244 Sheep-Farming 



It was aimed to grow the lambs during the first 

 two periods rather than to fatten them, and in each 

 case the rations were fed with this object in view. 

 The result of this work shows that the gains made 

 by the lambs in lot I (those fed grain before wean- 

 ing) was much greater than by those not receiving 

 grain, and that it took less grain for one pound of 

 gain than during any of the other periods. The 

 gains made by the lambs fed grain after weaning 

 were not economical, as the figures show. The 

 result of feeding grain at this period depends upon the 

 amounts fed. If more than one-half pound per day 

 were fed, the lambs would rely on the grain and not 

 eat much pasture, which resulted in their not making 

 economical gains. In every trial where the grain 

 was limited to one and one-half pounds per day, the 

 cost of the gain was satisfactory. The results also 

 show that feeding lambs before and after weaning 

 did not lessen the gain made during the later fatten- 

 ing period. 



The grain-fed lambs matured considerably better 

 than those not receiving grain previous to the fatten- 

 ing period. In three trials the lambs that had 

 grain from birth weighed as much seven weeks before 

 the end of the experiment as did the others when 

 the experiment was completed. By taking the 

 average weight of the lambs in lot III at the end of 

 the trial and comparing it with the cost of feeding 

 the lambs in lot I until they were of the same weight. 



