330 



PRODUCTIVE FEEDING OF FARM ANIMALS 



alfalfa alone, 11 it requires about 110 to 120 days to fit the lambs 

 for the local market; with light grain ration (one-fourth pound 

 per head per day), 100 to 110 days; with medium grain ration 

 (one-half pound), 90 to 100 days, and with heavy grain ration 

 (1 pound), 70 to 80 days. The gains were as great (but not as 

 rapid) with one-fourth pound of corn per head daily as with one- 

 half pound. The cost of the gain increased, however, with an in- 

 crease in the grain ration. Other prominent feeds used for fatten- 

 ing sheep in the West besides alfalfa are beet pulp and field peas 

 (pp. 121 and 194). 



Western sheep men calculate that the wool pays the cost of the 

 sheep feeding, and the mutton and lambs represent the profit of the 



Fig. 94. — Winter scene of raDge sheep in the Nevada mountains. (Doten.) 



business. Large numbers of wethers are shipped East every year 

 from these States, especially to Chicago, and either go directly on 

 the market, if sufficiently fat, or are fed at some feeding station 

 near the market until they are in prime condition or can be dis- 

 posed of to good advantage. While at these stations they are fed 

 hay, corn, and, generally, grain screenings, at least in past years. 



Value of Various Grain Feeds for Fattening Lambs. — The 

 following table shows the results of a large number of trials with 

 various grains for fattening lambs, which will be of interest in this 

 connection. In the last column of the table the number of feed 

 units required per 100 pounds gain are given, assuming 2% pounds 



11 Farmers' Bulletin 504, p. 9. 



