﻿36 BULLETIN 20, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



RETURNS FOR FEED. 



In economy of production sheep are not surpassed by any other 

 domestic animal. Besides converting waste products into nutritious 

 food, they will also manufacture a finished product out of the roughage 

 and grain of the farm at least as cheaply as other classes of live 

 stock. 



EXERCISE AS AGAINST CONFINEMENT. 



Exercise is necessary for the natural development of the sheep. 

 The different parts of the body must be used if they are to attain 

 then highest efficiency. Hence, it is evident that the breeding sheep 

 should have abundant exercise, even though it requires more feed. 

 With market stock, however, the proposition is an entirely different 

 one. In fattening lambs or sheep for the butcher, immediate results 

 are sought and the farmer is not concerned with anything beyond 

 securing the best animal for market purposes. Exercise sharpens 

 the appetite and it also dissipates energy. Sheep that are exercised 

 while being fattened eat their feed cleaner, and as a rule eat more of 

 it, but in most of the experiments along this line they required a larger 

 amount of feed per hundred pounds of gain than those receiving no 

 exercise. 



SHELTER COMPARED WITH OPEN FIELD FEEDING. 



Since shelter is necessary for the best health of the flock, it is 

 natural to suppose that larger gams will be made from a definite 

 amount of feed when fed to sheltered sheep than from a similar 

 amount fed to unsheltered ones. The protection offered by the 

 shelter makes the sheep more comfortable and makes unnecessary 

 the wasting of a considerable portion of the ration for keeping up the 

 vitality of the sheep. Clean, airy sheds are undoubtedly superior 

 to open lots for feeding. 



GAINS AS AFFECTED BY SHEARING. 



The effect of shearing upon the gains of fattening sheep is a subject 

 that has occasioned considerable comment. The actual value of 

 the practice depends upon the time of shearing, the condition of the 

 sheep when shorn, the length of the fattening period, and the climatic 

 conditions. When sheep are shorn in the fall, before cold weather, 

 slightly larger gains can be secured than when unshorn, but except 

 under the most favorable conditions it is doubtful whether the gains 

 are large enough to be of very great importance to the farmer. 



FEEDING FOR WOOL. 



The best advice to be given in feeding for wool is to give such feeds 

 as will completely nourish the sheep and to give them in such amounts 

 and in such a way that the sheep will be kept in uniformly good con- 

 dition throughout the year. The wool is an index to the physical 



