Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1860-05-25
A0rirnIturaI.
T'T7I
MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP IN sPRr

from inc inNntfN GtNUtnhns
MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP IN SPRING.
MEssRs EDrroRs-There is a mode Of man
aging or rather mis-managing with sheep al
this season Of the year, which is at once erro-
noous and mischievous. II isat variance with
the dictates Of sound sense and produces al
ways a greater or less amount Of injury to the
interests Of those who practice it. The mis-
management referred to consists in cunning
out or leaving sheep to shili Tor themselves
in the early spring months.
The mere mention Of this error may be suf
fcent, with some, to lead to its correction.
But as some others may not at once see its
erroneousncss and injurious tendencies, the
following considerations may be of service
l. All sudden and all great changes in the
feeding of animals are usually accompanied
with more OF less damage to the health and
good condition of the animals subjected to
such changes This is a truth abundantly
established by tho combined testimony of
physiology, good sense and experience Can
any thing but damage, then, be the result Of
so great a change as tina. which sheep are
subjected TO when they are deprived all at
once of their regular three meals of hay or
some equivalent, and arc turned out TO pick
up their living from the dry, frozen and thaw-
cd, and woathcr-beaten remains of last years
grass, with perhaps few scanty fresh leaves
which a few days of unusual warmth may
have started from roots we'll supplied with
moisture There is not in any common pas
ture suiiiciency for the nourishmont of sheep
until after the new growth Of grass has reach
ed the length Of two or three inches and uu-
al grass has got such a growth, sheep should
never, save in some extraordinary and oxcep-
tional cases, be turned out either upon mead
ow or pasture. This brings us TO another
consideration.
2. The meadows or pastures upon which
sheep are often turned out in spring, arc CON
fessedly injured, partly on account of their
gnawing too close into the roots or crown Of
the grasses, and partly on account Of their
poaching the ground while it is wet or yet un-
settled after the heavings of FROST This dam
age to the meadows and pastures is so gencr-
ally admitted as TO need neither proof nor en-
forccment. But even some who assent to it
do not shape their practice accordingly, and
therefore there is p-opricty in naming it, and
stating that there will be failure in the yield
Of grass far beyond any reasonable estimate Of
the value Of the early feed to the sheep.
B. The loss of ewes and lambs is quite com
mon, with some more than others, in spring
aud Of all the explanations of this fact, or en-
dcavors to account for it, none seems so like
ly as that these deaths are owing not so much
nor so often to poor wintering, as to the sud
den and great changes in the system caused
by Withdrawing fodder and turning che sheep
out TO sleep upon the cold ground, and to live
upon the frost-bitten, innutritions remains of
last years growth Of grass or the first scanty
bite of the new. As often as our attention 1
has been turned to this problem. namely, to .
account for the fact that it is luck of some |
people to lose lambs in the spring, OF both |
lambs and ewes, we have always had good /
reasons for believing that the condition of the
ewes had been damaged, either by too scanty
fodderng or by turning out to grass too car
ly, or by both together. Those who have this /
kind of tuck will generally be found to be |
persons who are too inconsiderato to reflect /
duly upon the connection between good con-
dition in the mother and vigor or vital energy |
in the lamb, or too unieeling to make provis- |
ion for the proper nourishment and shelter
and comfort Of their sheep, either in winter OF .
spring. The iuck is the same, whichever of |
these detects OF head or heart may happen, in |
any individual case, to be the most influential |
or operative. Every reader of this may find |
combinations of this theory as to the promi- |
nont causes of the loss Of lambs, or Of ewes, If
he will recall what has como under his OBJ |
servation in past years, or keep his eyes and |
ears open for the events Of this kind which .
are happening this present spring
4. il not proved beyond doubt or dispute, .
it is at least highly probable that sudden
changes in the feeding Of sheep exert con
siderable influence upon the condition and
growth of the wool. After such changes, the
Al