Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1910-04-12
Care of Lambs.

Care of Lambs.
In growing our animals, there Is one
thing every stockman should keep in bis
mind. 1t has been very we'll demonstrat.
ed by some of our experimenters, al
though there have not been as many ex.
periments along that line as wish we
had and as We ought to have, but both
the practice of the best feeders and the
experiments have shown this, that un-
less you grow the bone and muscle that
should be developed in this young ami
NAL in the growing stage, you never can
bring that animal up to standard
growth. In its early life it should be
fed so that bone and muscle are we'll de-
veloped, or, in other words, you will
never get a perfectly we'll developed
animal. If you allow it TO lose the milk
flesh, as we often term it, to go back
and become, by either an improper class
of feeds, lacking in muscle and bone
building elements or by improper feed
ing, practically stunted when it is young,
that animal never gets the development
of bone and muscle that it should or
would have if properly fed from birth.
For this reason we should watch the
lambs carefully to see that they are kept
growing. The lamb creep has found its
place in this country in the last twenty
or thirty years. II is over thirty years
since we began to use it and it is good
thing. IL is simply Slated gate
through which the lambs can run and
their mothers cannot. The little fellows
will soon learn to eat, and little feed
does them great deal of good, and that
feed should always be of the muscle and
bone building kind.
1t is a recognized fact that animals
poorly fed, protected or cared for when
young, either never develop, or else de-
velop slowly and at great cost. Feeders
always steer clear of buying stock from
men who have the reputation OF giving
their animals poor start. 1t is often
surprising to see how assiduously
farmer will care for and feed colt that
he desires to develop into a fine horse,
and vet how careless he will be about
the pigs or lambs. The most rapid and
economical gains can be made while
they are young, and If gains are not then
made il is difficult ever to secure them.
They will simply eat their heads of and
yet fail To expand in tissue. Every one
is seeking TO grow animals just as cheap
ly as possible, This is laudable aim,
but many go about it in the wrong way.
Money is not made by depriving lambs
of necessary food and shelter. Rather
is 1t made by providing them judiciously
and regularly so that the lambs are kept
ever on the gain.
OF course, IL you are going to put your
lamb into the market at six or eight
weeks old, as he grows a little older you
can feed some of the fattening foods to
grow little more fatty tissue, but in the
main their food should be of the muscle
and bone building kind; oats, clover,
hay, oilmeal, bran and some corn, II they
are going to market little later. In
the summer time, when the pastures get
dry and short, lamb creep should be
used, too. The flock is out on the past
ure, and too many are careless at this
time about supplemental feed for the
flock, though they very likely supply it
for the cows. Remember that the moth
ers have to produce milk to keep their
lambs growing, just the same as the COW
has to produce milk to keep the dairy
man going. Put in lamb creep, let the
lambs have this extra feed and even feed
the mothers little extra feed to keep
up the milk supply, because there is
nothing that will make as rapid and
sure, cheap growth in the lamb as moth
er's milk, so depend entirely on the
lamb creep and the extra feed. The
lambs can get through the creep, but
keep the mothers up in production at
the same time.
1t is the rapid growth that pays the
best; it is the weight that is put on
when the animal is fed beyond the food
of support that is the profitable weight,
the best profit comes when the animal is
doing its best.-Coleman's Rural World.