402 MAKUAL OF CATTLE-FEEDITSTG. 



siicli an extent as may prove profitable. If the sheep are 

 in a well-fed condition at first, the preliminary feedin^j; 

 may be omitted and the first period somewhat shortened, 

 the second being correspondingly lengtliened. 



Quantity of Water. — A good fattening fodder for 

 sheep nmst not be too watery ; hence, large quantities of 

 brewer's or distiller's grains, or even of roots, are of far less 

 benefit to these animals than to cattle. On the other hand, 

 the nse of potatoes allows a more favorable ratio (abont 

 1 : 2 — 3) between water and total dry matter to bo obtained. 

 The best resnlts arc generally reached, however, when 

 suitable kinds of gram or its bye-products are used, along 

 with good liay. 



Best Ag-e for Fattening. — ^Sheep can be fattened most 

 rapidly at an age of from one and one-half to three years. 

 It is true that, with rich fodder, the same quantity of nutri- 

 ents will cause as great or even a greater increase of live- 

 weight in yearlings as in somewhat older animals, a fact 

 which is true of all young animals in rapid growth. Such 

 animals, however, are usually not as desirable for the 

 butcher, since the flesh i*emains watery, and the drGfo*-ed 

 weight, and especially the quantity of fat, is generally 

 small. Only when the lambs are taken as young as pos- 

 sible and fed very highly is it possible to attain, at great ex- 

 pense, the same result wliich may be reached in a far shorter 

 time, often less than three months, with older animals. 



The result of fattening is always most favoraljle, botli in 

 quality and quantity, with tolerably mature animals. On 

 the other hand, if the animals are allowed to become *too 

 old and the fattening is begun after ihey have reached the 

 age of perhaps four years, a large deposition of fat, it is 

 true, takes place, but the flesh has far less palatability than 

 that of younger animals. 



