River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-02-22
HOW TO PREVENT
LANDING TROUBLES
BY r. KLEINHElNZ,
Wisconsin College of Agriculture.

The time is fast approaching when
in some sections of the country, flock
masters expect their ewes to COM
mence landing The results of the
Landing period and the percentage OF
lambs raised depend in a great meas
ure upon the attention or negligence
of the shepherd in charge. Under the
most ordinary conditions, at least 100
per cent of lambs should be raised.
One hundred and twenty-five per cent.
is what may be termed good, and
good Where less than 100 per cent.
can be raised on smaller farms (west-
ern ranges not considered) ewes at
lambing time have not received the
care and attention they should have.
In order to raise this percentage OF
lambs, it is absolutely necessary for
the shepherd to be with his flock at
lambing time during the day and also
the greater part of the night. These
hours of night work are sometimes
very long and wearisome to the shep-
herd, but if he has the welfare OF his
flock at heart, he makes these SELF
sacrifices part Of his business, ana
later on rejoiccs as he watches a
large number of lambs playing and
jumping about on warm, sunshlny
days.
Plenty OF exercise and outdoor life
during the period of pregnancy nt
the ewes, are main factors in raising
a strong, healthy lot of lambs. Flock
masters will all admit that results IN
Landing may be better one year than
another owing To weather conditions.
Some winters are very severe and
breeding ewes cannot be out-of-doors
as much as they ought to be; others
are milder, enabling the ewes to ex-
ercise which is so essential at this
time.
Of equal importance, however, is
the question of feeding the ewes prop
erly, so that they may be able to fur
nish plenty of milk for their young.
1t would be folly to give the ewes
plenty of outdoor exercise, and then
not feed them properly. If feeding
has been neglected, good deal of
trouble and some loss of lambs may
be expected. Ewes will disown their
lambs il they do not have enough
milk to nourish them with. In such
cases, lambs so disowned must be
raised by hand, causingsa great deal
of extra labor as well as mourning an
additional expense by raising them
on cows milk. Right here it may
not be amiss to state that many farm
ers hold the wrong idea that cows
milk is too rich in fat for lambs and
must be diluted with water. Tests
made at the Wisconsin station have
shown that the milk of sheep is far
richer in fat than that of cows, and
therefore cows milk should never be
diluted when fed to newly-born
lambs.
If breeding ewes have nice clover
or alfalfa hay as roughage during the
winter months, they perhaps do not
need any grain. However, at least
three weeks before they begin to
lamb. they necessarily need some
grain in order to insure good milk
flow. A grain ration consisting OF
equal parts of bran and oats and per-
haps a little oilmeal is highly recon-
mended. In addition to this, some
succulent feeds such as good, sweet
corn silage or roots, the latter prefer
red, will add materially to the in
crease of the milk supply of the ewes.
When the youngsters begin to
come, there should be a lambing pen,
provided in the barn. Any eve when
she is ready to lamb, or Immediately
after she has LANDED, should be plac-
ed in this lambing pen, where she
will be away from the others. When
ewes which are Landing are kept in
with the whole flock. those ewes
which give birth to more than one
lamb often lose track of one OF the
lambs and afterwards disown this
lamb. whereas. if the mother and the