Rosebud County news. [volume] (Forsyth, Mont.) 1901-1906, 1905-04-27

three months on a full feed of grain.
heavy grain ration like cattle. After |
five months or even less time they get |
so fat they die.
II you wish to prolong the feeding |
period you must use light sort OF
feed. Or use more hay and limited
amount of grain. This leads me to a
system of feeding resorted to in Colo
RADIO, Utah and our own valleys, |
where alfalfa plays an important part.
All this feeding of alfalfa hay is
done IN open pens without covering OF
any sort, but the pens are placed in
some we'll sheltered spot in some ra-
vine or grove Of trees.
The sheep are put in pens that will
hold from 500 to 1000 head. The num-
Der of head to the pen is regulated by
the convenience of the locate II, and
no particular number is necessary.
The fence around the pen is con-
structed IF panels SO that the sheep
can put his head through a space in
the panel between the boards and eat
the hay placed there for his especial
benefit. The panel served the double
purpose Of fence and hay manager. All
the good alfalfa hay (the best is none
uOO SOOu) UlldU UIO SIlCCP VI A0AAOo OesA
eat is scattered close up to the space
in the panel, four or more times each
day where it can be easily reached.
A nice, big trough of good clean wa
ter is within easy reach of the pen,
and salt, too, is given in liberal guam
titles.
If grain Of some kind is fed with
the alfalfa, which it usually is, the
sheep are driven from the pen where
they are fed into another pen. which
is filled with fiat bottOmed grain
troughs, about foot wide and sixteen
or eighteen feet long.
There should be enough grain
troughs and hay racks to give each
sheep full foot of space, i. e., a
grain trough sixteen feet long placed
so the sheep can eat from both sides
of 1t will accommodate thirty sheep
easily, but enough room should be Civ
en- to prevent crowding. This must
be regulated by the size of the sheep.
A water trough Is feet long, a foot
wide, kept full Of water all day will
water one thousand sheep or lambs
even if they can only drink from one
side of it. But it must be kept full.
1 cannot here tell you exactly all the
sizes of pens, facts and figures to COW
er any flock that might be placed on
feed. The shepherd must use some
Judgment to construct his pens and
troughs of size to suit his particular
flock
"The eye Of the Master fattens his
sheep" In the large feed yards near
ST. Paul and elsewhere, the grain is
fed to the sheep in great self-feeders
where they can eat night and day if
,;cl, 10 oh fnff
quickly under this sytsem, but the
idea of feeding alfalfa hay is to pro-
long the feeding period by only Civ
ing limited amount of grain each
day, and thus put on great amount
OF fat at small cost.
Colorado feeders have come to Mon
tana. bought lambs here, taken them
home, fed them alfalfa hay and grain
such as you grow in the Yellowstone
valley. Under their system OF feed.
ing they have topped the markets OF
the east the past few years, and have
created demand for their lambs that
is astounding.
What they are doing in Colorado can
be done in Montana. You have one
thing, the best of the Colorado feed
ers-you have the sheep,
The feeding system we have used in
feeding alfalfa hay with small
amount of grain is this: We put the
sheep on feed about October--at day.
light each morning when the SHEEP
begin to stir about, fresh hay is scat
tered around the racks. Next the wa
ter troughs are filed, (they are emp.
, tied at night to keep from freezing).
The sheep have eaten some hay anC
drank little water, and we will sup
pose it is nine in the morning Neal
! by in an adjoining pen grain is spread
in a lot of trough, and the sheep are
driven from where they are fed hay
> ter the first day or two they dom
4 have to be driven to the grain, but a
2 the appointed time they come bounc
l ing in like lot of boys leaving schoo
at recess If you feed more than one
? pen, each can be let ont in turn as
5 they eat the feed quickly. They arr
all placed back i'll the hay feeding
: pens, and more nice, clean hay is scat
. tered around the racks. This is don,
Y until noon About one thirty o'clocl
i more hay is scattered around TIN
t racks. or the old hay that has beer
pushed back too far to be reached i
Il placed up within reach.
: Suppose it is half -past three or fOu
: O'Clock in the afternoon, more grail
9 is fed us before. After their grain j
II II eaten back to hay they go, which i
again scattered for the fourth and las
: time. 1t is now getting dark in tn
!, short fall days, and the water troughs
u which have been kept full of waite
u all day are now emptied to keep fror
freezing, and your good sheeptende
/. silently steals away to bed to get read.