Care and Management of Sheep. 



449 



The unlimited feeding of grain after weaning led the lambs to eat 

 less pasture. One-half pound of grain per head daily is the greatest 

 amount that was found profitable to feed at this time. 



729. Grain-feeding" lambs before weaning. — At the Wisconsin Sta- 

 tion^ Craig fed various grains to unweaned high-grade Shropshire 

 lambs for periods averaging 10 weeks. The lambs were induced to 

 eat grain as early as possible and were given all they could consume 

 in a trough accessible at all times thru a ''creep," which shut out 

 the dams. A summary of 4 trials is here shown. 



* Average of 5 trials. 



Corn meal gave good returns in these trials, especially when cost is 

 considered. This feed is one of the best for unweaned lambs de- 

 signed for the butcher, since it puts on much fat. For unweaned 

 lambs which are to go into the breeding flock, at least one-half of the 

 concentrates should be such as were fed to the other lots in these 

 trials. Oats and peas are rich in crude protein and one or both 

 can be grown on almost any farm in America. Where not avail- 

 able, bran can take their place. The large daily gains made by 

 these unweaned lambs and the small amount of grain required in 

 addition to the dams' milk for a given gain forcefully illustrate the 

 principle that young animals give the best returns for feed con- 

 sumed. (95) 



730. Fattening shorn lambs.— At the Michigan Station- Mumford 

 fed 2 lots of 10 lambs each for 13 weeks with the results given in the 

 table. One lot was shorn in November at the beginning of the trial, 

 and the other left unshorn, both receiving good clover hay and a grain 

 mixture of equal parts of corn and wheat. Both lots were kept in a 

 barn, the window in the pen containing the unshorn lambs being kept 

 open, while that in the pen of the shorn lambs was kept closed. In 

 spite of this care the shorn lambs suffered from the cold. Had it 



1 Ept. 1903. 

 30 



Bui. 128. 



