130 _ Western Live-stock Management. 
fed torange sheep, although it has been found that at times 
when feed is very scarce and it becomes necessary to ship 
or haul the feed for considerable distance, grain is more 
economical than hay on account of the ease with which it 
may be handled. Especially is this true where it is neces- 
sary to haul the feed for several miles out into the range. 
If the sheep have sage-brush to nibble on with an occa- 
sional bite of grass, one-fourth pound of grain a day will 
help greatly in pulling them through a bad winter. In 
some of the range districts on the eastern slopes of the 
Rocky Mountains, the sheep-men purchase corn in car- 
load lots and hold it as insurance against short feed. In 
other localities, cotton-seed cake and linseed cake are 
used. The nut size cake is used the most as it can be fed 
on the ground. It is given at the rate of four or five 
ounces a head a day. In some localities it is necessary 
to keep the ewes up and feed in corrals a great part of 
the winter. In such cases, alfalfa hay is used. The cost 
of wintering in this system is somewhat greater than 
where some grazing is available. 
LAMBING 
The proper time for lambing is the earliest time of the 
year that climate and feeding conditions will permit. 
Lambs should not come before the green grass starts in 
the spring, since green grass is quite essential to a maxi- 
mum milk flow. The possibility of late storms is also 
an important consideration, especially in the higher al- 
titudes. The actual date of lambing varies somewhat 
according to local conditions and according to the amount 
of hay and feed room which the owner may have. The 
larger part of the range lambs in the Northwest are dropped 
