﻿THE MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP ON THE FARM. 35 



available, little graiD need be fed during; the winter, though a small 

 amount may be desirable. If waste roughage is fed, more grain will 

 be necessary. During the following spring and summer good pasture 

 should be sufficient in itself, at least until flushing is practiced. 



Holding over wethers is not a very common practice in the farming 

 sections, nor is it a very profitable one, but there are some sections 

 where it is done. Much waste roughage can be consumed by them, 

 but they should not be allowed to subsist entirely upon these. It 

 never pays to allow a sheep to become poor in condition, especially 

 when growing. They can be maintained in good condition upon 

 less feed than will be used in fattening them after they have been 

 allowed to become thin. Good pasture should be sufficient for wethers 

 during the summer season, and they may be partially fattened on 

 grass. Wethers should never be fed mangel-wurzels or sugar beets 

 for the same reasons previously mentioned for rams. 



Ram lambs not used for breeding purposes should not receive as 

 much grain as stock rams, but they should be kept gaining all the time. 

 If these rams are to be sold, they should be kept in good condition, 

 as well as attractive in appearance, as this adds materially to their 

 ease of disposal and to the price obtained for them. 



FEEDING SHEEP. 



REGULARITY AND UNIFORMITY. 



After sheep are fed a few times at a certain time of the day, they 

 become accustomed to being fed at that time and will make their 

 best gains only when regularity in feeding is practiced. Half an 

 hour before feeding time the flock will be quiet, probably lying 

 down. Within a few minutes of the time they are to receive their 

 feed, they will come up to the gate or feed troughs and wait for the 

 feeder. They soon become impatient if he does not appear, and much 

 of the benefit of the feed is lost. Quiet and contentment are con- 

 ducive to the largest gains and the best health of the flock. 



Much of the same is true about the amounts of feed. Uniformity 

 in this respect should also be practiced. A rapid change in the 

 amount and kind of feed frequently results disastrously to sheep. 



CLEANLINESS AND VARIETY. 



Sheep are very particular about the feed they eat. They will 

 not touch feed that has been "nosed over" by other stock, nor do 

 they relish feed from filthy troughs. The troughs should be cleaned 

 out before each feeding and they should be kept dry. Sheep in their 

 primitive state were of a roving disposition, nibbling a little here and 

 a little there. In this way they secured a variety of feeds. Under 

 domestic conditions they should still receive as much of a variety as 

 possible. 



