342 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



quite well. Indeed, the data for 10 trials at various stations show 

 that adding linseed or cottonseed meal to a ration of corn and 

 legume hay increased the average daily gain only 0.01 lb. and did not 

 lessen the amount of feed required for 100 lbs. gain. 



Legume hays compared. — Early-cut red clover hay is one of the 

 best roughages for sheep, both for fattening animals and for the 

 breeding flock. Alfalfa hay has about the same value as clover, ex- 

 cept that, being richer in protein, less is needed to balance a ration 

 otherwise low in this nutrient. 



Cowpea hay gives good results with sheep, tho somewhat less val- 

 uable than alfalfa hay. Sweet clover hay is a satisfactory roughage 

 for sheep, but is inferior' to alfalfa hay. In certain sections of the 

 West large numbers of lambs are fattened by grazing on field peas, 

 usually sown with a small quantity of oats or barley to support the 

 vines. The lambs are turned in the fields when most of the peas have 

 matured and are fattened in 70 to 120 days, commonly without other 

 feed. Sometimes the peas are cut, stacked, and fed to the lambs in 

 yards. 



Timothy and other carbonaceous hay. — Timothy hay is unsatis- 

 factory for sheep, being both unpalatable and constipating. The dry 

 heads of this grass work into the wool, irritating the skin, lowering 

 the value of the wool and making shearing difficult. As has been 

 shown before, even when a nitrogenous supplement is added to tim- 

 othy hay and corn, the ration is still inferior to one of legume hay 

 and corn. Marsh hay is too coarse and woody for sheep, and millet 

 hay is also unsatisfactory. Bluegrass hay and bright oat straw are 

 preferable to any of these. Western prairie hay, tho more palatable 

 than timothy, is much inferior to alfalfa. Sorghum hay ranks with 

 corn stover, its value depending on its fineness. 



Corn stover and corn fodder; straw. — Next in value to hay from 

 the legumes come the dried leaves of the corn plant. For sheep feed- 

 ing, corn should be cut early and cured in well-made shocks. The 

 sheep will eat a little more of the stalks if shredded, but cutting does 

 not induce them to consume any of the coarser parts. Neither corn 

 stover nor straw should be fed as the only roughage, tho some may 

 often be utilized with profit when given with other more palatable 

 roughage, such as legume hay and corn silage. In a trial at the Ok- 

 lahoma Station r lambs fed 0.8 lb. corn stover, 0.7 lb. alfalfa hay, 1.2 

 lbs. corn, and 0.4 lb. cottonseed meal per head daily, made nearly as 

 large gains as others fed 1.5 lbs. alfalfa hay and 1.6 lbs. corn, and 

 required but little more concentrates for 100 lbs. gain. 



7 McDonald and Malone, Okla. Bui. 78. 



