SHEEP RAISING FOR BEGINNERS. 
23 
RAISING OX PASTURE ALONE. 
The plan of having himbs dropped after ewes go to pasture and 
marketine: them without the use of other feed for the flock can no 
longer be recommended for general use. The main advantages of 
this plan lie in the small amount of care needed and the lower feed 
cost. The cost, however, depends upon the quality of the pasture 
and the value of the land. Late lambs that have never received 
grain are particularly^ likeh' to be injured by stomach worms. 
Lambs make smaller gains in hot weather, and there is the possibil- 
ity of droughts drying up the pastures and decreasing the ewes' milk 
at the time of the lambs' greatest need. Feeding grain to lambs on 
pasture is only partially satisfactory and is particularly unlikely to 
be profitable with lambs that have not learned to eat before going 
to pasture. 
Unless grass is very good and cheap, and grain very high, this 
plan of raising lambs can not be expected to proA'e continuously 
profitable. When grass pastures are to be used for a flock turned 
out when the lambs are 5 to 8 weeks old, it is desirable to have suffi- 
cient divisions to allow frequent changes without the lambs being re- 
turned to any ground previously grazed in the same season. Lambs 
that are 6 weeks old when sent to pasture and have received some 
grain can withstand a considerable degree of parasitic infection. 
THE DRY-LOT METHOD. 
Some breeders of pure-bred sheep have practiced a dry-lot method 
of raising lambs, mainly to avoid stomach-worm troubles. Under 
this plan the lambs do not leave the sheds or yards until they are 
weaned, when the}^ are put on clean, fresh pastures. In the mean- 
time they are fed hay and grain, and their dams are returned from 
the pastures two or three times each day to allow the lambs to nurse. 
Because they do not graze, the lambs have slight chance of becom- 
ing serioush^ infected with stomach worms. 
Some raisers of market lambs follow the plan of keeping both 
ewes and lambs in dry lots. This plan also prevents serious stom- 
ach-worm infection. Where green feeds or soiling crops are grown 
near by and fed in the lot, the ewes milk well and the lambs grow 
at a profitable rate. The main advantage from such a soiling system is 
that it insures freedom from injury by internal parasites. Less fenc- 
ing is needed if the ewes can be grazed elsewhere after the lambs are 
sold. If this can not be done, as much fencing will be needed for the 
ewes in the fall as would have been required for the spring flock. 
This plan is most likely to work well where alfalfa is the main 
crop. Feeding in the yards prevents loss from bloat, and there is no 
need for plowing the land, as would be necessary if sheep were to 
graze on it a number of times each season. 
