240 CARE OF EWES DURING PREGNANCY 



American sheepmen would not feed more than three or four pounds 

 per head daily. 



Water. — Plenty of good drinking water is very necessary to the 

 health and thrift of pregnant ewes ; in fact, some one has made the 

 apt remark that good drinking water is the cheapest of all good sheep 

 feeds. In coldest weather ewes receiving nothing but dry feed will 

 drink from two to four quarts per head daily. They should not be 

 made to depend on snow and ice water when water of proper drinking 

 temperature can be had. 



Exercise. — Daily exercise is good for pregnant ewes because it 

 stimulates the circulation of blood and assists in keeping the diges- 

 tive organs in good condition. It does ewes the most good when they 

 take it upon their own initiative, but if they are not inclined to 

 exercise, which is often the case toward the close of the pregnant 

 period, they will be benefited some by being driven from fifteen to 

 thirty minutes each day at a moderate pace. It is not always ad- 

 visable, however, to follow this practice, because some ewes become 

 so heavy and clumsy that they ought not to go more than a few 

 steps at a time. A good way to induce ewes to take exercise is to scat- 

 ter their dry roughage over the ground for a considerable distance. 

 This can be done without wasting feed if the ground is frozen, and 

 corn stover is one of the best roughages to use in this way. Another 

 good scheme is to have the hayracks distributed over a well-drained 

 and well-bedded open lot. In moving from one rack to another the 

 ewes get about all the exercise they need. Still another scheme is 

 to have a feed lot some distance from the place where the ewes are 

 kept the greater part of the time and to give them a little feed in 

 this lot each day. They go to and from this lot of their own accord 

 and hence get exercise in a manner which is good for them. The 

 writer has found that corn stover set up in the form of a huge shock 

 in a lot of this sort serves as a strong objective for the ewes and 

 they feed upon it without causing excessive waste. 



All violent exercise should be avoided, particularly after their 

 pregnant condition becomes apparent. Few things can be more 

 disastrous to the prospective lamb crop than to have the ewes chased 

 by dogs. The effects of such an experience are abortion and defec- 

 tive lambs. It is a mistake to allow pregnant ewes to walk through 

 deep stiff mud. In so doing there is danger of straining to such 

 an extent that abortions may result. The same thing may occur 



