448 



Feeds and Feeding. 



727. Soiling ewes and lambs. — Because of their daintiness and 

 the large variety of plants they crop if opportunity offers, it is 

 usually impracticable to soil sheep. Desiring to ascertain, regardless 

 of cost, the amount of food required by sheep for growth in sum- 

 mer, the author conducted the trial reported below.^ Ten large 

 Merino ewes were chosen, each with a vigorous lamb at foot 1 month 

 old when the trial began, June 3. With patience and laborious at- 

 tention to details the shepherd fed the lot successfully, obtaining the 

 results given in the table: 



Placing a fair price on the substances consumed, we find that 100 

 lbs. of increase was made at a reasonable cost, Wlien we remember 

 that the ewes would have preferred to do their own foraging and 

 would have eaten weeds and weed seeds as well as better forage, we 

 must conclude that evidence points to the sheep as one of the most 

 economical meat producers on the farm, 



728. Feeding grain to lambs before and after weaning. — At the 

 AVisconsin Station- Craig gave some lambs grain before weaning, 

 others grain after weaning, and still others grain during fattening 

 only. Among the conclusions reached are the following: 



"The continuous grain feeding from birth until the lambs were 

 about 10 months old did not produce any noticeable dift'erence in the 

 carcasses in respect to the mixture of fat and lean, but materially 

 influenced the early maturity of the lambs. The lambs so fed attained 

 a given weight from 4 to 7 weeks sooner than those fed no grain be- 

 fore weaning and required about the same amount of grain for the 

 same increase in weight. 



"When lambs are fed grain continuously from birth they are fit 

 for the market at any time, so that advantage may be taken of any 

 favorable fluctuation that may occur in market prices, 



' ' When the lambs are to be sold at weaning time in July at the age 

 of 3 or 4 months, or in November when about 7 months old, it will 

 pay to feed them grain." 



Ept. Wis. Expt. Sta., 1890. 



= Rpt. 1896. 



