The Delta independent., 1915-06-25
Lamb Feeding.

Why should a farmer in this valley
feed lambs? The first answer is be
cause taken year after year lamb
feeding has proven more profitable
than feeding any other class of live
stock Experienced feeders say that
during period of twenty years act
ual losses have occurred only two or
three times. about as many years they
have played even. the other years they
have made money. Lambs are eco
nomical feeders. II is said Nothing
ever grows in Sleeps track" This
is not absolutely true, but SO little of
the food eaten by lambs escapes mas
tication and digestion that one does
not need other stock to follow them.
II does not require much room to feed
sheep. With an economical arrange
ment OF hay and grain-pens one needs
but sixteen square feet of space per
lamb. Half this area In occupied but
a few minutes each day while eating
grain. The actual capital required
by sheep feeder is usually the value
of the hay. grain and the feeding
plant. "Shylock" will furnish the
money to buy feeders taking ordinary
interest rate with a mortgage on the
stock. Since the stuff can be turned
in sixty to one-hundred and twenty
days the interest charge in not very
large. in fact, is less than in feeding
other kinds of stock. The up-to-
the-minute farmer feeds. Eighty per
cent and upwards of all the soil fer
tility used in the production of
crop is retained upon the farm II the
crop is fed. No argument is needed
to prove that all kinds OF farmers
est things about lamb feeding is that
Il is carried on at n time of year
when the farmer has leisure time.
One Of the serious problems in this
country is to find continuous en-
ployment for the hired help. man
with family to support will often
accept employment by the year on
a ranch when he could not take a job
for the summer. Often a farmer has
single man during one summer
whom he would like to keep another
summer. Feeding In winter provides
labor. Attending to the stock and
hauling manure keeps labor employed.
saves the expense OF training new
help.
Ours is natural feeding country
The winters are not too cold. There
are few wet storms and no blizzards.
BY providing sufficient straw to keep
the sheep dry underneath they need
no sheds and the straw will absorb
and retain much valuable fertilizer.
As has already been mentioned. win
ter seems to be the logical time for
feeding livestock in this valley. There
seems to be no best" time to market.
Often there is glut on the market
during the autumn. Naturally, one
should not attempt to market fed
stuff in competition with range stuff.
It seems this year that late feeding
pays well. Late feeding usually
means long feeding. II one starts
with light feeders a long feed may be
right. Ordinarily, one should sell
when the stuff is fat regardless of the
market
Corn and alfalfa compose the ration
by which all other rations are meas
ured. Had we corn in abundance we
probably would never try out anything
else. But We have not the corn. hence
we try other grains. Wheat and oats
with alfalfa have produced good gains.
Beets and beet tops have proven val
liable. Barley yields well and ana
lyzes nearer like corn than the other
small grains. At the Utah Expert
ment station feeding tests are made