18 CIRCULAR S04, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



operation when the cost is moderate and storage troughs are provided 

 to collect the slight flow. A spring which yields only one-fourth to 

 one-half gallon per minute will water a band of 700 to 1.200 ewes 

 every other day on the average if adequate storage facilities are 

 supplied. 



Salting away from water in an attempt to improve distribution and 

 lighten the use near the watering places was unsuccessful. The 

 yearling ewes did not graze the pastures uniformly and. therefore, 

 seldom returned to the salt again, even though driven to it once, when 

 it was placed a great distance from water. This indicates that the 

 established practice on the national forests (7) of salting range sheep 

 at night on the bed ground is preferable to salting away from water 

 and that little use can be made of salt as an aid to distribution of 

 sheep on these ranges. 



Influence of Natural Factors 



WIND 



Of all the climatic factors which affected the movement of the ewes, 

 wind was the most influential. Between April 1 and November 13, 

 1941. the manner in which 3 groups grazed with respect to wind direc- 

 tion was observed and recorded 522 times. Based on these observa- 

 tions, the sheep grazed into the wind 44 percent of the time, with the 

 wind 30 percent, and sidewise to the wind 26 percent of the time. 

 Even before this record was made, the tendency for sheep to graze 

 into the wind was noticed and used to advantage in locating the various 

 groups. A gentle to moderate wind from any direction would fre- 

 quently attract the sheep to the corresponding corner of the pasture, 

 and knowledge of this fact often saved time and miles of travel in 

 inspecting the flocks in the various pastures. This knowledge of the 

 reaction of range sheep to wind is useful in formulating handling 

 systems. Under the 1 -night bedding system, alternate routes of 

 travel can be planned ahead to take advantage of anticipated wind 

 movement. 



temperature 



High summer temperatures frequently restrict the movements and 

 grazing habits of range sheep. In the experiment, the effects of hot 

 weather were apparently complicated by insect activity. The groups 

 of yearling ewes were frequently observed grazing at midday under a 

 scorching sun and at other times when insects were particularly 

 troublesome they would shade up throughout most of the daylight 

 hours even though it was not particularly hot. Only at night was 

 much grazing done under such conditions. In the absence of insects, 

 however, the sheep pursued their normal activities with little regard 

 for temperature even on the hottest days. In their early studies of 

 sheep grazing Jardine and Anderson (8) recognized this tendency and 

 recommended that range sheep should not be restricted by close 

 herding if both the sheep and the range were to be maintained in the 

 best possible condition. 



Low temperatures restricted the movements of the sheep. A 

 group would frequently remain for 2 or 3 days during a cold period in 

 a small rough drainage where forage and some protection from the 



