EWE AND LAMBS.
EWE AND LAMBS.
The ewe goes with young about five months, varying from one hundred and forty-five to one hundred and sixty-two days. Pregnant ewes require the same food as at all other times. Until two or three weeks preceding lambing, it is only necessary that they, like other store-sheep, be kept in good, plump, ordinary condition; nor are any separate arrangements necessary for them after that period, in a climate where they obtain sufficient succulent food to provide for a proper secretion of milk. In backward seasons in the North, where the grass does not start prior to the lambing-time, careful farmers feed their ewes on chopped roots, or roots mixed with oat and pea-meal, which is excellent economy. Caution is, however, necessary toprevent injury or abortion, which is often the result of excessive fat, feebleness, or disease. The first may be remedied by blood-letting and spare diet; and both the last by restored health and generous food. Sudden frights, as from dogs or strange objects; long or severe journeys, great exertions, unwholesome food, blows in the region of the fœtus, and some other causes, produce abortion.
Lambs are usually dropped, in the North, from the first to the fifteenth of May; in the South, they can safely come earlier. It is not expedient to have them dropped when the weather is cold or boisterous, as they require too much care; but the sooner the better, after the weather has become mild, and the herbage has started sufficiently to give the ewes that green food which is required to produce a plentiful secretion of milk. It is customary, in the North, to have fields of clover, or the earliest grasses, reserved for the early spring-feed of the breeding-ewes; and, if these can be contiguous to their stables, it is a great convenience—for the ewes should be confined in the latter, on cold and stormy nights, during the lambing season.
If the weather be warm and pleasant, and the nights moderately warm, it is better to have the lambing take place in the pasture; since sheep are then more disposed to own their lambs, and take kindly to them, than in the confusion of a small inclosure. In the latter, sheep, unless particularly docile, crowd from one side to another when any one enters, running over young lambs, pressing them severely, etc.; ewes become separated from their lambs, and then run violently round from one to another, jostling and knocking them about; young and timid ewes, when so separated, will frequentlyneglect their lambs for an hour or more before they will again approach them, while, if the weather is severely cold, the lamb, if it has never sucked, is in danger of perishing. Lambs, too, when first dropped in adirtyinclosure, tumble about, in their first efforts to rise, and the membrane which adheres to them becomes smeared with dirt and dung; and the ewe’s refusing to lick them dry much increases the hazard of freezing.
In cold storms, however, and in sudden and severe weather, all this must be encountered; and, therefore, every shepherd should teach his sheep docility. It requires but a very moderately cold night to destroy the new-born Saxon lamb, which—the pure blood—is dropped nearly as naked as a child. During a severely cold period, of several days continuance, it is almost impossible to rear them, even in the best shelter. The Merino, South-Down, and some other breeds, will endure a greater degree of cold with impunity. Where inclosures are used for yeaning, they should be kept clean by frequent litterings of straw—not enough, however, to be thrown on at any one time, to embarrass the lamb about rising.
The predisposing symptoms of lambing are, enlargement and reddening of the parts under the tail, and drooping of the flanks. The more immediate are, when the ewe stretches herself frequently; separating herself from her companions; exhibiting restlessness by not remaining in one place for any length of time; lying down and rising up again, as if dissatisfied with the place; pawing the ground with a forefoot; bleating, as if in quest of a lamb; and appearing fond of the lambs of other ewes. In a very few hours, or even shorter time after the exhibition of these symptoms, the immediatesymptom of lambing is the expulsion of the bag of water from thevagina. When this is observed, the ewe should be narrowly watched, for the pains of labor may be expected to come on immediately. When these are felt by her, the ewe presses or forces with earnestness, changing one place or position for another, as if desirous of relief.
The ewe does not often require mechanical assistance in parturition. Her labors will sometimes be prolonged for three or four hours, and her loud moanings will evince the extent of her pain. Sometimes she will go about several hours, and even resume her grazing, with the fore-feet and nose of the lamb protruding at the mouth of thevagina. If let alone, however, Nature will generally relieve her. In case of a false parturition of the fœtus—which is comparatively rare—the shepherd may apply his thumb and finger, after oiling, to push back the lamb, and assist in gently turning it till the nose and fore-feet appear. Where feebleness in expelling the fœtus exists, only the slightest aid should be rendered, and that to help the throes of the dam. The objection to interfering—except as a last resort—is, that the ewe is frightened when caught, and her efforts to expel the lamb cease. When aided, in any case, the gentlest force should be applied, and only in conjunction with the efforts of the ewe. The clearing, orplacenta, generally drops from the ewe in the course of a very short time—in many cases, within a few minutes—after lambing. It should be carried away, and not allowed to lie upon the lambing-pound.
