©18 
•OCHE RURAIs NEW'YORKEK 
August 31, 
Live Stock and Dairy 
SHEEP IN NEW ENGLAND, 
Will you advise me about raising sheep? 
I live on a farm of about 50 acres, between 
Providence and Boston. I have recently 
purchased the hill back of the farm where 
the timber has recently been cut. It is 
rocky and not very good soil. How many 
sheep should I start with and how should 
I provide for them? What kind of shelter 
do they require, and what kind of food? 
Would they need any attention up on the 
hill? Could they be left out there by them¬ 
selves or would they have to be taken to 
the farm each night? Do they have to be 
driven from place to place, and do they de¬ 
stroy pasture for cows? I have a separate 
place for sheep, but want to clear the bill 
top. Is a special kind of sheep best for this 
place? What age is best to begin with? 
s. a. G. 
Start With Your Ewes. 
S. A. G. would do well to start his 
sheep venture on a small scale, and 
only after he has fenced the field well 
with woven wire dog-proof fence. If 
he starts with 10 or 12 high-grade 
Southdown or Shropshire ewes and 
a pure-bred ram of the same breed as 
that predominating in the ewes he will 
start with a class of stock that will 
give the foundation for a valuable flock. 
A rough shelter for the sheep t<J go un¬ 
der in case of bad storms is all the 
Summer shelter needed. No additional 
feed should be required if the pasture 
supplies a fair growth of grass. If 
there is little but brush growth it would, 
be-better to clear the land with goats. 
Sheep will not thrive long where they 
have to live by browsing. When the 
land is well cleared of brush by the 
goats the pasture feed will soon come 
in, and the goats may be replaced by 
sheep. I would advise buying yearling 
ewes and a carefully selected young 
ram, so that the owner may control the 
breeding. c. s Phelps'! 
Do Not Overstock. 
If I wanted to start in to the keep¬ 
ing of a flock of sheep, and knew noth¬ 
ing about the business, I would buy 10 
ewes, from two to four years old. I 
would buy registered stock if I were in 
such circumstances that I could, and 
if there was a kind 1 liked best, those 
are the ones I would buy; then keep 
the best ewe lambs and build up the 
flock to* as many as I could keep. S. 
A. G. fails to state how large that hill 
is, but remember that there will be a lot 
or iambs to eat grass lor tnree or lour 
months. The Hampshire is a hardy 
breed, raises fine lambs, and shears well. 
I believe there are nearly as many 
Shropshire sheep as all the other breeds 
combined. If I could not get regis¬ 
tered sheep, .1 would get some good 
grades, and buy a registered ram. and 
turn him in with the ewes 20 weeks 
before I wanted lambs to come; the 
time depends on whether you have a 
warm barn or not. March lambs get a 
fine start before turning to grass, and 
when they are three weeks old I would 
dock all ewe and ram lambs I wanted 
to keep. Nothing is any better or 
quicker to use than a sharp butcher 
knife. Shear the wool away from flank 
and udder. There are times when the 
lamb cannot draw the milk, on account 
of the gummy substance that forms on 
and in the end of nipple, and the milk 
has to be started by the attendant. If 
a ewe fails to have milk enough at the 
start, give the lamb some cow's milk by 
putting a nipple on a bottle, not too 
much at a time, but little and often, 
until her milk comes. If a sheep does 
not want to own her lamb and the 
lamb is smart, just put the ewe in a 
rigid stanchion and the lamb will do 
the rest. After the lambs get two or 
three weeks old, give them a chance 
to get to some grain, like cornmeal and 
wheat feed or ground oats. If you do 
not shear the sheep before they go to 
grass, be sure to cut the wool all away 
from the root of tail to the gambrel 
joint. 
