The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-12-05
SHEEP BREEDING.
Some Good Advice About Culling Out the
Flock.

Some Good Advice About Culling Out the
Flock.
In the present boom of sheep hus-
bandry there will be a tendency among
sheep farmers to keep some old or in
ferior sheep for breeding that should be
culled out, as Mr.. McKerrow says, and
sold to the butcher. Such course will
be detrimental to all farmers who fail
to Gull their flocks of all old or inferior
ewes, and dispose of them as best they
can in their vicinity. Some can doubt
less be fed and sold in early winter at
profit In all such cases a daily grain
ration should be fed them at once; also
they should be housed from all storms
and fed feed of good hay to eat at their
convenience while thus sheltered. By
so feeding and housing the sheep will
gain daily, and as soon as market
opens for them they should be sold at
once, and good care be given to the
breeding flock for future profits.
The past season in this section has
been one of unusually heavy showers,
being detrimental to crops except grass,
which has been heavy crop. In regard
to my own flock of sheep, early in the
fall one afternoon just at sunset they all
came from their pasture to the barn
for shelter and were allowed to go I'M
der shelter where their winter quarters
had been the past winter and then all
composed themselves for the night. The
sequel was that during the night an un-
usual down-pour of rain came, of which
the flock seemed to have had warning
by their natural instinct and so came
from the field for shelter. After their
being sheltered that night they re-
manned in the field till the approach Of
another storm. when they again sought
their shed and spent night dry under
cover instead of being drenched with
rain in the open field, as they would
have been had they not sought and been
allowed shelter. From their second
seeking of shelter we suppose nature
has taught them when storms are COM
ing and given them desire for protec-
ton from them. Acting from their
seeming desire to be protected we had
their racks filled with hay and an op-
portunity for them to 60 under cover at
" LIZ W " ulCu IuO hOSh ID SuI0
as night approaches to come for shelter.
One flock of lambs have small ration
of grain, also the culled ewes designed
for the butcher, daily, and are sheltered
from storms.
Since the adoption of shelter for our
flock and daily ration of grain to the
breeding ewes we have been much more
successful in the raising of lambs and
have sold them for better prices, thus
getting better profits from our flock than
under the old system of no care and lit
tie shelter.
In concluding this letter it will be
seen that the writer began in the old
careless way of sheep farming, but has
adopted a more care-taking method,
with much better success in regard to
profits, also having better flock Of
sheep to care for, thus pleasing the eye
in the better show of sheep and benefit
ing the finances of the owner of the
flock. There is still room for improve
ment probably, from better system of
ventilation of the sheds where the flocks
are kept and a more liberal course of
grain feeding in connection with the
fodder of hay and straw to which they
have daily acceess.-Jonathan Talcott
in Breeders Gazette.