market earlier 

 than the fine wool Merino type. In 

 buying lambs for feeding, preference 

 should be given to grades which show 

 signs of mutton blood. Many of the 

 mutton breeds have a black nose, a mark 

 generally transmitted to the crosses. 

 "Well bred lambs of any breed when well 

 fed and cared for grow more rapidly 

 and make cheaper gains than scrub stock 

 given indifferent care. 



This is well shown in experiments re- 

 ported by the Wisconsin station, in 

 which the influence of breeding on the 

 feeding qualities of the lamb was in- 

 vestigated. Shropshire grade lambs, 

 which had been grown under indifferent 

 management, were fed in comparison 

 with the average wether lambs of the 

 station flocks which had been carefully 

 reared and well sired. Both lots were 

 given all the corn fodder they would 

 eat and a mixture of equal parts corn 

 and peas. The scrub lambs made an 

 average weekly gain of 2.3 pounds a 

 head, while the well bred lambs gained 

 3.6 pounds a head. The cost of gain 

 with the scrub lambs was at the rate of 

 $4.58 a hundred pounds, and the 

 net profits 65 cents a head. With the 

 well bred lambs the cost of gain was 

 $4.08 a hundred pounds and the profit 

 $1.13 a head. The sire was in a large 

 measure responsible for this greater gain 

 and profit on the well bred lambs. 



There is a marked difference also in 

 the feeding qualities of different types 

 of sheep, thus at the Iowa station, sev- 

 eral of the pure mutton breed required 

 8.5 pounds of dry matter, costing 2.96 

 cents on the average to produce a pound 

 of mutton. The gain with these pure 

 bred sheep on the average was 0.53 pound 

 a head a day. With 443 range lambs, 

 mostly of the Merino type, fed 108 days, 

 it required on the average 10.45 pounds 

 of dry matter to produce 1 pound of 

 gain, and the gain a day was but 0.24 

 pound a head, or only about half as 

 rapid a gain as that made by the mutton 

 breed. In Minnesota, also, Merino grade 

 lambs, made poorer and more costly 

 gains than Shropshire, Oxford, or Cots- 

 wold grade lambs. 



Lambs vs. yearlings, wethers and old 

 sheep— Sheep, like all other animals, 



make gains more rapidly and cheaply 

 while young and growing. A consider- 

 able amount of data has been secured 

 on the economy of gain on these differ- 

 ent classes of sheep which illustrates 

 this point. 



At the Montana station, a comparison 

 was made between lambs and wethers. 

 They were fed for 95 days on clover and 

 grain. The lambs in the experiment 

 made an average gain of 25 pounds each, 

 at a cost of $1.13 ; the wethers during the 

 same period gained 25.6 pounds at a 

 cost of $1.43. The dressed weight of 

 the lambs was 54.8 per cent of their 

 live weight, while that of the wethers 

 was 52.5 of the live weight. From 12 

 hours fast the lambs shrank 1.6 per cent 

 and the wethers, 3 per cent. In shipping 

 the lambs from Montana to Chicago, 

 the average shrinkage was 8.3 per cent 

 for the lambs and 7.8 per cent for the 

 wethers. 



The Iowa station also made a compari- 

 son between lambs and yearlings. Shrop- 

 shires were used in both cases. The 

 lambs required on the average 7.18 

 pounds of dry matter for a pound of 

 gain at a cost of 2.88 cents. The year- 

 lings required 11 pounds of dry matter 

 for a pound of gain at a cost of 4.44 

 cents. The lambs also gained much 

 more rapidly than the yearlings, the 

 average being 0.48 pound a day for the 

 lambs, and 0.33 pound a day for the 

 yearlings. On the whole it cost 56 per 

 cent more to produce gain with year- 

 lings than with lambs of the same breed. 

 As a rule lam 1 s always make more rapid 

 gains on smaller amounts of food for a 

 pound of gain than older sheep. The 

 meat also sells for a higher price in the 

 market. It is necessary to buy year- 

 lings and older sheep at a considerably 

 smaller price a hundred pounds if they 

 are to be fed at a proportionate profit. 

 Both the Missouri and Colorado stations 

 have shown that large lambs of the same 

 age make more rapid gains than small 

 lambs. 



In tests reported by the Colorado sta- 

 tion, Mexican lambs were fed at a 

 greater net profit than Mexican year- 

 lings, grade Merino lambs or grade 

 Merino yearlings, whether figured on 

 the amount of money invested or the 

 amount of hay fed. Lambs in these ex- 

 periments shrank less in shipping to 

 Chicago and in dressed weight than 

 yearlings. 