Common kale, or curly-greens, is excellent food for ewes that have lambed, as its nutritive matter, being mucilaginous, is wholly soluble in water, and beneficial in encouraging thenecessary discharges of the ewe at the time of lambing. In these respects, it is a better food than Swedish turnips—upon which sheep are sometimes fed—which become rather too fibrous and astringent, in spring, for the secretion of milk. In the absence of kale or cabbage, a little oil-cake will aid the discharges and purify the body. New grass also operates medicinally upon the system.
While the lamb is tumbling about and attempting to rise—the ewe, meanwhile, licking it dry—it is well to be in no haste to interfere. A lamb that gets at the teat without help, and procures even a small quantity of milk, knows how to help itself afterward, and rarely perishes. If helped, it sometimes continues to expect it, and will do little for itself for two or three days. The same is true where lambs are fed from a spoon or bottle.
But if the lamb ceases to make efforts to rise—especially if the ewe has left off licking it while it is wet and chilly—it is time to render assistance. It is not advisable to throw the ewe down—as is frequently practised—in order to suckle the lamb; because instinct teaches the latter to point its noseupwardin search of the teats. It is, therefore, doubly difficult to teach it to suck from the bag of the prostrate ewe; and when it is taught to do this, by being so suckled several times, it is awkward about finding the teat in the natural position, when it begins to stand and help itself. Carefully disengaging the ewe from her companions, with his crook—which useful article will be hereafter described—the assistant should place one hand before the neck and the other behind thebuttocks of the ewe, and then, pressing her against his knees, he should hold her firmly and still, so that she will not be constantly crowding away from the shepherd, who should set the lamb on its feet, inducing it to stand, if possible; if not, supporting iton its feetby placing one hand under its body; put its mouth to the teat, and encourage it to suck by tickling it about the roots of the tail, flanks, etc., with a finger. The lamb, mistaking this last for the caresses of its dam, will redouble its efforts to suck. Sometimes it will manifest great dullness, and even apparent obstinacy, in refusing for a long time to attempt to assist itself, crowding backward, etc.; but the kind and gentle shepherd, who will not sink himself to the level of brute, by resenting the stupidity of a brute, will generally carry the point by perseverance. Sometimes milking a little into the lamb’s mouth, holding the latter close to the teat, will induce it to take hold.
If the ewe has no milk, the lamb should be fed, until the natural supply commences, with small quantities of the milk of anew-milchcow. This should be mixed, say half and half, with water, with enough molasses to give it the purgative effect of the first milk, gently warmed to the natural heat—not scalded and suffered to cool—and then fed through a bottle with a sponge in the opening of it, which the lamb shouldsuck, if it can be induced so to do. If the milk is poured in its mouth from a spoon or bottle, it is frequently difficult, as before stated, to induce it to suck. Moreover, unless milk is poured into the mouth slowly and with care—no faster than the lamb can swallow—a speedy wheezing, the infallible precursor of death, will show that a portion of the fluid hasbeen forced into the lungs. Lambs have been frequently killed in this way.
If a lamb becomes chilled, it should be wrapped in a woollen blanket, placed in a warm room, and given a little milk as soon as it will swallow. A trifle of pepper is sometimes placed in the milk, and with good effect, for the purpose of rousing the cold and torpid stomach into action. In New England, under such circumstances, the lamb is sometimes “baked,” as it is called—that is, put in a blanket in a moderately-heated oven, until warmth and animation are restored; others immerse it in tepid water, and subsequently rub it dry, which is said to be an excellent method where the lamb is nearly frozen. A good blanket however, a warm room, and sometimes, perhaps, a little gentle friction will generally suffice.
