FEEDING AND CARE OF BREEDING EWES 12/ 



inflamed condition of the digestive organs may result, 

 followed by death within a short period. Such hazard 

 may be present by giving the sheep or lambs so grazed 

 either grain or palatable fodder before turning them out 

 to graze. Where the sheep are much grazed on such food, 

 inattention to this matter may result in severe losses. 



Dry snow falling on sheep will harm them but little, 

 providing they may have the shelter of a grove or bluff to 

 protect them when driving wind accompanies the storm. 

 But it is different when they are exposed to cold rain or 

 sleet storms, especially when they are prolonged. The 

 Merino types suffer the least from such exposure, and the 

 breeds with wool not possessed of marked density the most. 

 The wool of the former is not only dense, but the wool 

 fibers are glued together at the outer ends so that the rain 

 cannot easily penetrate the fleece. In the more open 

 fleeces it may reach the body more or less, and the chilling 

 that follows may result in lung trouble that soon ends 

 fatally. In some instances these storms may come in 

 the night and cannot be certainly forecasted, but when 

 they do, no time should be lost in getting the sheep under 

 cover with the breaking of the dawn. 



When succulent food, as field roots, have been pro- 

 vided, sudden change in the essential character of the 

 foods can be avoided. The roots will provide, in part at 

 least, the succulence furnished previously by the autumn 

 pastures. But should the change be sudden and abrupt 

 from the pastures to the sheds, in the absence of field roots 

 and silage, the aim should be to feed some oilcake or a 

 little grain with considerable bran in it to ward off the 

 tendency to constipation that usually accompanies the 

 feeding of all dry food. 



In a large majority of instances, partial grazing may 

 be continued after the sheep have been brought into win- 

 ter quarters. The pastures may have only a light cover- 

 ing of snow, or in certain parts they may be bare. While 

 it may be necessary to feed the sheep morning and even- 



