The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1865-10-27
THE CALIFORNIAN
agricultural.
Fail management Of Sheep.
WANING AND FALL-FEEDING LAMBS

Fail Management of Sheep.
WEAVING AND FALL-FEEDING LAMBS.
Lambs should be weaned at four months
old, and should have a nice, sweet, fresh
piece Of feed in readiness for them on be-
NJ separated from their dams and they
hould have prime pasturage until the SET
ting in of winter If it fails, they should
be fed some green substitute for it, and re-
ceivc an allowance OF grain Those breed
ing mutton sheep often feed cabbage or
roots, or fold their lambs on rape. Lambs
of any kind should be kept growing from
the day of their birth until they reach ma
tuliiy. This is the great secret of raising
sheep proitably. As soon as the cold,
heavy autumn rains begin to fall, lambs
should be housed nights, and as winter
approaches they should be sheltered from
cold storms in the day time
FAII-FEEDINC; BREEDING EWES.
The ewes. on weaving their lambs,
should be put on short, dry pasturage, I'M
til their milk dries off and then on feed
which will rapidly restore their hesh.-
They do not as much as lambs demand
shelter and extra feed before winter, but
there Is no doubt that they amply pay tor
it in condition. especially ewes that are
getting old and beginning to lose their
strength. Strong middle-aged sheep, how
ever, demand no other extra feed than hay
or corn stalks until winter sets ill., ''Sheep
we'll Summered are half wintered." 10
let them become thin before winter, rem
derS it difficult and far more expensive to
winter them safely and well they are not
50 likely to take the ram, and their pro,
duet Of wool is diminished. And if quit,
thin there is an absolute peril of their live
If the winter is an unfavorahle one, how
ever we'll they may be taken care of. TIL,
danger is the greatest to the quite yOun!
and the old sheep. These sometimes vii
not improve, but begin to run at the noS'
and eyes, gradually lose their appetite,
grow weaker and weaker, in some cases
exhibiting costiveneSs. and in others OBJ
stinlte diarrna. and perish miserably.-
When they commence going in this way,
medicine, feed and care are almost thrown
away upon them.
COUPLING, ETC.
Before the rams are put with the eve:
in the fall, the latter should he examined
directly and by the register-and divid-
cd into parcels, so that each parcel can be
coupled with ram most suitable to correct
the defects of the dam in her offspring
Thus. the shortest wooded ewes would bt
selected out for the longest wooded rams
fiat sided and long legged ewes for a pc
culiarlv round bodied and short ieggc,
ram. and 50 on. A ram running with til,
ewes ought not generally to be trusted t.
serve more than fifty. If taken out nj CHIT:
and extra fed, Il very strong animal viii
serve hundred, BY keeping him sepa
rate from the ewes, and allowing him tt
serve but one each, he will serve two hun
drcd, and some uncommonly vi gorous ram
have served three hundred, and even NOR
in a single coupling season of six weeks
The best food for the ram. besides goo
hay or graSS, is q mixture of say two part
oats, one part peas, with slight sprink
linz of wheat. He should be fed a fey
days before the coupling season, commenc
mo with not more than half a pint, an
increasing gradually to quart by the tim
his work commences. Some old rams
which have become used to hard work an
HIGH keeping, will consume nearly doubl
that quantity. The Merino ram is in hi
prime from three to seven Or eight years c
age. The ram lamb gets good stock ifno
oveIworked, but this premature us
trenches on his subsequent vigor. Th
periods of heat in the eve occur from tn
fourteenth to the seventeenth day. He
average period Of CESSATION Is about on
hundred and tilty-two days.-Dr. Ran1la
N agricultural Report.
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