The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1879-05-22
Fattening Lambs.


but to do so as soon as possible, for loss
OF time in this case is fully equivalent
to q loss of cash. 1t is not enough that
the lambs should gain slowly, or ever
moderately-they often do this without
much special effort on the part of their
owners-but, they ought to gain very
rapidly. This is especially true of
those which were dropped late in the
season and are smaller than the others.
If no pains are taken to hasten the
growth and development of these lambs
they will have to be kept very late in
the season, and must be sold, if at all,
for low price. l have known a farm
er to sell the largest and best of his
lambs, which were ready early in sum-
mer, for ten cents a pound, and the
smaller ones he was obliged to keep
after haying and then sell them for six
cents He not only had to keep and
feed the small lambs much longer than
the larger ones, but also had IT, sell
them for but latte more than, one-half
as much as he received from them. The
difference in age is not the only, and in
many f1ocks it is not the principal, cause
for the difference in the size of lambs.
Between lambs of the same age there is
frequently great inequality. This is
often due to the fact that one lamb has
q much larger quantity of milk than its
mate, and sometimes is caused by the
eating of hay by one lamb and neglect
of it by the other. 1t is also true that
some lambs are naturally more vigor-
GUS than others, and, consequently,
groW much faster. Whatever the cause
or causes of the inequality which exists
among the lambs, an effort should be
made by the owner to bring the smaller
and poorer ones up to high standard
of excellence and to secure for the bet
ter ones an equally srapi4 growth and
perfect devslopment L Is not best
That the difference should be obliter-
ated, but that the poorer ones should
be made so good that they will readily
sell, early in the season, for the highest
market price, and the same treatment
which thus improves the poorer ones
will make the best ones extremely fine.
How shall the desired end be
reachedP The answer is, by good
care and proper feeding. By
these means the poor ones can be
made good. aad good ones be made still
better, but. this requires the use of
liberal quantity and an excellent quality
of food. 1t will not do to merely keep
the lambs in a dry place and furnish
the dams with all the fine hay they will
eat. This is excellent treatment as far
as it goes, but it is wholly inadequate.
Either the ewes must be literally fed
with fine hay, meal and roots, in order
to induce large secretion of milk, and
the lambs also be fed with nice Rouen
hay, or, what will be more effective, the
lambs must be fed with meal or oats.
The very best way combines these two
methods. The fine hay and the roots,
with . moderate quantity of meal, will
benefit the ewes as we'll as their lambs.
Care should be taken not to feed too
large quantity of meal, as this would
tend to fatten the sheep rather than in
crease the quantity of milk, but the
safest and surest means are those which
deal directly with the lambs. When
quite small, lambs will begin to eat fine
hay This should be fed to the sheep,
and the lambs allowed to take what
they want, and in short time they
may be made to eat meal. The best
way to do this is to fix pen into which
the sheep cannot 60, but which the
lambs can enter or leave at any time.
In this pen small troughs should be
placed and in them little meal should
be constantly kept, and in little while
the lambs will become fond of the meal
and will eat all they can get. Only a
little must be given at first, and the
quantity should be gradually increased
as the lambs grow larger and older.
InG@ meal is good, but oil meal is a
great deal better. If neither of these
is at hand, oate will be useful, though
they are not as fattening as meal.
In raising lambs for the butchers the
akillfnl farmer finds one of the best pay
ing departments of his business, while
the negligent one obtains but q small
income and . still smaller proportion
of profit. Experience has taught me
that the man who makes money on his
lambs makes it on those which are
ready for market early in the season,
and that it pays to feed well and get all
those which are to be sold fattened, and
off as soon as possible-Cor. Dirigo
Rural. ~. !.