Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-05-26
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
ENSILAGE A PROFITABLE FEED
FOR SHEEP.
A Michigan Farmers Experienoe-Gar-
don Implements-The Cow Pea
Poultry Picklngs and
Household Helps.
EnsIIaee for sheep.

y
known stock feeder, in paper read
at the meeting Of live stock breeders
at Lansing last December, says the
Michigan Farmer, related his ex-
per ence with ensilage as q food for
sheep, and gave some valuable hints
relative to the feeding and hauling
of the contents OF the silo. Mr.
Spaul1ing SAID; | know there is as
much difference in corn ensilage as
there is in folks. | have seen it
made OF corn that was nearly all
stalks and smut. ] have seen il made
OF corn very green, ana of corn very
ripe, and OF corn that had been cut
and shocked and half cured or dried
out. j have put it in the silo when
the ears would far outweigh the
stalks.
have seen it come from the silo
nearly all corn and cob, and from the
same silo on the same day tho ensi-
lage would DO nearly all stalks and
husks And If you are not vigilant
ind active in filling your silo, and
vigilant and careful, and do not exer-
else good judgment in feeding your
silage, you will be likely to make
mistakes. The most important part
of the science is to know what you
are feeding. The number OF pounds
alone leaves us nearly as much in the
dark as though the numbers were
not given.
have been feeding corn from tho
npttinr hn.y fun txtr. fvy,
and | know the tendency of the corn
and stalks to separate. More, of
course, in dry corn than when the
stalks are green.
And now the next advice / give
you in regard TO filing your silo is to
keep the silage thoroughly mixed as
it comes into the PIT. II should
either drop in the center or be con-
Quoted around with spout coming
from top OF the carrier and thorough
~ tread in the corners. unless your
silo is round, as it should be if you
were building it by itselt
When ! mmenced feeding nv
sheep ensilage ] hal two silos-one
filed with rip ned corn, and the
ObAlNA avn NAONCA dS blAp llOMtE ltlI
it. ! have filled them both with rip
ened corn every season since, be
cause | think corn far the most eco
nomicaA silage. | am now feeding for
the fourth winter, and am fully con-
WINGED il is in advance Of any other
system of feeding nave yet knowu;
although during my first winters
faa6inr I Loot M ~a sboo, L., d;.o,-o
than ever before in the same time.
1t seemed to be a brain trouble and
was very fatal. My loss was about
four per cent on 600 or 70).
The next winter fed more silage
and lost about half as many sheep.
The next season | fed moro silage
still, AMI Will lost few, the loss
was trihing. This season am feed
ing about 7O) lambs. They have
been fed since Thanksgiving aim lst
entirely from the silo little clover
hay lit is only little thy will eat
when they have all the silage they
want), about twice in three days.
and barley straw for litter and
change once in three DAYS. They
are growing we'll and make me
happy and themselves, toe, every
time feed them.
put twenty-seven fine wool weth-
ers in the barn with the lambs at the
same time. These wethers were the
only sheep ! had in the pens older
than lambs. and as the pens were
somewhat C, DIVIDED. / sold them De-
cember z, and if the man who weighed
them in the barn made no mistake
they weighed nearly six pounds more
than when they went into the pen.
They were fed the same as the lambs,
but ate more and gained much more.