Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-12-23
Profit in Winter Lambs.

/ Profit in Winter Lambs.
The first requisite for profit in win
ter lambs is to secure the sheep that
VIII breed early enough, that the
lambs win be in market when the
highest price prevails. After that the
matter is entirely in the hands of the
shepherd. Good or bad luck has no
thing to do with the case. What is of.
! ten assigned to bad luck" is bad
management, slackness or neglect.
/ Suitable buildings need not be expen-
siye. One of the finest lots Of winter
lambs ! ever saw were raised by t.
4 II King of Trumens5urg, n. in a
very unpretentious barn without
paint. sided up and down with rough
/ boards with the cracks battened
1 down. but dry, light and well ventil-
ated, says a writer in the Rural New
YORKER. In my own barns, when it is
j extremely cold, the water freezes
over at. night. Yet have had half a
dozen lambs drop. in a couple of
hours, when the mercury stood below
zero and the wind bowling outside.
and not one that did not stand on its
feet and nurse without assistance. 1t
ought to go without saying that there
must be freedom from drafts. Care
should be taken that the ewes are
mot crowded, am that they are not al
lowed to jam through some narrow
space, or against sharp corners at
feeding time. 1t is not necessary or
wise to confine the ewes. They will
do better il they have some liberty
during the day, bel ng shut up at
night, in order that they may not get
wet from snow or rain.
They should have plenty OF litter
and the pens should not be cleaned
out until the sheep have gone out in
the S. ing. This accumulation under
them supplies a warm bed for the
lambs to drop on. If they lie on, or
near the ground. they will often get a
chill which is fatal The pens should
be arranged with a movable partition
so that when the lambs begin to ar.
rive it can be divided in two, that the
lsheep with lambs may be by them
selves Those without lambs do not
need so heavy feeding, and it is much
easier to watch and care for lambs
I just born when Inc mothers are sep
arate from those with lambs by their
sides Then, too, there should be pro-
vided little pens at one side of the
stable just large enough to hold the
eve and her young where they can
be confined for a time until the lambs
get strong and their mothers to
know them. They can be easily
looked after and properly fed, and the
the sides of the pens must be tight
enough that the lambs cannot crawl
through. 1t is also good plan to keep
a paint pot in the barn, and put
similar mark on each eve and lamb
Thus it will always be easy to tell
which lambs belong to any particular
sheep
Feeding is a matter of building
The lamb is made up of blood bone
and muscle. Until it is born this ma
terial must be supplied by the mother
She must either get il from the food
given her or if that is insufficient or
lacks these elements. supply it if at
aI) from her own body. In the latter
event, even though the lamb be born
strong. she will become thin and
weak with little milk, which means
often a dead lamb, always poor one
none fit to go to the market at two
or three months old Neither will she
shear much wool The above means
then, the eve must be fed with
enough food. containing an abundance
of protein or flesh and blood formers,
with ash and lime for bone bacterial
These are found in clover, alfalfa,
oats. oil cake and bran also to large
extent in most of the foods we would
give our dairy COWS, both before and
after calving 1t is folly for anyone
to insist that these must be fed any
certain foods alone, excellent as they
may be, As a matter of fact We usual
ly feed our ewes much the same
feeds as we do our dairy cows. For,
with them we aim to get the food that
contains the greatest amount of di-
gestible protein for the least money.
In would emphasize the principles,
rather than any particular feed.
The ewes should be taken up. in
good season, off the frozen grass, and
given all they will eat of early-cut
clover or new hay; coarse timothy
never There no objection TO a mod
crate amount of bright corn fodder,
for variety. but at best it is a mean
thing to feed TO sheep They must
have some succulent foods, roots pre-
ferred, yet silage is an excellent sub
stitute. starting with one-half bushel
to % ewes, and increasing to at least
twice that amount after the lambs are
born Just how much grain should be
fed viii depend on the condition of
the sheep. the kind of coarse food.
and how soon the lambs are expected
They should have grain at least six
weeks before the lambs are born. say
a gill day of bran, oats or dried
brewers grains, with little nutted
oil cake. Never corn or cotton seed