THE SHEEP INDUSTRY ON THE MINIDOKA PROJECT. 11 



should have a wide, deep chest, a good spring of rib, good bone, and 

 carry out uniformly. The fact that all undesirable characteristics 

 of the ram may influence the entire lamb crop should not be lost 

 sight of, but should prompt the farmer to exercise great care to see 

 that the individual selected is uniformly good in all respects. 



BREEDING PRACTICES. 



As the climatic and other conditions of the Minidoka project are 

 favorable to the production of early lambs, it is the common practice 

 to breed for February and early March lambing. As the gestation 

 period of ewes is 147 days, February and early March lambing re- 

 quires that the ewes be bred in September or early October. It is 

 seldom necessary in this locality that the ewes be ' 'flushed" — fed 

 heavily in order to make them come in heat. 



Breeding mature ewes. — For the small farm flock of 10 to 25 ewes 

 a ram lamb maybe used. In the flocks containing 25 to 60 ewes it 

 is necessary to use an older ram. It is the general practice to allow 

 bucks to run with the ewes during the breeding period, but where 

 a large number of ewes are to be bred to one ram, he is turned with 

 the ewes only in the morning and in the evening. Some flockmasters 

 make a practice of marking the ewe when she is bred, the mark indi- 

 cating the time of breeding. The same mark can be used throughout 

 the breeding season, provided its location is changed so as to indicate 

 the week during which the ewe was bred . Such marking is convenient 

 at lambing time, when it is desirable to isolate the ewes which are 

 about to lamb. A further use of marking is that, in case the ram 

 is not a sure breeder, it enables the flockmaster to determine early 

 in the season which ewes have failed to conceive. Some sheep 

 growers paint the breast of the ram with a paint that ultimately fades 

 from the wool. By a change in color of the paint used each week 

 the approximate time of lambing is indicated. 



Breeding ewe lambs. — Owing to the present demand for sheep and 

 the consequent desire on the part of flockmasters to see their flocks 

 increase rapidly, the ewe lambs are sometimes bred. This practice 

 is confined mostly to the Hampshire breed, but it is followed to 

 some extent with the long wools as well. Usually the lambing per- 

 centage obtained with ewe lambs ranges from 50 to 60. Ewes which 

 have been bred as lambs are not as large when they are yearlings 

 as ewes which have not been bred early. The difference in size is 

 usually small, however, by the time the ewes are 2 years old. The 

 breeding of ewe lambs can be practiced only in those flocks where 

 the lambs come early and where growth is rapid from the beginning. 

 As size in ewes is a very important consideration, the breeding of 

 ewe lambs is to be regarded as an undesirable practice. 



