Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1888-09-07
The Care of Lambs

The Care of Lambs
For ewes which are stubborn in their
disposition to disown lamb small pens
should be made Every sheep farm
should have a few of these pens made in
frames, that can be taken apart and put
away when not wanted. These frames
are made like gates, four feet long and
three feet high, the bottom board being
high enough for the lamb to creep under
The ends of these frames are fastened to-
gether with cross pieces and hooks and
staples, or short pieces of small rope to
hold them together. A eve confined in
one of these pens put up in stable-the
darker it is the better cannot escape
from the lamb, and if properly secured
cannot drive it away. If she lies down,
as some will, to avo' d the lamb, two
broad bands of sacking should be
fastened across the pen from side to side
under her belly, which will keep her up.
We never found it pay to raise la NIB by
hand. The difference between the first
milk of a eve and cows milk fully ex-
plains the reason why a cOsset lamb
should be dwarfed and stunted. The
food is not sufficiently rich, and the
lamb is half starved, although its belly
may be full A child may take an orphan
lamb and rear it on bottle as a play
thing, but it is poor business for full
grown shepherd to potter over such a
small affair 1t is far better that he
should give previous attention to feed
ing his ewes so that there should be
milk for all the lambs, twins and trip
lets, if there should be any, as well as
single ones.
As the lambs grow to sufficient age,
IL i IF no mo al
above mentioned as given to the sheep.
For the lambs, a small addition O. sugar
may be made, enough to give the meal a
sweet taste, which will make it more
nutritious and palatable. To secure
freedom from mo!estation in the EN- 10y
ment of this food creeps or pens, into
which the lambs can crawl, but the
sheep cannot, should be provided in the
field. These may be made of few
poles set in the ground, and narrow bars
nailed to them through which the lamb S
can creep. A trough should be put in
this pen, and be supplied daily with a
sufficient quantity of the meal. The
lambs will visit the pen several times a
day and take little of the meal Eng
lish shepherds purchase meal of this kind
medicated with a little ginger, salt,
caraway seed and sugar, at or 3 cents
pound, and find this so-called - lamb
food profitable. American shepherds
may very well follow their example, at
less than half the cost, but with quite as
much profit.
Lambs should be locked when two
weeks old, and the male lambs should be
castrated at the same time. These
operations are quite simple and easy:
1t is best to pull up the loose skin of
the tail before severing it, so that the
skin may be drawn down over the stump
to cover it, the wool being dauDed with
tar and drawn and twisted together to
cover the wound and produce quick
healing. The great secrets in successful
castration are to make long, sweeping
cut to the bottom of the scrotum, to
scrape the attachments apart and not cut
them, and to apply plenty of carbolated
vaseline or sailed butter, with little
kerosene oil, to the wound. These
precautions secure ample escape for the
healing pus, very little bleeding, and
rapid healing, with safety from tiies.-
Mem York Times