190 Western Live-stock Management 



lambs than there is pasture for, or perhaps weather condi- 

 tions make the pastures poorer than there was reason to 

 expect. The use of grain is of more importance in the 

 case of pure-bred sheep than with the market sheep, since 

 pure-bred lambs must be kept growing after they are 

 weaned in spite of the fact that pastures dry up, and the 

 only way that this can be accomplished is with the use of 

 grain. The lambs, taught to eat grain long before they 

 are weaned, have the habit of coming regularly to the 

 feed trough well established before it is most needed. 

 Pure-bred lambs do their best if fed during this first 

 summer at the rate of a half or three-quarters of a pound 

 of grain daily with as much fresh pasture as possible, but 

 care should be taken not to have lambs off feed during the 

 hot summer months. 



Lambs handled in the manner outlined above should 

 gain one-half pound a day, while under favorable condi- 

 tions, and with extra feed and care, the daily gain may be 

 close to one pound a day. When the gain is less than one- 

 half pound a day, the feed is becoming a little scanty, 

 and the lambs are not quite as thrifty as they should be. 



Shearing. 



On the farms throughout the Northwest, shearing is 

 performed during the months of April, May, and June. 

 The exact time of shearing will depend on the opinion of 

 the owner, locality, season, shelter, and the like. Shear- 

 ing should not be done too early or too late, as in one case 

 the sheep suffer from cold after shearing and in the 

 other, sheep suffer from heat before shearing. Many 

 men have the mistaken idea that late shearing, because 

 of increased flow of yolk, increases the income of the flock. 

 This is true in a certain sense. It does increase the 



