THE SHEEP INDUSTRY ON THE MINIDOKA PROJECT. 17 







' 



, 





jHBCit 



- 









"■w 



"at*" 



8f=— 



hOwP5K 





ftP. 













iteKStetei- ""*" 



ir'^4 







■• 



!2x 



■ 





"vsBBB^mSBK 







Fig. 6.— A popular type of lambing shed on the Minidoka Reclamation Project, having .a large sliding 

 door at each end and large open windows on the south side. Feeding racks of the box type are illustrated 

 at the left, and the winter yards are shown in the foreground. 



short time. The use of alfalfa and clover as sheep pasture must be 

 regarded as dangerous. Experienced sheepmen make the statement 

 that unless a flockmaster is willing to risk a loss of 10 per cent he 

 should not attempt to pasture his flock on alfalfa during the entire 

 season. A few sheepmen cut and cock the third cutting of alfalfa and 

 then turn the sheep into the field. So far, no unfavorable results 

 have been reported. 



Utilization of waste 'products.- — The sheep is a very efficient animal 

 in utilizing certain waste products on the irrigated farm. On all 

 these farms there is much waste feed, including weeds and native 

 grasses on ditch banks and in fence rows, the waste hay and after- 

 math in hay fields, grain and. weeds in stubble fields, and the beet 

 tops left after the sugar-beet harvest. As the growth of the irri- 

 gated pasture crops begins to diminish, these waste materials begin 

 to become available, so that the sheep are gradually moved from the 

 pastures to ; the fields, ditch banks, etc., where, in ordinary seasons, 

 they are well fed until December. The sheep oftentimes can be used 

 for temporary periods in summer in cleaning up weeds from ditch 

 banks (as illustrated in figure 3) and other similar places on and about 

 the farm. By these methods, the sheep assist in keeping down unde- 

 sirable vegetative growth and in removing waste material, at the 

 same time producing valuable mutton and wool. 



Late fall and winter feeding.- — After the first snowfall, which usually 

 comes in December, it is necessary to feed the flock. It is a desirable 

 practice to allow the sheep the run of the fields during the winter feed- 

 ing period so as to avoid the difficulties resulting from the lack of exer- 

 cise. Approximately half the flockmasters on the project feed only 

 hay during the winter. About one-fourth of the sheep growers pro- 

 duce and feed mangels, beets, or beet pulp, and about one-fourth feed 



