236 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA. 



throw the hay up afresh. The hay is drawn 

 from great ricks standing in the alfalfa mea- 

 dows. Little of it is ever put in barns, which 

 hardly exist in the sense that they are used in 

 the East. 



Grain is fed in flat-bottomed troughs in the 

 yards. There is often an arrangement of yards 

 so that one may be used as feeding yard for 

 two or more pens. In that way the grain may 

 be put in before the sheep are admitted. When 

 the gates are opened they come in with a rush. 



When first the lambs are received they are 

 carefully dipped and then given, usually, a pre- 

 paratory course of alfalfa feeding before hav- 

 ing any grain. When they are, introduced to 

 com it is fed in very small amounts, slowly and 

 steadily increased until finally they are eating 

 about all they desire. That amount will be 

 between two and three bushels per day to the 

 hundred head. It is found best to feed com 

 in re^lar rations two or three times a day 

 rather than to use "self feeders," such as are 

 used in the Northwest for feeding light screen- 

 ings. These self feeders, by the way, are merely 

 bins having troughs at the lower edges on each 

 side, with narrow openings through which the 

 screenings descend. 



Very few of the Colorado feed yards have 

 sheds attached to shelter the lambs. Little rain 

 falls and the snow is light and dry. Wind- 

 breaks are found desirable. Water is pumped 

 by wind power and supplied abundantly in 

 troughs, which are kept clean. 



Most of the Colorado lambs are sent to mar- 



