SHEEP 



605 



— about % pound a head daily, in com- 

 bination with corn or other grains. 



Dried sugar beet pulp_Some of the 

 sugar beet factories are kiln drying the 

 pulp and offering this material for stock 

 feed. Occasionally the molasses from 

 the sugar beet factory is mixed with 

 the feed. The Michigan experiment 

 station reports the results of feeding 

 these materials to sheep. Both the beet 

 pulp and the dried molasses beet pulp, 

 possess feeding values comparing very 

 favorably with corn. When these ma- 

 terials were fed in grain mixtures, more 

 mutton was produced at less cost than 

 on similar amounts of grain mixtures 

 alone. The dried molasses beet pulp 

 possessed a little higher feeding value 

 than dried beet pulp without the mo- 

 lasses; but in the experiment noted this 

 difference was not great enough to offset 

 the greater price paid for the molasses 

 beet pulp. 



The gain on dried molasses beet pulp 

 three parts and linseed meal one part 

 averaged 2.4 pounds a week. The mo- 

 lasses beet pulp cost $13.70 and dried 

 beet pulp $11.60. On the dried beet 

 pulp the gain was 2.3 pounds a week. 



Sugar beet molasses wa s fed with a 

 ration of alfalfa and bran to lambs at 

 the Utah station and gave very satisfac- 

 tory results both as regards economy 

 and rapidity of growth. The molasses 

 was poured over the alfalfa and about 

 one-third pound a head fed daily. The 

 weekly gains on this ration were 1.4 

 pounds per head, while on alfalfa and 

 best screenings, the gain was 1.59 pounds 

 a head. These figures indicate a satis- 

 factory feeding value for sugar beet mo- 

 lasses. 



Wheat — This grain is not fed to sheep 

 except when the price is very low or 

 when it is off grade. Frequently, how- 

 ever, it is fed in small amounts to add 

 variety to the ration. For fattening 

 purposes it appears to be about 10 per 

 cent less valuable than corn, though in 

 the early stages of fattening lambs it 

 is fully equal to corn. (See Corn For 

 Sheep.) 



From experiments reported by the 

 Utah station, frosted wheat or unmar- 

 ketable shrunken wheat seems to be 

 fully as valuable as the best marketable 

 wheat. 



Macaroni wheat proved equal to bread 

 wheat, pound for pound, as a fattening 



grain for lambs at the South Dakota 

 station. Whole macaroni wheat made 

 cheaper gains than the ground macaroni 

 wheat and bran or whole macaroni wheat 

 and bran. That station found that it 

 may be profitably fed to lambs when 

 worth 65 cents a bushel. 



Wheat bran [ a an excellent feed for 

 fattening sheep, but for young lambs 

 should be used only in small amounts. 



Wheat middlings f a one f the best of 

 the mill products for sheep, being espe- 

 cially valuable for young lambs and also 

 for old sheep. 



Sheep fattening on a large scale — I n 

 some of the western states, especially in 

 Colorado and Nebraska, the sheep feed- 

 ing industry has been developed on an 

 enormous scale. Range sheep are pur- 

 chased and brought to the corn and al- 

 falfa sections, where they are fed for a 

 few months in bands of thousands and 

 then marketed. The sheep are divided 

 into lots of 400 to 500 and fed in cor- 

 rals, in the open, without shelter, except 

 some kind of windbreak protection. The 

 yards are so arranged as to minimize 

 labor. A common method of feeding is 

 to have the lot divided by driveways in 

 the middle. Grain troughs are then 

 placed in each lot sufficient to accom- 

 modate the whole band at one time. 

 The lots are so arranged that the sheep 

 can be herded in the one while the 

 troughs are being filled with grain in 

 the other. 



Hay is placed along the fence on the 

 outside of the lot, a space about 7 inches 

 between the first and second boards of 

 the fence being left so that the sheep 

 can reach through and get it. Where 

 possible, the alfalfa is stacked between 

 the yards and if not thus convenient it 

 is drawn in wagon loads and distribu- 

 ted. Water troughs are placed usually 

 alongside of the driveways and some 

 filled by windmills and others by hand. 



With a feeding plant thus convenient- 

 ly arranged it is possible for four men 

 to take care of 10,000 head of sheep. 

 Sometimes the yards are made in zigzag 

 or cross fashion and thus broken up so 

 the sheep cannot run freely from one 

 end of the lot to the other, as they fre- 

 quently do when feeling good, often to 

 their injury. Shelled corn is the grain 

 chiefly fed and alfalfa constitutes the 

 principal roughage. In favorable years 

 enormous profits are made by this meth- 

 od of feeding. 



