Connecticut western news., 1884-12-03
WINTER FEEDING OF SHEEP.
BY HENRY STEWART.

When the fields do not afford good biie it is not advisable to leave sheep out, excepting for an hour or two in fine weather, for all the energy and vital force of the sssheep is to be directed to making flesh, and much exercise wastes these. As soon as the yard feeding begins system should be begun and adhered to. Whatever man. ner of feeding Is practiced at first, that should be kept up with perfect regu- larity as to time and method. Sheep fret and pine if kept waiting for food, and this occasions loss of weight A good system is to feed one pound per head of hay early in the morning at whatever hour is fixed upon; perhaps o'clock or earlier if thought proper. Three hours after that feed of corn, a bEshel to the 100 head, is given. At noon half peck per head of cut roots may be fed, or an equivalent of lay, eut the roots will be better than the hay for many reasons. After this, some bright straw may be put into ihe racks in the yard, and the sheep left for three hours to pick over it. In tEree hours more a feed of another bushel of corn may be given, or cut roots, sprinkled with pint per head of bran and cornmeal may be used instead of corn. Then water Is supplied, after which one pound per head of hay may be given in the racks, with plenty of fresh straw for litter, of which the sheep will pick the best Each sheep will then get one and one quarter pounds of corn and three pounds of hay with straw daily, or seven pounds of cut roots in place of one pound of the hay. The cost of the feed may easily be figured up and the chance of profit estimated. In 100 days each sheep will consume bushels of corn and 300 pounds of hay; if roots and straw are substituted for the hay the cost will be less. The gain in weight may be expected to be about 15 to 20 pounds in two months, or 25 to 35 pounds iu three months. The gain in value will be not only the in- crease in weight, but the increased value on the whole weight on account of the better quality. For instance, if thin sheep, 100 pounds in weight, are bought at cents per pound, and when fat are sold at 5a cents, and the fat weight Is only 130 pounds, the gain in this direction is equal to S2.27, and the extra weight is worth $1.72, the whole gain being about S4 per head.
 This shows the profit of feeding sheep knr market, but the gain in feeding a flock of lambs is still greater. In six months the feeder has fleece and a lamb, and before year has gone around the sheep and the lamb may both be sold and profit of 100 per cent. clear of all cost may be realized. It is too often supposed that flock fed for fat tening requires better feeding than one that is rearing lambs. This is a great mistake. It is a much greater draught upon the system of a eve to produce a lamb than to lay on fat In the one case there is 10 pounds of flesh and bone drawn from the vital forces and sub- stance of the eve, and in the other case, say 80 pounds of fat, the elements of which are nothing more than those of air and water. Besides, the system of the eve must be supplied with reserve force to be expended in the great loss and waste of parturition and in the pro- duction of milk. So that the feeding of a eve which Is carrying lamb needs to be even more liberal and nutritious than that of fettening wether. This neces. sity is too often ignored, and the want ot good and liberal feeding, at this season especially, frequently causes the loss of ewes or lambs, or sometimes both, when the exigencies of the season are such as to draw with extreme force upon a weakened and impaired consti- tuition. A well-fed flock of ewes may
 easily produce 150 per cent. of lambs,
 while neglected flock may very easily produce half so many. It is quite pos. sible for a fetus to die in mero, in its very early stage, and be absorbed and disappear without any conspicuous sign,
 the illness of the eve being attributed
 to another aud wrong cause, and 1T this way many lambs are lost to the dis appointment of the owner of the flock who may believe the ram to be at fault, instead of his own carelessness. Good feeding from this time forth may pre- vent such losses.