SHELTER FOR SHEEP SUMMER AND WINTER 32I 



Sheep do not suffer readily from cold when the con- 

 ditions maintained above are "all present. Give them the 

 choice of lying on a dry bed beneath the canopy of the sky 

 in the one instance and beneath an open or a nearly closed 

 shed in the other, and they will frequently prefer the 

 former even when the temperatures may be very low; 

 and it is better for them thus to rest than if confined in 

 a warm shed. 



The shelter called for in summer — In summer sheep 

 should be protected: (i) From cold rains; (2) from ex- 

 cessive sunshine; and (3) from flies. It may not be easy 

 or possible to provide such protection on the open range, 

 but on the arable farm it should be quite feasible under 

 average conditions. 



In the early summer in northern latitudes cold rains 

 fall occasionally and in some instances they are prolonged, 

 covering two to three days at a time. Farther south such 

 rains come earlier. These are especially harmful to open- 

 wool sheep, and they are more harmful to them when 

 newly shorn than previously. Most of all are they harm- 

 ful to lambs, and in proportion as they are young. Even 

 though active disease, as inflammation, should not follow, 

 the setback to thrift in the sheep and to growth in the 

 lambs will call for some time to make good the harm 

 done. At such times the flock should be quickly trans- 

 ferred to winter quarters and fed on food provided and 

 reserved for such an emergency. On the open range the 

 shepherd should aim to have the flock not too distant 

 from winter shelter, should indications of coming storm 

 be present. 



Protection from excessive sunshine is increasingly 

 important as the latitude lessens. On the open range it 

 is less important because of the breezes that are almost 

 continually present during the heat of the day. Such pro- 

 tection on the arable farm may be furnished, first, 

 through the shade of trees, and second, through ventilated 

 and darkened sheds. The trees may be isolated and grow- 



