62 Practical Sheep Husbandry 



Michigan type of feeder is a big operator. Taking a heavy coat of wool 

 from a lamb, and along with it his unwelcome companions, and plac- 

 ing him on a choice hay and grain ration, he gains very fast, often 

 putting on the weight of his fleece in two or three weeks time. These 

 men also play for a raise in the market, for it is during April, May and 

 June that we have the most meager receipts, therefore highest prices. 

 There are a few farmers who make it a business of buying light 

 lambs in the fall, and running them through the winter on cheap rough- 

 age, feeding a little grain late in the winter, shearing early in April 

 and turning out on the grass. This system is not successful, unless a 

 grain ration is given with the grass. I would also caution the young 

 feeder regarding feeding sheep or lambs on grass in the early spring. 

 Grass at that time is not very nutritious, and sheep or lambs turned 

 on this kind of feed soon flesh up and may look pretty fat, but the flesh 

 is soft. Shipping such fleshed stuff" to market, a heavy shrink is cer- 

 tain, and often an owner will hardly know his own stuff. The flesh 

 must be made hard and firm, and grass alone will not do it. 



Sheep Fattening in Great Britain 



From some published sheep feeding trials in Great Britain, num- 

 bering 194, Henry, a noted authority on feeds, selects the following 

 examples to show the rations used by the British farmers for fatten- 

 ing sheep. Mr. Henry reports that it is noted in these various reports 

 that clover hay proved extremely useful, not only because of its nitro- 

 genous matter, but also because of its high content of lime, compared 

 with phosphoric acid. Linseed cake produced a given increase with 

 less than the average amount of feed, and the carcasses dressed above 

 the average. Cotton cake gave the average results. Oats on the whole 

 were unsatisfactory for producing fat. Barley was satisfactory, unless 

 used in large quantities, when it seemed to have an injurious efl'ect. 

 Wheat gave good results. Malt showed little or no superiority over 

 barley. Dried brewers' grains and dried distillers' grain proved very 

 satisfactory. Mangels gave better results than sweeds, and stored 

 sweeds gave better results than frosted sweeds. The best results fol- 

 lowed feeding from 95 to 100 pounds of roots weekly per 100 pounds of 

 live sheep. While the English farmer gets good results from feeding 

 large quantities of roots, the American farmer had best limit the root 

 ration to from 4 to 5 lbs. per head daily and even less. 



Rations Used in Great Britain in Fattening Sheep and Lambs 



Length of 

 No. of feeding Average Average Av. daily Av. total 



Animals period, days ration, per wt., lbs. gain, lbs. gain, lbs. 



head. lbs. 



20 102 Linseed cake 0.3 



Barley 0.3 



Clover hay 0.4 



Sweeds 22.9 128 0.43 42 



10 108 Linseed cake 0.7 



Molasses 0.1 



Clover hay 2.1 



Wheat straw 0.3 130 0.24 27 



8 121 Cotton cake 1.6 



Hay 1-0 



