Fattening Range Lambs in Winter 161 
fancy names go so far as to claim, in some cases, that the 
ground hay is fully equal to, if not better than, the com- 
mon grains. 
Grain for sheep does not need to be ground, cooked, or 
treated in any way. There is no class of animals better 
able to grind its own grain than sheep. There is a pos- 
sible exception to this rule, however, in the case of old 
ewes with bad teeth. 
SHEARING FOR FEED-LOT 
In regions where the winter climate is not too severe, 
the practice of shearing sheep for the feed-lot is more or 
less common. The object of shearing is to increase the 
gain, the idea being that shorn lambs will thrive better 
and have better appetites. There is usually no profit to 
be obtained on the operation of shearing itself. Shorn 
sheep are docked to such a degree as to account for all 
possible profit. A few figures gathered in the range dis- 
trict will prove this contention. On an average, 100 
pounds of lamb will yield eight pounds of wool, which 
will bring 18 cents in the grease. 
8 pounds of wool @ 18¢ . . . $1.44 
Cost of shearing and marketing this 8 ‘pounds wool a) 15 
Net income from wool ct Se? Cha BE A lp) ae a ZO 
Were this wool marketed on the sheep’s back, it would 
bring at mutton prices 7 cents a pound, or 56 cents. This 
leaves a net difference of 73 cents in favor of marketing 
the wool off the sheep’s back. However, the dock on 
shorn sheep is usually $1.00 a 100 pounds. In this case, 
the dock more than accounts for the profit which might 
arise from shearing. These figures were gathered in 
1914. Since that time prices of mutton and wool have 
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