FEEDING SHEEP 399 



Feeding in the corn-belt. — In the corn-belt the practice is 

 entirely different; in the West sheep are fed in larger numbers 

 and by few men, while in the corn-belt few sheep are fed by 

 great numbers of farmers. Here feed, both grain and hay, is 

 very abundant, but the climate is the objectionable element. 

 Sheep need dry coats and dry footing. The dripping skies of 

 the corn-belt makes this impossible without providing shelter 

 from the rain and snow. Hence, before attempting to feed 

 lambs ample provision must be made to shelter them. 



Much care should be exercised in getting the lambs on full 

 feed. The lambs may be fed hay liberally, but the grain must 

 be fed sparingly, beginning with one-fourth pound to the head 

 daily and gradually increasing the ration to one pound by 

 the time the sheep have been on feed three weeks, and 

 continuing until they are getting all they will consume. The 

 lambs should not be fed more grain than they will clean up at 

 each feeding. As the grain is increased, less hay will be required. 

 Lambs thus cared for should make a gain of 25 to 30 pounds 

 in 100 days, when they should be fat and ready for the 

 market. If desired, two droves of lambs may be fed each 

 winter, purchasing the first drove in November and fattening 

 by the last of January, immediately purchasing a second and 

 fattening by the first of May. This system is extensively 

 practiced when feeds are comparatively low and mutton high. 



Feeding in the East. — During the recent high price of mutton 

 many lambs have been fed in the eastern part of the United 

 States, and the methods are peculiar to the East. 



The feeding pens are usually rectangular in shape, with hay- 

 racks and grain-troughs the entire length of either side. These 

 grain-troughs are protected with vertical slats so arranged that 

 there is just room for one lamb to feed in each opening, and there 

 are just as many of these openings as lambs and not one more. 

 When the lambs are feeding, they are packed solid along either 

 side of the pen. The space allowed each pen is approximately 



