Farm Sheep 189 
coming on, the lambs cannot be made ready for market 
until fall. By this time they are too coarse and heavy to 
bring the best price and have cost more money than they 
are worth. It is, therefore, essential that the ewes and 
their lambs be supplied with the most liberal pasture 
throughout the growing season. In the case of pure-bred 
lambs the pasture is of equal importance. In order to 
afford a number of different fields, portable fences are 
often used. 
Grain. 
The use of grain will depend on various factors, such as 
the prices of grain and of mutton, and the richness of the 
pastures. Ordinarily no grain need be used, but when 
mutton is a good price or when grain is rather low, some 
may be used with a profit. Lambs given grain will grow 
faster and finish better. In feeding grain, it is a good 
plan to teach the lambs to eat early in life; that is, when 
they are two or three weeks old. They can be fed in a 
“creep”? so that they can procure the grain they need 
without interference by the ewes. A “creep” is a panel 
of fence arranged with upright bars so spaced that the 
lambs can go through but the ewes cannot. A mixture 
of two pounds of wheat bran, one pound of crushed oats, 
one pound of finely ground corn-meal, and one-half pound 
of oil meal is perhaps the ideal ‘feed for young lambs. 
Another occasion where grain is very necessary is when 
the pastures are beginning to fail a little before the lambs 
are quite ready to market. A liberal feed of grain for a 
few days will often put the lambs in marketable condition 
and save the necessity of carrying them through the dry 
summer. Of course, the pasture should not fail before 
the lambs are ready, but sometimes there may be more 
