216 • Western Live-stock Management 



been carried on in the Corn-Belt where corn silage can 

 be produced at a lower figure than it can on the average 

 western farm. For this reason the figures may not have 

 the significance to the western farmer that they otherwise 

 would. A silo for less than 250 sheep is too small to be 

 practical unless there are other stock to be fed silage as 

 well as the sheep. 



HAY 



Sheep everywhere are largely and often exclusively 

 wintered on hay. Being more or less dainty about their 

 eating, the hay must be of the very best quality and cer- 

 tain kinds cannot be used at all. The commonest hays 

 that are used throughout the western states are alfalfa, 

 clover, vetch and oats, vetch and rye, and vetch and 

 barley. These are all good. Possibly the alfalfa hay in 

 localities where it can be grown is the best sheep hay, 

 but clover hay is a very close competitor. Such hays as 

 timothy and prairie hay should not be fed to sheep when 

 other hay can be obtained. Timothy hay does not have a 

 very high feeding value for sheep and is extremely objec- 

 tionable because the heads become lodged in the wool and 

 working their way down to the skin of the animal cause 

 much irritation. Prairie hay, likewise, is of a compara- 

 tively low feeding value for sheep. The trials at some of 

 the western experiment stations show that when prairie 

 hay was fed to sheep, it required additional grain to the 

 extent that the cost of the grain equaled the cost of both 

 hay and grain where the alfalfa was used. Under such 

 conditions, a farmer could not afford to feed prairie hay 

 when he could grow the alfalfa or clover. As a rule, it 

 is impractical to attempt to grow farm sheep without some 

 form of legume hay. 



