398 MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS 



fatten, and avoids selling a few thin in flesh after the majority 

 have fattened. 



Fattening lambs in winter 



By far the greater number of lambs are fattened during the 

 winter season. The methods employed differ fundamentally 

 in different localities. In the West little or no attention is paid 

 to shelter, and exercise is considered essential ; in the corn-belt 

 much attention is given to the shelter, at least to protect the 

 lambs from the rain, snow, and storm, and to provide them dry 

 footing and exercise; in the East, where lamb-feeding is 

 rapidly developing, shelter is considered essential, though 

 exercise under the methods employed is likely to prove fatal, 

 and the sheep must be kept absolutely quiet or trouble will result. 



Feeding in the semiarid West. — Large flocks of lambs are 

 shipped from the ranges to points where alfalfa hay is available. 

 Here the sheep are confined in corrals which are divided into 

 lots containing approximately 500 head. No shelter is provided 

 other than that furnished by the fence or the alfalfa hay which 

 is often stacked near by. Rain and snow storms are rather in- 

 frequent, and it is felt that the loss occasioned by the lack of 

 protection is less expensive than shelter. These corrals provide 

 accommodations for many thousands of sheep. To save labor 

 in feeding, the lots are arranged in rows with feeding lanes be- 

 tween. In these lanes the hay is stacked and fed out each 

 morning and eveaing. Sometimes the fence has a space be- 

 tween the first and second boards large enough for the sheep 

 to introduce its head, and the rack is arranged on the stack side 

 of the fence. In each lot are placed rows of grain troughs 

 sufficient to accommodate the entire flock. These lots are pro- 

 vided with water, often pumped by windmills, though sometimes 

 by hand or with an engine. Salt is kept before the animals at 

 all times. In this way five men can care for 10,000 or 12,000 

 head of sheep. 



