The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1915-04-09
A PLACE FOR SHEEP
ON THE FARM

The department urges the desir-
ability of maintaining a small flock
of sheep upon the farm. With proper
care and attention a flock of Is or 81
ewes can be kept at very little ex-
pense. and they will prove OF inest-
mable value in freeing the farm from
weeds and adding something to the
farm income. In addition to proVld-
ing a considerable supply of whole
some food for the farm table, there |
will be a surplus for sale, and an ad-
ditional item of revenue in the form
of wool.
MANY farmers make a practice OF
buying ewes in the fall, breeding
them and selling the lambs the follow
ing summer Such ewes can be car
ried through the winter on wheat and
rye fields if not pastured too closely,
or on clover hay with some roots and
little lineseed meal. If the clover
hay is not available, corn fodder may
be used as roughage, in which case It
should always be supplemented with
bran or linseed meal. Lambs should
come early and should be taught to
eat as soon as they are old enough.
Give lambs access to corn by pro-
viding a creep through which they
can 60 without allowing the ewes to
follow
For farm purposes the black-taced
ewes are more popular than the others
although good results can frequently
| be obtained from the white faced
ones. In buying ewes, be sure that
they stand we'll on their feet, have
good straight backs and good mouths.
Ewes that have broken teeth or teeth
that are badly worn down should not
be bought As a rule. a sheep has
one pair of permanent incisor teeth
when it is one year old, two pairs
when it is years old and three pairs,
or a full mouth, when it is 3 years
old. A full mouthed eve, if the teeth
are in good condition, can be used for
breeding purposes with good results
although she may be as much as five
years old. Never buy eve that has
a broken mouth--that is, with teeth
that have been broken or lost.
None but prue-bred ram should be
used. 1t is not necessary to have
show animal, but strong, vigorous
buck is essential. Shropshire, Oxford,
Southdown and Hampshire rams sire
excellent mutton lambs, and these
breeds are recommended for the farm
states. A suitable ram can be pur-
chased for from So to $40.
The two principal drawbacks to the
sheep industry in the farm states are
dogs and stomach worms. The dog
nuisance can be obviated to a great
extend by placing dog-proof fences
around the pastures. iTThe United
States Forest Service has had ex-
cellent results in protecting sheep
from coyotes and wolves by building
fences constructed in the following
manner:
A barbed wire is first stapled to the
posts right on the surface of the
ground. Three inches above this is
placed a panel of close woven-wire,
SO inches high, and above this two
strands of ordinary barbed wire.
Care should be taken to see that there
are no openings between the ground
and the lowest barbed wire. An in
closure made in this manner, into
which sheep may be turned at night,
is inexpensive, and dogs will not get
through it. Most of the damage by
dogs is done at night.
The presence of stomach worms is
very serious drawback. The young
lambs become infested with them by
eating grass to- which the worms
have attached themselves, the eggs
being deposited by the mature sheep.
1t is therefore desirable to keep the
lambs on land on which the mature
sheep have not run, and if possible,
in cases of bad infestations, to keep
the lambs away from the mature
sheep as much as possible.
In the farm states the farmers will
lind it to their advantage to regard
the wool from the sheep as by
product, Rnd direct their principal
attention to the production of lambs
and mutton for the table.