214 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



weather, nor does it seem judicious under such conditions 

 to encourage animals to fill the stomach with such food. 

 Under no conditions should silage be fed to sheep when 

 it is moldy or tainted with decay. Notwithstanding, the 

 high value of silage cannot be questioned, taken in con- 

 nection with its cheapness as a fattening food for sheep. 



Field roots are not much used in the United States 

 in fattening sheep, for the reason chiefly that they are not 

 much grown. A^iewed from the standpoint of the cost of 

 production, they are more costly to provide than corn 

 silage. Notwithstanding, when field roots are judi- 

 ciously fed, they tend to tone up the digestion, and thus to 

 influence favorably the health of the animals that are be- 

 ing fattened. The marked suitability of field roots for 

 fattening sheep, apart from the question of cost, is indi- 

 cated in the excellent results obtained from feeding when 

 sheep are given large quantities of sugar beet pulp ; as 

 with feeding silage, it is not wise to feed very large 

 quantities of field roots during periods of prolonged and 

 extreme cold. 



No fixed rule is followed in the order in which silage and 

 roots are fed, or in the number of feeds given daily. In 

 some instances these are fed once, in others twice. Some- 

 times they are fed in the morning, at other times in the 

 evening, and less frequently at noon. When large quan- 

 tities are fed they are commonly fed both morning and 

 evening. The silage is, of course, ready for feeding at all 

 times. The roots should be prepared by slicing them or 

 running them through a root pulper. 



The amounts that may be fed or that should be fed, will 

 vary with the cost of growing or securing the silage or 

 roots and with the nature of the other foods. More of 

 both may be fed along with a heavy grain ration rather than 

 with a light one, as the considerable bulk of the silage and 

 roots get them so far for being the complement of the 

 concentrates which have little bulk. It is not usual to 

 feed more than three to five pounds of silage daily to 



