240 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



as milk lambs. The competition from the poultry in the 

 one instance and the early lamb in the other would tell 

 adversely on prices. Milk lambs should not be dropped, 

 therefore, much earlier than December nor much later 

 than February. The high price, relatively, paid for milk 

 lambs is the justification for breeding them. 



FIG. 12— TYPICAL DORSET HORN RAM 



The property of the Minnesota Experiment Station 



(Courtesy of owner) 



How to obtain milk lambs — Milk lambs can only be 

 obtained from a limited number of the pure breeds. The 

 Dorset and Tunis breeds are the only pure breeds from 

 which milk lambs are obtained in America in any consid- 

 erable numbers. The other pure breeds usually drop 

 their lambs too late to admit of growing them as winter 

 lambs. Merinos, in many instances, will produce lambs 

 early in the season if allowed to, but the habit of breed- 

 ing so as to produce lambs in the early winter is not en- 



