Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-08-21
A Chanter on Sheen,

A Chapter on Sheep.
The following practical experience
from successful sheep grower, K. Nord
man, was recently given in the Wiscon
sin Agriculturist. 1t is so applicable Il
Maine conditions, we reproduce the prin
cipal parts of it entire:
While sheep require very little worl
and attention as compared with othel
lines of live stock, that little they mus
have with regularity and precision
otherwise the business is sure to be 9
failure.
Sheep respond to good feed and careful
treatment more readily than any othel
animal on the farm, but on the othel
hand, they are the first to get out of con
dition and become Improbable, if neg
lected. This matter of care and feed is
really of the greatest Importance, for il
is money thrown away to invest in fine
breeding stock, unless one has the facili'
ties aud the disposition to keep thai
stock in thriving condition.
My advice to beginners would be, to
look first to their facilities for caring fol
sheep. These being in a satisfactory
condition, they should then get the very
best foundation flock that can be afford.
ed, and in addition, the kind of ram
should be kept that conforms most
nearly to the type of sheep which in the
locality are likely to be the most profit.
able. As regards the housing of sheep,
their quarters need not be an expensive
affair. They should, however, be con.
structed in such way that the sheep
may be kept dry under foot and well
sheltered from storm overhead. If 1t is
the plan to raise lambs for the early
spring market, then the stable must be
so built that the temperature can be kept
under control. A necessary arrange
ment in a sheep stable is an opportunity
for placing a row of pens about four feet
square around the outer edge Of the
stable next to the wall. These are for
the purpose of contining each of the
ewes with their newborn lambs for a
short time, or until the mother takes
readily to the lambs. and the lambs are
strong enough to get along without as
sistance.
As regards their care, beginning with
the fall season, it should be the sheep
raiser's aim to get his flock into winter
quarters in good condition. To this end
the lambs should be weaned at least one
month before grass stops growing. Dur
ing this period the flock should be pro-
vided with good pasture and when the
frost begins to affect the quality of the
grass, the other feed should be provided
to give the ewes the proper nourishment,
and to keep their system in good condi-
ton. For winter feed, there is nothing
better for flock of breeding ewes than
early cut and well cured clover hay, sup
plemented with good corn silage. If the
lambing season occurs before the sheep
get out to pasture, the ewes should be
fed bran about three weeks before the
lambs begin to arrive. This is to induce
a good milk flow, and generally to get
the ewes in the proper condition for
maternity.
Sheep should have access to water,
and some salt every day in the year. If
salt is fed at irregular intervals, the
sheep will frequently eat too much and
get out of condition as result. Breed
ing ewes should be fed and managed in
such way that they will take plenty of
exercise during the period of CESSATION.
Ii the flock be large and of uneven size
and strength, it is necessary that it be
divided, the strong and the weak ones
each being kept in separate quarters,
and each bunch handled according to its
needs. This way of caring for the ewes
insures q crop of strong, healthy lambs
that are easy to raise. 1t is, neverthe-
less, necessary to keep close watch over
- a. a. ,tl la,, y, 60
always some lambs that require assist
ance, no matter how well the old ewes
have been cared for. 1t is always we'll
when the lambs are dropped in cold
weather, to confine the old and young
together for a few days, and for this
know of nothing handler than the pens
already referred to. Usually if the lambs
are assisted in getting their first meal,
they are ready after that to help them
selves, and in a few days tit to run in the
stable or yard by the side of their
mother with the other sheep. Some
times it happens that the old eve refuses
to own her little one, and in that case,
as also where we wish to get the eve to
adopt lamb, the eve and the lamb are
confined in pen together. The lamb is
helped to get nourishment four or five
times daily, and it has never taken me
longer than four days to completely rec
oncile the old eve to the lamb. In every
well ordered flock, a place should be pro-
vided where lambs can help themselves
To oats or grain of some kind from which
the old ones are excluded.
There is no animal on the farm that
will pay better price fer oats than a
sucking lamb. | believe that after
lambs are strong enough to get along
without help the sooner they are docked
and castrated the better. If these opera
tions are performed after the blowfiies
are out, the wound should be thoroughly
saturated with powdered bluestone.
Sheep ticks and other vermin should not
be permitted to infest the flock, as they
are liable to take most Of the profits
when they get numerous. They can
easily be kept under control by dipping
The lambs in some of the patent sheep
dips a few days after the old ones are
shorn. In my flock | find that this is
all that is necessary TO keep the ticks
down, but if dipping the lambs alone
does not suffice, it does not cost much to
extend the operation to the whole flock.
In my experience have found that a
shearing machine is greatly to be pre-
ferred to the old method of hand shear.
ing. The operator may find some diff
Guilty in getting started, but if he will
have little patience and carefully fol
low directions that como with eacb
machine, he will soon be able to do bet
ter and quicker. work than he can d.
with his hand shears.
g.