If a strong ewe, with a good bag of milk, chance to lose her lamb, she should be required to bring up one of some other ewe’s twins, or the lamb of some feeble or young ewe, having an inadequate supply of milk. Her own lamb should be skinned as soon as possible after death, and the skin sewed over the lamb which she is to foster. She will sometimes be a little suspicious for a day or two; and if so, she should be kept in a small pen with the lamb, and occasionally looked to. After she has taken well to it, the false skin may be removed in three or four days. If no lamb is placed on a ewe which lost her lamb, and which has a full bag of milk, the milk should be drawn from the bag once or twice, or garget may ensue; even if this is not the result, permanent indurations, or other results of inflammatory action, will take place, injuring the subsequent nursing properties of the animal.When milked, it is well to wash the bag for some time in cold water, since it checks the subsequent secretions of milk, as well as allays inflammation.
Sometimes a young ewe, though exhibiting sufficient fondness for her lamb, will not stand for it to suck; and in this case, if the lamb is not very strong and persevering, and particularly if the weather is cold, it soon grows weak, and perishes. The conduct of the dam, in such instances, is occasioned by inflammatory action about the bag or teats, and perhaps somewhat by the novelty of her position. In this case, the sheep should be caught and held until the lamb has exhausted her bag, and there will not often be any trouble afterward; though it may be well enough to keep them in a pen together until the fact is determined.
Such pens—necessary in a variety of cases other than those mentioned—need not exceed eight or ten feet square, and should be built of light materials, and fastened together at the corners, so that they can be readily moved by one man, or, at the most, two, from place to place, where they are wanted. Their position should be daily shifted, when sheep are in them, for cleanliness and fresh feed. Light pine poles laid up like a fence, and each nailed and pegged to the lower ones at the corners, or laid on, are quite serviceable. Two or three sides of a few of them should be wattled with twigs, and the tops partly covered, in order to shield feeble lambs from cold rains, piercing winds, and the like.
Young lambs are subject to what is commonly known as “pinning”—that is, their first excrements are so adhesive and tenacious that the orifice of the anus is closed, and subsequent evacuations prevented. The adhering matter, in such cases,should be entirely removed, and the part rubbed with a little dry clay, to prevent subsequent adhesion. Lambs will frequently perish from this cause, if not looked to for the first few days.
The ewes and their young ought to be divided into small flocks, and have a frequent change of pasture. Some careful shepherds adopt the plan of confining their lambs, allowing them to suck two or three times a day. By this method they suffer no fatigue, and thrive much faster. It is, however, troublesome as well as injurious, since the exercise is essential to the health and constitution of the lamb intended for rearing. It is admissible only when they are wanted for an early market; and with those who rear them for this purpose it is a common practice.
Where there are orphans or supernumeraries in the flock, the deserted lambs must be brought up by hand. Such animals, called pet lambs, are supported on cow’s milk, which they receive warm from the cows each time they are milked, and as much as they can drink. In the intervals of meals, in bad weather, they are kept under cover; in good weather they are put into a grass enclosure during the day, and sheltered at night until the nights become warm. They are fed by hand out of a small vessel, which should contain as much milk as it is known each can drink. They are first taught to drink out of the vessel with the fingers, like a calf, and as soon as they can hold a finger steady in the mouth, a small tin tube, about three inches in length, and of the thickness of a goose-quill, should be covered with several folds of linen, sewed tightly on, to use as a substitute for a teat, by means of which they will drink their allowance of milk with great ease andquickness. A goose-quill would answer the same purpose, were it not easily squeezed together by the mouth. When the same person feeds the lambs—and this should be the dairy-maid—they soon become attached to her, and desire to follow her everywhere; but to prevent their bleating, and to make them contented, an apron or a piece of cloth, hung on a stake or bush in the inclosure, will keep them together.
It is much better for the lambs and for their dams that they beweanedfrom three and a half to four months old. When taken away, they should be put for several days in a field distant from the ewes, that they may not hear each other’s bleatings, as the lambs, when in hearing of their dams, continue restless much longer, and make constant and, frequently, successful efforts to crawl through the fences which separate them. One or two tame old ewes are turned into the field with them, to teach them to come at the call, find salt when thrown to them, and eat out of troughs when winter approaches.
