The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1883-02-23
Keeping Sheep Requires Care.

Aeeplng sheep Requires Care
Care is the first requisite in all that re-
lates to sheep. Instead, they usually
| receive the least attention of all stock.
sheep neglected is non-paying ami
NAL to the extent that care is withheld.
1t is profitable according to the atten-
tion-exercised with iudgment-that L
receives, from which, if experience be
added, the best results alone can be ex-
pected. Sheep are different from any
other stock and require treatment ac-
cordingly. They require attention. not
only in the spring, but in the fall as well
to give them start for winter. Failino.
in the fall, there viii be .oss az with ali
to brace them up in warm weather than
IN cold. They must be fortified against
winter, which they viii pass then sue
cessfully with little or no extra care, in
creaslng in growth, and will be larger
and better in the end for this growth.
Inns reminds me of what an old and
successful sheep raiser raid: "You speak
OF care IN the spring. The time to take
care OF sheep is from New Year to New
lear. Then the sheep will not care for
the seasons"
They want attention in summer as
well as in winter, and more; the heat is
worse than the-cold for a sheen. Most
OF all, they want good feed and nlentv
OF it, in regularity. Fresh and sweet
grass is what sheep wants in summer
IL cannot live and thrive upon bleached
grass that has the strength washed and
dried out OF it. 1t wants green food in
summer; it wants water also; and it
wants shade. Nothing is better than an
apple orchard, and shed to run in when
it wants to-and that it does if you salt
it there as you should. Besides, it is a
good place to 'sbait'' sheep when the
grass gets short. This you must do in a
dry time, for depend upon it they will
gnaw the field as bare as acommon, ard
the drouth will kill what the sheep leave.
Keep up the feed. A man must work if
he keeps sheep as well as when he keeps
cows. This is what makes the growth
and makes the money. You want the
food worked up, and the more the bet
ter; that is what sheep are kept for. Fat
sheep make fat fieeces, fat lambs and
bring fat prices. There will be an in
come in the worst time, and when the
| good time comes, as it is sure to do, YOU
will be prepared for it and sweep the
| board.
Sheep are much like people. Treat
them as you would yourself. Give all
the salt they want, all the water, all
the shade and all the grass and browsing
and batting they like variety-and see
that they are not worried by dogs. In
winter continue the treatment as near as
you can, for the sheep is the same, re-
quiring the same. The nearest is to
provide young hay never bleached, a
| little grain, roomy shed, roomy yard,
water always at hand and if you add
mess of roots once day all the better.
Keep a dry yard for them. If you have
large sheep-the large kind | mean
you want more room, or divide your
sheep into small flocks. The small
Merinos keep together, they are used to
1t and they want it, but do not crowd.
A sheep seen to as it should be will
bring in more net money than any other
stock. There will be no risk to speak
of with your lambs. If they come in the
snow or in very cold weather, and the
mothers are weak, the lambs will perish,
as they ought. This fussing with weak
lambs shows that the business is badly
managed. Keep the sheep strong and
hearty and there will be no danger of
losing either sheep or lambs, and the
chances will be for twins, and that they
will be brought up, and will be prime
ones, bringing the top of the market,
and often more, if you have early, large
lambs and all alike. | know what |
say. Strong sheep work up fodder to
advantage; only see that the food is in
the right condition. Feed early and late
in the winter, and take care that you do
not waste. Give enough, and no more.
This keeps appetite good.
AS to the sort of sheep you want, that
depends. If you have broken land, hills
and CULTS, it matters not how rough
land that it is impossible to plow OF to
manure-thatis the land for sheep, but,
mind you, only for the small dark sheep
They love to climb and pick their food
here and there; anything will come good
for them, and they will thrive where the
big breeds would starve, with now and
then a broken neck. But do not over
oGOCh1 dISO DdIC t%lGu Ill UTy blIno.
This will keep good their picking, and
make it better every year, 1t is the only
way to manure such land, and sheep are
the best machines to spread it; they put
it just where it is wanted Many farmers
have such land. Some buy it on pur-
pose, and sometimes the most money is
made in this way.
There is one bad practice to avoid; it
is the common one of letting your sheep
run out late in the fall. Some keep them
out all winter. | have seen them paw in
the snow to get their feed, and short
feed at that; this is murder. Take in
your sheep with the first cold rains, or
sooner This will favor the sheep, and
favor the grass. The dung of the sheep
will help the grow5h, and in the spring
you will get the early benefit. Do not
keep sheep because you think it an easy
way to make money; the money will not
come. Itrequires work; it requires your
time to see to the sheep, and this every
day. Not every man is fit to keep sheep.
Many try and give it up, because they
do not succeed. Sheep are poor dumb
animals and must be taken care of. If
you cannot do this, let sheep alone
Country Gentleman.
The Water Rod.