l66 PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



falfa or cowpeas, with a small ration of corn, 

 throughout the feeding period. In the middle 

 states, clover usually takes the place of alfalfa, and 

 a little more liberal corn ration is probably the rule. 



The grain ration will usually consist of corn, and 

 it is generally conceded that better results are ob- 

 tained from cracked corn than by feeding it whole. 

 The amount given will be very small to begin with, 

 and will be gradually increased throughout the 

 feeding period. The best practice, especially where 

 large numbers of lambs are handled, is to have one 

 pen containing troughs for the grain apart from 

 the pens in which the roughage is fed. The grain 

 is placed in these troughs, the gate opened, and the 

 sheep from one pen allowed to enter and eat their 

 grain. While they are doing this, the hay or forage 

 is placed in the racks and when the grain is con- 

 sumed these lambs are driven back into their pen and 

 another lot given grain. Small amounts of oil meal 

 or crushed oats, or both, may be introduced into the 

 ration with good effect, but these are not usually 

 essential, and some of the most economical gains 

 which have been produced have resulted from 

 cracked corn as the sole grain ration. Lambs 

 should average, perhaps, 60 pounds when they are 

 placed in the feed lot, and after a feeding period of 

 from 60 to 90 days, should weigh from 90 to 95 

 pounds. Frequently, heavier weights than this are 

 obtained, but when a lamb weighs more than 100 

 pounds, he is likely to be discriminated against by 

 the buyers, and may possibly have to be sold for a 

 sheep instead of a lamb, with the resulting lower 

 price. 



Whether or not to clip before shipping, depends 

 entirely upon local conditions. In the far West 

 lambs which have been brought from the range in 



