Fattening Sheep 241 



whether or not it pays to feed grain continuously 

 from the time lambs are born until they are put on 

 the market, or whether it pays to only feed them 

 grain after they have been weaned, or it may be still 

 later when they are put in the sheds for winter fatten- 

 ing. The two practices that are most strongly rep- 

 resented in these ways are the practice of the farmer, 

 on the one hand, who does not feed his lambs any 

 grain during the summer season, and the practice 

 of the feeder who forces animals continuously from 

 their birth. It is a common belief that when lambs 

 are not fed grain within three or four months pre- 

 vious to putting them on the market, they will make 

 a more rapid gain and a more profitable one, during 

 the time of feeding, and then the cost of gain pre- 

 vious to that has been very slight. The question 

 resolves itself into the proposition that it pays bet- 

 ter to grow the lamb on pasture and such rough 

 forage as is obtainable and feed him for market on 

 grains. The other practice opposed to this recog- 

 nizes the fact that the younger the animal, the greater 

 the gain on a common given amount of food, and 

 the aim of the feeder who follows this practice is to 

 force the lamb to eat as much as possible from the 

 time it is dropped until it is put on the market. To 

 analyze the differences in the practices and to indi- 

 cate which are the most profitable under average 

 conditions, it will be best to divide the life of a lamb 

 that is being fed for market into three periods. The 



