438 MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS 



previous to lambing time. The work should be done rapidly so 

 as to annoy the sheep as little as possible. After the manure 

 has been removed it is a good plan to scatter some air-slaked 

 hme over the floor. This serves as disinfectant and deodorizer. 

 Fresh bedding may then be put down, and the barn will be 

 clean and pure for the advent of the lamb crop. 



The sheep lot. — If possible, the sheep should at all times, 

 except in the very severest of winter weather, have free access 

 to a small lot. If this is dry and a part well bedded, the sheep 

 will spend much of their time outside and will be much benefited 

 thereby. Above all things the lot should not be muddy. 

 Where sheep are allowed to wallow in the mud, trouble from 

 foot-scald is likely to result; particularly is this true if there is 

 much sheep manure mixed in the mud. Foot-scald is usually 

 known as foot-rot. This disease is hard to eradicate. The 

 sheep lot is ^'ery much easier kept free from mud than the fat 

 steer lot, and it will pay the sheep owner well to take ample 

 precautions. 



A straw stack in the sheep lot has many advantages, such as 

 keeping the sheep out of the wind, providing them a clean place 

 to lie ; and they will eat of the straw to some extent. It has the 

 disadvantage, however, that the chaff gets in the wool, and for 

 this reason is objected to by many good sheep owners. Yet ewes 

 and lambs delight in lying alongside such a stack, and they will 

 be found there more often than in the barn, except in very severe 

 weather. 



