336 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



some instances to be able to enlarge or reduce the size of 

 the divisions at will. The aim should be, of course, to 

 give the sheep all the room that can be secured at all times. 



Warm lambing pens — When lambs come in the win- 

 ter season, the necessity for a warm lambing pen is im- 

 perative. When such a division is found in the basement 

 of a shed that is located against a bank the problem is 

 easy. The lambing pen may be located almost anywhere 

 in the basement, but it is some advantage to have it 

 located on the sunny side, so that some sunshine may be 

 admitted into the lambing pen. When it is made in a 

 wooden structure, it must be made to resist the ready 

 penetrations of low temperatures. This may be accom- 

 plished by sheeting closely on the outside and inside of 

 the studding with boards and putting tar paper under- 

 neath one or both sides of the same, according to the 

 severity of the winter weather. In such an apartment 

 lambs may come safely when the thermometer is 40 de- 

 grees below zero, providing the dams are healthy and 

 strong. The exact location of the lambing pen is largely 

 a matter of convenience, but the aim should be to locate 

 it on the sunny and sheltered side of the building. Care 

 must also be taken to provide the necessarjr ventilation. 



The furnishings of a lambing pen may consist of a 

 number of small inclosures made of fencing material. 

 These may be movable. In these the ewes and their 

 lambs may be kept singly, and in some instances in twos 

 or threes, and graded according to the age of the lambs ; 

 but more commonly they are kept singly for two or three 

 days until the lambs get strong. They are then taken to 

 another division to make room for ewes with younger 

 lambs or with lambs not yet born. 



Facilities for watering — In areas where a living 

 stream with pebbled beds runs through or in proximity 

 to the yards, it may be made to furnish water in suitable 

 form, providing ice does not form along the edges of the 

 stream. But where ice forms sheep will not readily drink 



