Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-12-13
Sheep in Winter.

We have frequently urged upon flock
masters the need of good shelters for
their sheep, and even in those Western
sections where it has been the custom to
pasture the sheep through the winter
months, with no shelter whatever, the
aggregate losses have taught the lesson
that shelter paws. But the mistake
must not be made of supposing that
shelter viii take the place of food.
Shelter is not for the purpose of keeping
sheep protected from the cold, unless it
is bitterly cold, but is more for the pur-
pose of keeping them from the storms.
Sheep care little for cold weather, but
of course that cannot be said OF them
with reference to food. IF either is to
be left out of the care given to flock, it
should be the shelter. Sheep have
passed the winter upon good food, with
out shelter, and come out in the spring
in fine condition, but they never come
out in good condition, without plenti-
fuI supply of good food, however good
the shelter NAV be. Thousands of
sheep have no other shelter than an open
shed, and they viii prefer to be outdoors
in good, clear, dry weather rather than
being shut up in a warm stable. The
fleece of the animal is intended to keep
it warm, and it performs its Office. If
to the warmth thus furnished is added
that of warm stable, the animal will
be uncomfortable, and hence the only
excuse for shutting sheep up to keep
them out of the storms. 1t is a great
deal better to have their shelter
of such q character that they
can use it or not as suits them,
than it is to confne them. If they can
have a tight roof above them, and
clean dry floor on which to lie, and
sufficient protection from beating storms,
they will want nothing more in the way
of a house or shed. When it is conven-
lent such a shelter may be constructed,
and vet be so built that when necessity
shall require it can be entirely closed
up. When that is done, however, the
ventilation should be perfect.
But the feeding should be full and
judicioHs from the time the sheep are
taken from the pasture until spring
comes. The flOckmaster understands
that it is a delicate operation to change
from green to dry foods. 1t is a radical
change in management, and must be
made as easily as possible. Roots at
such times play an Important part, and
they are important as food all through
the winter months. OF these the sugar
beet, with its 81.5 per cent. of water,
LOO per cent. of flesh formers, 1910 per
cent. of fat formers and 1.3 per cent. of
woody fiber, comes first in value; man.
colds, composed of 81. IS per cent. of wa
ter, l. "a per cent. of flesh formers, $50
per cent. of fat formers and LIP Of
woody fiber, come next; rutabagas,
| with 1910 per cent. of water, LA per
cent. of flesh formers, 5.93 per cent. of
fat formers and 2.54 per cent of woody
| fiber, stand third; yellow turnips, with
| 90.57 per cent. of water, 1.80 per cent.
| of flesh formers, 4.64 per cent. of fat
| formers and 234 of woody fiber, are
| fourth, and white round turnips, COM
! posed of 60 - per cent. of water, liz
| per cent. of flesh formers, 2.96 per cent.
| of fat formers and 200 per cent. of
| woody fiber, come last.
AS to the quantity of roots to feed, ex-
| perience must determine. As a general
! rule it has been stated by sheep raisers
| that one-tenth of n bushel of roots per
day, together with one and a half
pounds of hay and half pound of meal
or bran is sufficient for a sheep weigh
ing a hundred and fifty pounds.
! 1t wilt be found by beginners in sheep
husbandry, as all experienced flock
masters have found, that sheep like a
change of food, and besides pleasing the
sheep. change of feed aids us in getting
rid of some of our foods which are less
valuable. What we need particularly
in feeding fattening sheep in winter are
fat forming foods, of course, and the
more oil or fat the food contains the
better it is. Sugar and starch are
turned by the processes of digestion
! into fat, but it requires a much larger
| proportion of either of these to produce
! a given weight of fat than it does oil or
fat It is estimated that it requires two
and q half times more of sugar or
starch to produce a certain amount OF
fat or to maintain respiration than it
would require of oil or fat. We see a
practical illustration of this by compar-
ing corn and cotton seed meal. Corn
contains over sixty-eight per cent. Of fat
formers, while cotton seed meal con-
tains only about thirty-three per cent.
But the cotton seed meal contains six
teen per cent. of fat, while corn con-
tains but five per cent. Take flax seed.
It contains fifty per cent. of fat forming
elements, a lesser proportion than corn
contains. But thirty-seven per cent. OF
these elements is oil. Flax seed and
cotton seed are really the most valuable
fat producers that we have.
For the growing animals we want
flesh forming foods. And in this con
nection we give a formula which Ran.
dali recommends as capital substitute
for oil cake, and as furnishing a very
fine food for growing animal. He
also recommends it for q eve giving
milk. Ground linseed forty pounds
wheat bran sixty pounds, -four Of bone
four pounds. Eleven per cent. of this
is fat formers and the balance flesh
formers, saline matter and water West
ey7a RatrGL.