The sheep will take care of them¬ 
selves on the hill from Spring until 
Winter, but be sure to see them twice a 
week at least and give them salt each 
time. Sheep need some kind of shelter 
from the hot sun. If there are some 
trees left they may furnish shade 
enough, but if there are no trees I 
would put up something, either of 
boards or poles, and cover them with 
straw, grass or weeds. Let it face 
north. Do not be in a hurry to house 
your sheep in the Fall. Cold weather 
is to their liking, if it is only dry. If a 
cold rain comes on then get them under 
cover, but give them all the outdoor 
life you can during the Winter, for 
stronger lambs are the result. Feed 
clover hay if possible; whole oats and 
bran or wheat feed with oats; raise 
some turnips to give twice a week, and 
when you get them in Winter quarters 
you will see how much water they will 
drink. A change of pasture would be 
very beneficial to your flock, so if your 
hill lot was divided you could change 
every week. 
There is no doubt that sheep hurt the 
pasture for cows, when they run to¬ 
gether, for the sheep are very close 
croppers, and the new and tender 
shoots are what they are after. Their 
feeding begins at daylight in Summer, 
then they seek shelter through the heat 
of the day, and by feeding so early they 
get a good deal of moisture into the 
system, and for that reason can get 
along without water, but my flock go to 
the spring every day for drink. If I 
were afraid of dogs I would put up a 
four-foot, tight, woven wire fence 
around the field. Make a hole with a 
bar every 12 feet, and drive a post, 
brace the corners and brace some of 
the other posts in the center. - If there 
are no dogs to contend with a three- 
foot fence is high enough. A large 
milking ewe needs attention after her 
lambs are taken off in the Fall or she 
may lose her udder. e. e. s. 
Delaware Co., N. Y. 
Evidently S. A. G. is a novice in 
sheep husbandry. This is more im¬ 
portant in deciding the number of 
sheep he may keep rather than the area 
he has, as the first requisite is to learn 
many details involved, and which can¬ 
not be learned as readilv in any way 
as in the school of experience. Hence 
the flock should not exceed 50 at the 
outset, while JO would be better for the 
first year. One vigorous ram is suffi¬ 
cient for 30 to 35 ewes. Any of the 
dose-wooled breeds will do, Shrop- 
shires or Southdowns being more read¬ 
ily obtained, are. perhaps preferable. 
With a flock of above size he has suf¬ 
ficient pasturage to carry them up to 
Winter. In Winter, good clover hay 
provides the best roughage if Alfalfg 
cannot be had—-next to these are rowen 
and fine hay. Roots (turnips) should 
always be a part of the Winter rations. 
If clover or Alfalfa are absent more 
grain will be required, although the 
amount to be used will be largely gov¬ 
erned by the quality of the hay; 
whether cut early or late; quickly cured 
or burned in the curing, etc. A good 
grain ration is one composed of equal 
parts of cornmeal, ground oats, bran 
and linseed meal. Of this mixture one- 
quarter to one-half pound per head per 
day should be sufficient, although more 
may, at times, be used to advantage. 
However, it must always be borne in 
mind that sheep can be ruined more 
quickly by overfeeding than any other 
class of stock. 
While at pasture sheep will do bet¬ 
ter if a shelter is provided against con¬ 
tinuous rains. For this purpose a low 
shed, closed only on the north and west 
ends to prevent drafts, will be sufficient. 
For Winter quarters a more commodi¬ 
ous shed both in height and floor space, 
and closed on all sides excepting the 
south, will be in order. Fully protected 
quarters are required at lambing time, 
as it is essential to preserve and main¬ 
tain the body heat of the lambs until 
they are perfectly dry and are nursing 
well. As soon as this transpires they 
may be placed in the open shed. 
Sheep may be employed to clear the 
hilltop, but when doing so do not ex¬ 
pect too much of them. To clear such 
land by sheep, it should be overstocked, 
i. e., at least to such an extent as to 
compel the sheep to eat more or less 
objectionable food that in the pressure 
of abundance they would neglect. It is 
obvious that sheep thus treated will not 
thrive as well as under more favorable 
circumstances. The field should be 
thoroughly fenced with woven wird 
fencing, four feet high, to keep out 
dogs. Salt should also be provided at 
all times. Under such conditions a 
weekly or semi-weekly visit to the field 
should be ample. 
Sheep, more than all other classes of 
live stock, require the watchful eye 
of the master. The promptness with 
which the first indication of unthrift is 
discovered and cared for is one of the 
most potent factors in deciding the 
success or failure of the undertaking. 
Connecticut. f. h. stadtmueler. 
W 
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