Imperial Valley press., 1912-11-22
SHEEP ARE A BENEFIT
TO THE GRAIN GROWER

Pacific Rural Press: As swine
growing is the natural adjunct of
dairying, SO sheep should be the
natural accompaniment of extensive
grain farms. The ability to utilize
and turn to account what would other
wise be waste products is the deter
! mining factor in each case. The by
products of the grain farm are weeds,
volunteer grains, grasses, weed seeds.
| shriveled grain and straw. The first
| four sheep will use to better advantage
| than will any other kind of livestock,
and only beef cattle and horses will
surpass sheep in turning straw to ac-
| count.
Another reason why sheep should
| appeal to the extensive grain farmer
is that, once he has installed the prop
| er equipment, such as fences, open
sheds and watering places, they inter-
fere little with his field work. In fact,
| it is very doubtful if the extra work
they occasion during the busy season
! is not more than offset by the labor
they save on the summer fallow in
the way of soil packing. weed eradi
cation and the spreading of manure.
Another fact worth considering IS
that the presence of a flock of sheep
on grain farm does not necessitate
material reduction in the area de-
voted to grain growing, but on the
other hand it never fails to insure
| larger yield of better grain, and it
| makes possible the growing of grain
for a longer period of years than can
be done without them or some other
kind of livestock.
certain am mount of technical knoWl-
edge regarding sheep, their habits. etc,
| is necessary to success but the same is
| equally true of all classes of animals,
| and amateurs should acquire this
knowledge with a small flock in order
! that their mistakes do not cost them
| too dearly.
The first step TO be taken when en-
| barking in the business OF sheep rais-
ing is TO enclose at least one field
with a coyote proof fence. Additional
fields similarly enclosed should be pro
vided as occasion requires, or ones
means permit. An effective coyote
proof fence can be made using woven
| wire fence four feet high and at
/ tached to the inside of the posts. A
strand of barbed wire should be run
along the surface of the ground, and
another about six inches above the
top of the woven wire fence. These
should be attached to the outside of
the posts. This arrangement max
burrowing under and vaultng over
| the fence from the outside very diff
cult woven wire fence 36 inches
wit Cfr nd of ha Wi
| above it is usually sufficient for in
side cross fencing.
The Foundation Stock
The next step is to secure the right
kind of sheep. When selecting these.
two things should be kept well in
mind They must be of a breed that
are noted for being quick to get on
their feet after lambing, else they will
require a great deal of attention at
that time, which, coming as it does
in the early spring, when seeding is
in process, the farmer can i'll afford %
give up his time to attend to this
work. They must be well wooled on
the under line, else they will spend too
much time about the shelter during
the colF wet months. They will re-
quire much more hand feeding and be
much more likely to contract disease
than they would if they got out every
day on clean ground and in the clear
air and sunlight.
Feeding
In managing a flock of sheep it
should be remembered that a variety
of feed is indispensable. When they
are on succulent feed they should have
daily access to dry roughage. When
they are dry feed they should have
occasional access to something succu-
lent. A little attention to this i'm
portant matter will prevent loss from
indig estion, which has probably
caused greater losses among farmers
flocks than any other ailment. A field
of native grass in which there is a pile
of straw or a rack of hay in which
they can go at will in order % get
change of feed while cleaning the
summer fallow, and another field
growing some kind of green feed to
which they can go occasionally dur
ing the winter and spring months are
all that is really necessary.
word of caution may not be out
of place in this connection. Turning
q hungry sheep on wet growing green