Farm Sheep 189 



coming on, the lambs cannot be made ready for market 

 until fall. By this time they are too coarse and heavy to 

 bring the best price and have cost more money than they 

 are worth. It is, therefore, essential that the ewes and 

 their lambs be supplied with the most liberal pasture 

 throughout the growing season. In the case of pure-bred 

 lambs the pasture is of equal importance. In order to 

 afford a number of different fields, portable fences are 

 often used. 



Grain. 



The use of grain will depend on various factors, such as 

 the prices of grain and of mutton, and the richness of the 

 pastures. Ordinarily no grain need be used, but when 

 mutton is a good price or when grain is rather low, some 

 may be used with a profit. Lambs given grain will grow 

 faster and finish better. In feeding grain, it is a good 

 plan to teach the lambs to eat early in life ; that is, when 

 they are two or three weeks old. They can be fed in a 

 "creep" so that they can procure the grain they need 

 without interference by the ewes. A "creep" is a panel 

 of fence arranged with upright bars so spaced that the 

 lambs can go through but the ewes cannot. A mixture 

 of two pounds of wheat bran, one pound of crushed oats, 

 one pound of finely ground corn-meal, and one-half pound 

 of oil meal is perhaps the ideal feed for young lambs. 

 Another occasion where grain is very necessary is when 

 the pastures are beginning to fail a little before the lambs 

 are quite ready to market. A liberal feed of grain for a 

 few days will often put the lambs in marketable condition 

 and save the necessity of carrying them through the dry 

 summer. Of course, the pasture should not fail before 

 the lambs are ready, but sometimes there may be more 



