THE BREEDING OF SHEEP 415 



wipe dry with flannel cloth and restore to the dam. Aid the 

 lamb to get its first meal, and watch closely. Sometimes 

 a few drops of whisky in warm water is given chilled 

 lambs. It is surprising how much a hot bath will revive 

 cold wet lambs, and the method is worth trial, no matter how 

 hmp the lamb. 



It is a good plan to make some provision in advance, to care 

 for twin lambs; for often one will chill while the dam is nursing 

 the other. To do this provide a box, say two feet square and 

 eighteen inches deep, placing five inches of bran in it. While 

 the ewe is nursing one lamb, the other may be placed in the warm 

 bran, and all covered but the nose; this will keep the lamb warm 

 and help to dry it. After a time return to the ewe. In licking 

 off the bran she will own it. In the absence of the bran, a jug 

 of hot water may be placed in the box with the lamb, and a 

 blanket thrown over the top of the box. 



A disowned lamb. — Occasionally a young ewe, or an old one 

 very thin in flesh, will neglect or disown her lamb, and refuse 

 to care for it. Usually the ewe will take to the lamb if she is 

 held while the lamb nurses. To hold the ewe, a small stanchion 

 should be constructed. The stanchion may consist simply of 

 two green stakes, one and one-half inches in diameter, driven 

 into the ground and held at the top with a piece of rope or strap. 

 Sometimes a little meal placed on the lamb will induce the 

 ewe to nurse it and to claim it. 



Occasionally a ewe will lose her lamb, and have her udder 

 filled with milk. At the same time, there may be other ewes in 

 the flock with twins, and it is a good plan to give one of the twins 

 to a ewe that has lost her lamb. Sometimes difficulty is experi- 

 enced in getting her to own it. The ewe may be placed in 

 a stanchion; if she still refuses, the lamb may be washed to re- 

 move its odor, then some of the ewe's milk placed on its head 

 and back, at the same time placing some of the ewe's milk on 

 her own nose, when she will often own the lamb. 



