The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-08-27
THE STARTING on THE LAM,a
Should be Well Nourished-TWina
Need Especial Care as do the
Ewes Which Mother Them.

/
Ewes Which Mother Them.
With good start the race is half
won. Few flock owners are fully
aware of the great Importance of CIV
ing the little lambs a good, vigorous
! start in life. / was recently attending
/ a state institute where the subject of
Profitable sheep husbandry' was
| ably spoken on by successful sheep
! grower in New York. and in the adj
dress the point was strongly empha-
/ sized that the real secret of making
| sheep raising profitable lies in the
! liberal feeding of the growing lambs,
+ says writer in the New York Tri-
| bune Farmer On most farms where
/ sheep are kept as an adjunct to the
farm livestock the problem of giving
the growing lambs the best possible
care during the entire year becomes
u serious proposition and one that
demands no small amount of fore
thought. The great drawback to sheep
raising as conducted on the average
| farm is the inability to supply the
growing stock during the pasturing
/ season with liberal amount of the
right kind OF grazing forage. AS a
/ rule, whore sheep are kept as an ad-
! Junct on the farm, they are compelled
| to pasture where the forage is made
/ quate for the other farm stock While
OF course, sheep do not require so
vigorous and luXuriant growth of for
! age as do cattle and horses, yet, while
| it may be much less in amount, it
| should not fall any below in nourish~
| ing ingredient, IS it requires Just as
! nutritious food 10 0nveop bone and
muscle in tho ls,aS AZ in the colt or
/ dairy cow
! The highest pruct 30 be realized IN
! the production Of mutton and wool for
/ the market comes from inducing rapid
/ development From the time The
lambs are dropped until they are
/ marketed there should not be a mo-
| ment in their lives when some part
| of their physical development is not
tending toward full maturity Only
| few Of the most experienced flock
| owners comprehend what ii means to
| the lamb crop to be forced ahead from
| the day Of birth until ready for the
| butcher Many flock owners carry the
| impression that it does not pay to
| crowd growing stock along rapidly,
!
| believing that tn increased cost of
| feed and additional labor involved eX-
| coed the net returns obtained from The
! sale of the stock. While do not be-
| lieve there is any danger of inducing
| TOO rapid gain in the growing stock,
| yet can easily see where many flock
| owners have been misled in their eff
forts TO bring their growing stock to
| early maturity. A large number Of
| flock owners still adhere to the old
practice of feeding their growing
lambs on a heavy ration of carbohy-
9rate elements. That is to say. tho
larger portion of the grain ration sug-
piled the growing lambs is compound
ed from corn Corn is not a good
feed to supply as a ration for growing
| young stock Of any kind. There is
very little advantage during the sum
men months to include in the ration
for growing lambs any large per cent
Of fat forming Ingredients. The aim
should be to supply supplementary
food to growing stock to induce bone
and muscle development, with only a
slight encouragement toward taking
on surplus flesh,
AS soon after Landing as the ewes
have recovered normal condition, at
tentiOn should be directed toward
feeding for milk production, as tie
newborn progeny must for several
weeks during early life receive its
nour.shment from this source. A lit
tie study Of animal characteristics viii
reveal the fact that nursing ewes vary
widely in their ability to supply nour-
ishment for their young, There are
always a few ewes in every Eock that
are naturally good milk producers. and
force their young forward with sur
prisine rapidity. These ewes are pro-
fitable mothers, and their female young
should be retained in the flock for
breeding purposes. Then, too, there
are generally soms aWes IN the flock,
apparently rcceirin equal portions of
t1G daily ration. whose offspring fail
to develop bone and muscle with the
same degree Of thr'ftiness as others.
There may be two explanations to
this condition OF affairs. In the first
place, the ewes may not be as heavy
milk producers, aad, second, the flow
OF milk may be very low in fat !
have two ewes In my flock that are
wonderful milk producers, yet | have
noticed that the lS-abs from these
ewes for three years and at weaving
are from s 10 II pounds lighter than
| lambs from other ewes that do not
produce as heavy Tow Of milk.
Ewes that drop twin lambs have q
much heavier responsibility thrust up
on them during the nursing period
than ewes with only one lamb. | have
observed in my fock that twin lamb
production and milk flow have very
little relation For several years past