﻿THE MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP ON THE FARM. 19 



When a barn is built sufficient outlay is justifiable to make it con- 

 venient. Storage should be provided for roughage, grain, and roots. 

 If the haymow is above the sheep it should have a tight floor, so 

 that the hayseed and chaff can not fall down upon the sheep. The 

 root cellar must be frost proof. Barns having two floors for sheep 

 are sometimes built. 



The barn should be cleaned out several times during the winter. 

 Slaked lime, gypsum, or disinfectants scattered about dispel the 

 odors that arise at this time. The pens- should be bedded down 

 whenever necessary, so that the sheep are kept clean and dry. 

 Shavings are not a very satisfactory bedding material. They become 

 entangled in the wool, and are troublesome in shearing. .Wheat 

 straw is the most satisfactory material for this purpose, though oat 

 straw is very good. Ordinarily the refuse from the hay racks affords 

 sufficient bedding. An attractive and desirable sheep barn remodeled 

 from arrold farm building is shown in Plate II, figure 2, the barn at 

 the United States Morgan Horse Farm, at Middlebury, Vt. 



CARE OF EWES. 



Some time between weaning and mating the ewe flock should be 

 culled over. They should be "mouthed," and any broken-mouthed 

 ewes separated and fattened for the butcher. The age at which 

 sheep lose their teeth varies with a number of things. They lose 

 them sooner upon sandy soil than upon clay or loam. Ewes are 

 culled out at 5 or 6 years of age as a general rule. Sometimes an 

 exceptional individual can be profitably kept after this age; espe- 

 cially is this true of purebred ewes, which are frequently kept until 

 10 or 12 years of age. Such animals, however, require much more 

 attention and such feeds as they can readily eat, if they are expected 

 to continue useful. Barren ewes, those having defective udders, and 

 those that are inherently poor mothers should also be culled out. 



FLUSHING. 



It has been the general belief for a great many years that having 

 the ewes in a gaining condition at mating time increases the per- 

 centage of lambs. This is commonly known as "flushing," and is 

 accomplished by turning the ewes upon rape or other such feeds after 

 having been upon short pasture. Some authorities hold that keeping 

 the ewes in a flourishing condition throughout the year is even more 

 beneficial. However, after three years' observations upon Scottish 

 flocks, F. H. A. Marshall 1 reported that some form of extra feeding 

 immediately before the mating period appeared to increase the per- 

 centage of lambs. As to the other, we have no definite information. 

 Having the ewes in flourishing condition also shortens the mating 



1 Trans. Highland and Agr. Soc. Scot., 5 ser., 20. 



