262 THE LAMBING PERIOD 



shepherd comes around he can put both lambs with her and see to 

 it that the chances of each for food are equal. 



The Orphan Lamb. — A lamb may be orphaned through the 

 death of its mother or because of her inability to suckle it. In 

 caring for it the shepherd's first thought is to find a foster mother 

 and it may be that some ewe has lost her lamb about the time the 

 orphan was born. If so, the dead lamb should be skinned and its 

 pelt kept on the orphan for a few days. The scent from the pelt 

 will cause the ewe to think the orphan is her own lamb. Should it 

 happen that the ewe lost her own lamb some time before a certain 

 lamb became an orphan she may be induced to become its foster 



FiQ. 175. — Wearing a dead lamb's skin to induce the mother of the dead lamb to beUeve 

 that her offspring is still living. 



mother by some of the methods already outlined for making the 

 ewe claim her lamb. Another plan is to rub sassafras oil or kerosene 

 on the lamb and also on the ewe's face and nose. Every shepherd 

 should endeavor to keep a lamb with each ewe that is able to raise 

 one. Should there be no orphans at the time a ewe loses her lamb 

 it is advisable to place with her one of a pair of twins belonging 

 to some ewe that is unable to suckle two lambs well (Fig. 175) . 



If there is no chance to place the orphan with a foster mother 

 it will have to be fed by hand on cow's milk. Several authorities 

 state that to prepare cow's milk for lambs it should be diluted 

 with an equal amount of water, but since the analysis of ewe's milk 



