FEEDING SHEEP 



393 



should find out what weights are mostly in demand. The weight 

 demanded will range from 45 to 65 pounds, — not more, as they 

 will not sell for hot-house lambs if larger. The lambs must in 

 all cases be fat, as it will not pay to ship a thin carcass to a 

 winter-lamb market. ■* 



Dressing winter lambs. — Dressing winter lambs requires 

 some skill, — not more, however, than dressing a squirrel, — and 

 any one can develop the required skill after carefully reading the 

 directions and practicing on a few lambs. The methods vary 

 somewhat, but the following is as simple and efficient as any: 

 Suspend the lamb by 

 fastening a rope around 

 the hind legs so that 

 the head comes within 

 a foot of the floor. 

 With a sharp-pointed 

 knife sever the artery 

 and vein in the neck 

 close above the head. 

 It is very important 

 to have the lamb thor- 

 oughly bled out. 

 Bright red blood gives 

 this assurance. It is 

 well to hold the head, 

 otherwise the lamb will 

 throw blood over the 

 operator and may soil the wool. As soon as the lamb ceases to 

 struggle, remove the head. This can be easily done if severed 

 at a vertebra. Place the carcass on a table. Remove the 

 front feet and cannons at the knee. Loosen two or three 

 inches of hide along the front of the cannons to cover the joints. 

 Remove the hind feet at the pastern joints. Slit the skin from 

 the tail to the brisket. Loosen and remove the skin along the 



Fig. 129. — Dbessing Hot-house Lamb, show- 

 ing Methods op bemoving the Hide from 

 THE Abdomen. 



