Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-12-22
nd Management Of Sheep

'nal Harvester Coz
Hints ON sheep Raising.
In a. talk on sheep raising, Mr..
Kleinheinz. a practical shepherd, gave
the following valuable information/on
the care Of sheep:
Flush your ewes at breeding time.
Rape, cabbage or roots are the feeds
Iitiprefer for this purpose. but when
theses annot be had suse-a lightsgratn
Both ram and W should be in q
thrifty, gaining condition at breeding
time in order. to, insure a high per-
centage Of lambs. See that the ewes
are properly tagged before turning
the ram with them. Allow not more
than fifty-five Or sixty ewes TO a ram.
Always keep them dry and out Of
of exercise at all times. After the
ewes are bred, start them on a light
grain ration-not more than one-half
pound-made up of equal parts-of
bran and whole oats. Feed clover hay
and something of succulent nature,
such as roots or silage. Some sucou-:
lent feed is very essential in ordsrsto
keep the ewes open and guard a61tnst
constipation. At the same timas,tkasyttll
not~dosi to feed too much softasffeeds
or 1t will have a tendency to produoa
soft, ffabby- lambs, with low vitality.
Never feed timothy hay where 1T
can be helped; y it is too dry, coarse,
and woody for sheep. Besides the
heads of Atimothy tend to collect in
the wool about the neck of thes sheep,
spelling the fleece to some extent for
sale purposes. Be sparing of such
J grains as corn, barley, w or oil meal
in excess. These grains are too fatten-
ing, besides they tend to cause sheep
to lose their wool before shearing
time. "N
''Two or three weeks before lamb
ing. time increase the grain ration to
about three-Quarters Of a pound III
order:tos encourage a large milk flow.
Feedslightly on grain for two or three
days after lambing. Never under any,
circumstances let a eve lamb in
among the flock. When this is per-
mitted and twins are born the first
born wanders away and becomes mix
ed with the flock before the mother
has had a chance to own it. and the
chances are that later she will refuse
to have anything to do with it. :.
"Sheep having an; abundance Of
wool about the udder should be trim
! med so that the lamb will have no
difficulty in, finding the eat Do not
trim so much rs to expose the udder
unnecessarily and run the chance. Of
having the sheep take cold. Lambs
can be ,raised by hand upon cows
it is already lower in solids than ewes
milk. Feed every two n three hours
at, first until the lamb is a few days
old. The secret Of raising lambs by
hand Is in feed often and only a small
quantity at a time. OF course, see that
the milk is heated to the proper tenn
perature-about 80 degrees Fahren-
heit. l.
it Is a good idea to classify still furth-
er, putting all the ewes with singles
together and all those with twins to-
gether. Under proper care and man
agement the average lamb crop should
be about 125 per cent.
"At eight to ten days of age lambs
! will begin to eat. At this time q creep
should be built which will give them
access to a feed box containing grain,
and feed should always be kept sweet
and Clean. A good grain ration for.
lambs might be made as follows: Mix
One-third part of oil meal with one
part each of BRAN, oats and fine corn
meal. Red clover hay of the second
cutting. or alfalfa hay, are the most
desirable forms Of roughage. OF the.
two. alfalfa is much to be preferred.
1t is a good idea to keep up thu grain
feed right along until the lambsrare
sent to market. By so doing the lambs
are kept fat all the time and are ready
to be turned into cash on short notice
should the market take a sudden rise.
Furthermore, it has been found iljy
trial at the Wisconsin station that
lambs fed grain continuously have re-
turned a. net profit twice as great as
in the case of lambs not SO, fed. 1t is
not uncommon for lambs of the for
mer class to make a weekly gain of
three and one-half pounds. as against
two and one-half pounds in the case
OF lambs receiving nc grain up to the
time they are turned into the feed
yard.
With the return of grass, sheep
and lambs will be sent out. to pasture.
Do not make the change from dry
reed to grass to abrupt or you will
set n sheep to securing. NeveryalloW
sheep to u on a low. wet pasture.
as this is sure to invite foot rot. Trim
the hoofs Of the sheep at least twice
annually, This will keep themestfairht
on their legs and prevent foot rot.
Keep the ewes clear Of all fflthtness
at the rear or you may have trouble
with maggots. II these pests get start
ed in spite of you, shear the AFFECTED
parts closely and wash with a solu-
ton of sheep dip. Never use turpen-
tine. which is altogether u-nnecessar
cruelty, and prevents rapid healing.
About ten or twelve days after
shearing dip the whole flock to kill
ticks and destroy any other sktn dis
ease tina may be present. At this time
almost all the ticks have Jeff the
sheep and are on the lambs, so it in
especially necessary to dip the lambs
Grub in the head can be largely pre-
vented by smearing the salt trough
with pine tar, 30 that the sheep az IL
ncks the salt, daubs its nose with,
tar, which has the effect Of drfvfnr
away the flies which cause the erub'
One Of the greatest drawbacks to the
sheep industry in Wisconsin is the
ravage due to dogs. Let US hope that
our legislature will act fayorablv. on
z BILL which provides that All dor.
shall be licensed TO furnish 4 raief
fund to pay for DAMAGE done -
docks by the raids. Of worthless curs."
-. ~
- E----- ---- 7---