Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1910-03-10
FOR BREEDING EWES
cottonseed Meal Makes Excel
lent Feed for the Sheep.
Usually Unnecessary to Supply Much
Concentrated Food in Southern
States Where Pastures Avail
able Ten Months In Year.

In the southern states where cot
feeding Il IL usually unnecessary to
supply much concentrated feed to
breeding sheep at any season OF the
year because they can Craze the year
around In Alabama. for instance.
sheep can have permanent pastures
for at least ten months in the year by
the use OF Bermuda and burr clover.
The remaining two months can be
bridged over with temporary winter
pastures. says Breeders Gazette. The
climate is so mild the year through
that the lambs can be born in mid
winter and suffer none from the cold
This permits the Alabama farmer to
get the lambs upon the early spring
market at the time when high prices
are realized and without an expensive
period OF dry feeding the flock
These considerations have -ncour-
aged sheep production in the south
and some thriving hocks have result.
ed Hut even when the effort is made
to supply winter pasture II Is fire.
quently necessary 10 give dry feed
for some part Of the winter D. T.
Gray and J. W. Ridgway tested cot.
tonseed meal and bulls for this pur.
pose at the Alabama experiment sta
tion al Auburn and have reported the
results in Bulletin las On inquiry
they found that some farmers In tn.
state fed nothing but cottonseed meal
and bulls to pregnant ewes during the
winter months. Others feed nothing
but cottonseed. Still others are afraid
TO feed either cottonseed meal or cot
tonseed. thinking that cotton by-prod-
ucts are dangerous feeds for sheep.
II Is often claimed that cottouseed or
cottonseed meal will cause blindness.
dizziness and sometimes death when
given TO ewes
The experimental nock was divided
into two lots OF eight ewes each. and
one lot was fed upon soy bean hay
alone and the other lot upon cotton
seed meal and bulls. The soy bean
hay was Of excellent quality but had
no mature beans upon II. as il was
cut before the beans were ripeued
The eottonseed meal was fresh and
bright. The daily allowance Of cot
tonseed meal vas half a pound per
eve OF % pounds weight and With IL
vas fed IL pounds OF hullS To the
other lot Of ewes the daily allowance
Of soy bean hay was 10 pounds. These
quantities barely held the weight Of
the ewes without loss for los days Il
would have been cheaper 10 feed less
meal and more bulls but the object
was TO learn the effect % a rather
large amount of cottonsesd meal. II
vas found that both lots came through
10 the landing period tn excellent
health and spirits. but the cottonseed
meal lot seemed 20 b more spirited
and alert than the soy bean lot No
objection could be srought against 81.
their feed as far as is general Effects
upon the animals were concerned
After Landing the feed o. the exes
was increased sufficiently 10 maintain
their weight and they we're carried for
. days more on the cuttonseed meal
and bulls. II required on the average
e.sS pounds per head Of the meal and
rs pounds Of bulls per day during
this time when sucking the lambs
This was - per cent more meal and
II per cent more bulls than were re-
CURED before lambing. The ewes re-
NAMED healthy on this ration and the
lambs grew rapidly on the large now
Of mix produced Under ordinary
conditions no such extended period Of
dry feeding is necessary on southern
farms. so there seems very small like
lihOOd Of any unfsvorable results TO
come from cottonseed meal in com
mon use