Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1906-10-01
RAISING SHEEP AT A PROFIT.


The raising of sheep in the United
skates does not appear to be a settled
industry. Farmers seem to fear to
undertake the raising of sheep as
readily as they do the more settled in
dustries of raising COWS, hogs, etc.
This fear of sheep raising is entirely
due, without any doubt, to lack OF
knowledge On the farmers part of the
possibilities of profits that can be
made in this industry when success
fully carried on, says writer in tn =
New York Tribune Farmer. As the
knowledge by farmers of this industry
gets multiplied, so does the industry
itself multiply proportionately, and it
really has multiplied quite extern
sively during the past three years.
This is largely due to the increased
demand for mutton by the American
people. The production of f1rst-rate
mutton is the prime factor where
sheep are being raised this time, while
the wool is incidental. This gener-
ally also brings a fair price. 1t has
been proved by experiments that it
does not pay to raise sheep for the
sole purpose of producing wool; the
production of mutton should be made
the prime factor. With this end IN
view the sheep industry has been
brought up to be profitable. 1t has
also been proved that the possibilities
in proft-making when sheep are being
raised are just as good as when other
animals are raised, with maybe one
or two exceptions.
Some farmers have an idea that the
raising of sheep pays only where poor
land exists, but that is not so. Sheep
will return good profit on rich land
just as well as other farm animals
will. Of course, if they are put on q
poor pasture the gain will surely be
less than if they are allowed to thrive
on a good rich pasture. The begin
ner in sheep raising should pay his
first attention to the kind of stock that
he will begin on. This is of great
Importance, as a poor beginning will
not leave any room for profit; so Sc
| lect a good breed, whose mutton quail
tiles have been established for long
time. Get, if possible pure bred
stock, so as to be sure of good
foundation.
Even if pure bred stock is obtained,
great attention must also be given to
the individual animal, as individual an
imals in a breed may sometimes differ
to a greater extent than the general
characteristics among the different
breeds will. 1t is not advisable to
start in on grade stock The pure
bred stock will generally pay better in
the long run. 1t cannot be empha-
sized too much that good stock should
be obtained even if a higher price
has to be paid. Having secured good
| stock to begin with, if you wish to
have some profit at the end you have
to give them your best attention.
| Sheep, as we'll as other animals, will
! be sure to respond to good treatment.
Be regular in your feeding and try TO
feed the same time every day of the
year. 1t will make a difference if you
don't. Keep the pens cleaned out
well and disinfected.
1t has been proved that it costs
much less to produce gain on an ami
NAL when young than old; so, Keep
ing that in mind, you will gain greatly
If you finish your lambs off for mar
ket at young age. Special atten-
ton in which these ewes have been a.
ewes, as the state of your future
lambs will greatly depend on the condi-
ton in which thes ewes have been at
the time of lambing. If the eve has
! been in poor condition at the time OIL
Landing, you are likely to get very
poor lamb but, on the other hand, il
she is in good condition you win run
a good chance of getting good lamb.
Do not feed the breeding eve feeds
that will tend to lay on fat, such as
corn meal If the lambs when first
born are too weak to stand up, help
them along to the teats until they get
strong enough to help themselves.
You will have to watch the ewes
very carefully during lambing time.
Sometimes, in fact very frequently in
some breeds, the lambs are too large
to come out. In case like that they
will have to be helped out. You can
either do it yourself, if you know how,
or call veterinary surgeon. Watch
him do it, so you will be able to do it
yourself next time that it happens,
without having to call surgeon. DO
not start the lambs On very concen-
trated feeds at first, but get them used
to it gradually by giving them bran or
oats. If you don't, you are likely to
cause internal trouble.
Lean Meat for Hens.
The best food for moulting hens