482 Feeds and Feeding. 



cow's milk and other appropriate feeding stuffa. The four lambs 

 in the trial were from large high-grade merino ewes sired by a 

 pure -bred Shropshire ram. They were vigorons, growthy speci- 

 mens, ten days old at the beginning of the trial, averaging ten 

 pounds each in weight. At first they were fed cow's milk at 

 blood heat, this milk constituting their only food for twenty-one 

 days, after which skim milk, oats and green clover were supplied. 

 The following data show the food required for 100 pounds of gain ] 



with these lambs, beginning at 10 days of age: 



Feed per 100 

 Period. Feed given. lbs. gain. 



Pounds. 

 First period, 21 days Cow's milk 579 



f Sweet skim milk 830 



Second period, 115 days -j Ground oats 119 



(.Green clover 262 



holding milk) |jjay 176 



At the close of the last period, when 167 days old, the lambs 

 averaged 79 pounds each, showing a daily gain, including birth 

 weight, of nearly one-half pound each. (356, 659) 



The heavy gains which followed the use of cow's milk in this 

 trial suggest the profitable use of that article in forcing lambs 

 to meet the requirements of special markets, e. g., "Christmas 

 lambs." 



737. Lambs compared with pigs. — At the Michigan Agricult- 

 ural College,* Miles fed Essex pigs, eleven days old, cow's millr 

 for four weeks, with the results shown in the following table: 



Gow's milk required for 100 pounds gain by young Essex pigs — 



Michigan Agricultural College. 



1st week. 

 720 lbs. 



2d week. 

 792 lbs. 



3d week. 

 l,1811bs. 



4th week. 

 1,013 lbs. 



Av. for four 



weeks. 



925 lbs. 



During the third week of the trial the pigs were "off feed," 

 so that the average is somewhat too high. 



Making reasonable allowance for this, the lambs fed in the "Wis- 

 consin trial noted above lead in the gains made from cow's millj. 



• Rept. Mich. Bd. of Agr., 1866, p. 61. 



