Arizona weekly enterprise., 1889-07-06
THE CARE OF EWES.
How and When to Feed the Animals for
 Most Successful Results.

How and When to Feed the Animals for
 Most Successful Results. American Agriculturist has the fol lowing to say on feeding ewes:
 When ewes are fed exclusively on dry food there is danger that they will be- come feverish and constipated. When this condition arises they will generally show it by lying on the ground and stretching themselves and straining. Sometimes they will pluck at their wool and show signs of distress and uneasi ness. When sheep are in this condition they are not in good health to have young. They will not provide as much milk, and their udders are liable to be caked and sore. or to show evidences of inflammation. There is danger that they will not own their lambs, and the milk will not flow freely. When the udder is SOTO or much infamed, even if the eve owns her lamb, she will refuse to let it suck. Under such circumstances the lamb very soon becomes weak and dies. Prevention is better than cure for all these ailments, and this lies in providing the eve with suitable food This must OG 6uSll iIOt OO 1lOouSC tA ACNG GI 1911 SOAl- dition. It should be somewhat laxative and well supplied with nitrogenous ele- ments. Such foods are wheat bran, oats, pea meal, beans and inseed meal Corn is unsuitable for breeding ewes, as it pro- duces fat and heat.
 There is no animal which responds with better results to succulent foods than sheep and ewes with lamb. Potatoes do not seem to be adapted to this purpose; turnips are natural food for ewes, as well as for other sheep. Carrots are ex- cellent, and so are beets and mangels. A few roots or small ration of these, say four quarts day, with bran and inseed meal, will put ewes ill most healthy and vigorous condition, and at the same time this combination of foods will tend to promote the growth and support of the fetus, and when the little lamb is born it will have the bone and strength to help itself, and it will give far less trouble to get it on it's legs and obtain its suStenance from the mother.
 There is such thing as feeding the lamb before it is born-to nourish and strengthen it through the blood of the dam. This is an important matter and should never be lost sight of in the feed ing of the mother This idea is particu- larly applicable to the eve, as it's off spring is so likely to be weak and more or less helpless. If the ewes have not been fed on such foods during the win ter, the sooner this is done before lamb ing time the better. The feeding should be in limited quantities at first, not more than a gill day for few days, then gradually increase to a quart or two, according to the size of the eve. Three parts of wheat bran to one part of lin seed meal is good proportion, fed twice day with the roots. Ewes may be fed oats with roots and do well, but the bran is almost invaluable, as it will furnish the muscle and bone food required When ewes are to lamb soon, they should not be fed on timothy hay, as it is not proper sheep food. There is nothing sc good in all the list of forage plants a bright clover hay. Sheep will do wei on this food alone, up to the time O lanbing, as it is the best balanced foot in the whole list. The ewes should hay, access to water whenever they want it, a they naturally drink but little at a tim and drink often.