598 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



are ripe is done at a loss. The main 

 fact holds true also with older sheep. 

 When they are ripe or ready for market, 

 they should be marketed without further 

 delay. 



How to tell a fat sheep — The points 

 observed by judges in estimating the 

 condition of fat sheep are the tail, the 

 middle of the back, the neck, the flank, 

 the purse and the throat. According 

 to Craig, "at any of these points, more 

 especially the back, the covering should 

 be such in the prime lamb as to prevent 

 feeling the sharp projections of the back- 

 bone. In fact, it can hardly be said that 

 a lamb is really prime unless instead of 

 a projection of the backbone there is a 

 distinct trough or groove running from 

 the tail to the shoulders and this cover- 

 ing should extend well down over the 

 sales without softness due to excessive 

 fat or oily tissue. All lambs do not fat- 

 ten as smoothly or as uniformly as here- 

 in indicated. In most lambs, however, 

 the worst defect is bareness of the loin 

 and lightness in the hindquarters. With 

 these parts well covered and fully devel- 

 oped, a rather sharp shoulder and peaked 

 brisket may be overlooked. Not only 

 should the flesh be thick over the valu- 

 able cuts, but it should be firm. Very 

 often it may be found that soft, rough 

 patches will be present about the head 

 or the tail, owing to the depositing of 

 too much soft flesh on the back, which 

 may slip from there on the over-ripe 

 l"mb and gather at the flank or along 

 the sides in long, soft rolls." 



FOR 



FATTENING 



ROUGHAGE 

 SHEEP 



Under this heading will be discussed 

 the results of experiments and practice 

 in the use of various roughages for fat- 

 tening sheep. 



Alfalfa — Nothing exceeds alfalfa hay 

 in value as a roughage for fattening 

 sheep. On alfalfa hay alone lambs at 

 the New Mexico station consumed 2.3 

 pounds per week and gained 23.7 pounds 

 in 128 days, requiring about 11.8 pounds 

 of hay per pound of gain. 



At the Wyoming station, where al- 

 falfa was compared with native hay as a 

 roughage for fattening lambs, they made 

 25 per cent better gains than the lambs 

 on native hay. Stated in another way, 

 an acre of native hay produced 476 

 pounds of gain, and an acre of alfalfa, 

 1,756 pounds. 



At the Montana station also, alfalfa 

 hay gave about 40 per cent better results 

 than grain hay, made up of a mixture of 

 equal parts wheat, oats, barley and peas 

 cut in the milk stage. At the Colorado 

 station it required about 400 pounds of 

 alfalfa hay and 120 pounds of grain to 

 put range lambs in good condition for 

 the market. In experiments at the Ne- 

 braska station, lambs fed alfalfa hay 

 and grain made 52 per cent better gains 

 than like lambs fed the same grains and 

 prairie hay. 



When sorghum was substituted for 

 the prairie hay, the lot fed alfalfa made 

 72 per cent better gains than the lot fed 

 sorghum. In these tests the lambs on 

 both prairie hay and sorghum were fed 

 at a profit. 



All these results show clearly the high 

 feeding value of alfalfa hay for fat- 

 tening sheep, due not only to its large 

 protein content, but also to its great 

 palatability to sheep. The third and 

 fourth cuttings are tisually considered 

 most satisfactory for sheep, because the 

 stems are finer and more leafy. There 

 is no danger whatever from bloat in 

 feeding alfalfa hay. 



Clover — This has been a standard hay 

 for sheep in the East for many years. 

 On clover alone at the Montana station, 

 sheep in one test gained 7 pounds a 

 head monthly and in another 8.1 pounds. 

 It required 14 pounds of clover hay or 

 18 pounds of grain hay to produce a 

 pound of gain. On grain hay alone the 

 gain was but 5.34 pounds a month. 



That station concludes that while 

 fairly good gains can be secured from 

 feeding lambs on clover alone, some 

 grain in addition is required to impart 

 a good finish to them for shipping pur- 

 poses. 



Alsike clover was found superior by 

 the station to either alfalfa or red clover 

 for fattening lambs, but the range of 

 growth and the yield of this crop is not 

 so great as either alfalfa or red clover. 

 There is considerable waste in feeding 

 clover to fattening sheep, but they 

 should not be forced to eat it too closely 

 as they will not do as well as with more 

 liberal feeding. They select out the ten- 

 derest and most nutritious parts of it 

 and the remainder should be cleaned 

 out of the racks and given to cattle or 

 horses. 



Cowpea hay — This is one of the im- 

 portant leguminous hay plants of the 