When weaned, the lambs should be put on the freshest and tenderest grass—rich, sweet food, but not too luxuriant. The grass and clover, sown the preceding spring, on grain-fields seeded down, is often reserved for them. The dams, on the contrary, should be put for a fortnight on short, dry feed, to stop the flow of milk. They should be looked to after a day or two, and if the bags of any are found much distended, the milk should be drawn away, and the bags washed for a little time in cold water. On short feed, they rarely give much trouble in this respect. When thoroughly dried off, they should have the best fare, to enable them to recover condition for subsequent breeding and wintering. The fall is a critical period in which to lose flesh, either for sheep or lambs; andif any are found deficient, they should at once be provided with extra feed and attention. If cold weather overtake them, poor or in ill health, they will scarcely outlive it; or if by chance they survive, their emaciated carcass, impaired constitution, and scant fleece will ill repay the food and attention they will have cost.
Some breeders advocate castration in a day or two after birth, while others will not allow the operation to be performed until the lamb is a month old. The weight of authority, however, is in favor of any time between two and six weeks after birth, when the creature has attained some strength, and the parts have not become too rigid. In such circumstances, the best English breeders recommend from ten to fifteen days old as the proper time. A lamb of a day old cannot be confirmed in all the functions of its body, and, indeed, in many instances, the testicles can then scarcely be found. At a month old, on the other hand, the lamb may be so fat, and the weather so warm, that the operation may be attended with febrile action. Dry, pleasant weather should be selected for this: a cool day, if possible; if warm, it should be done early in the morning.
Castration is a simple and safe process. Let a man hold a lamb with its back pressed firmly against his breast and stomach, and all four legs gathered in front in his hands. Cut off the bottom of the pouch, free the testicle from the inclosing membrane, and then draw it steadily out, or clip the cord with a knife if it does not snap off at a proper distance from the testicle. Some shepherds draw both testicles at once withtheir teeth. It is usual to drop a little salt into the pouch. Where the weather is very warm, some touch the end of the pouch with an ointment, consisting of tar, lard, and turpentine. As a general thing, however, the animal will do as well without any application.
The object ofdockingis to keep the sheep behind clean from filth and vermin; since the tail, if left on, is apt to collect filth, and, if the animal purges, becomes an intolerable nuisance. The tail, however, should not be docked too short, since it is a protection against cold in winter. This operation is by many deferred till a late period, from apprehension of too much loss of blood; but, if the weather be favorable and the lamb in good condition, it may be performed at the same time as castration with the least trouble and without injury.
The tail should be laid upon a plank, the animal being held in the same position as before. With one hand the skin is drawn toward the body, while another person, with a two-inch chisel and mallet, strikes it off at a blow, between the bone-joints, leaving it from one and a half to two inches long. The skin immediately slips back over the wound, which is soon healed. Should bleeding continue—as, however, rarely happens—so long as to sicken the lamb, a small cord should be tied firmly round the end of the tail; but this must not be allowed to remain on above twenty-four hours, as the points of the tail would slough off. Ewe lambs should be docked closer than rams. To prevent flies and maggots, and assist in healing, it is well to apply an ointment composed of lard and tar, in the proportion of four pounds of the former to one quart of the latter. The lambs should be carefully protected from cold and wet till they are perfectly well.
Feeding and Management
As soon as the warm weather approaches and the grass appears, sheep become restive and impatient for the pasture. This instinct should be repressed till the ground has become thoroughly dry, and the grass has acquired substance. They ought, moreover, to be provided for the change of food by the daily use of roots for a few days before turning out. The tendency to excessive purging which is induced by the first spring-feed,may be checked by housing them at night and feeding them for the first few days with a little sound, sweet hay. They must be provided with pure water and salt; for, though they may do tolerably well without either, yet thrift and freedom from disease are cheaply secured by this slight attention.
As towater, it may be said that it is not indispensable in the summer pastures, since the dews and the succulence of the feed answer as a substitute; but a wide experience having demonstrated that free access to it is advantageous, particularly to those having lambs, it should be considered a matter of importance on a sheep-farm so to arrange the pastures, if possible, as to bring water into each of them.
A Covered Salting BoxA COVERED SALTING BOX.
A COVERED SALTING BOX.
Saltis indispensable to the health, especially in the summer. It is common to give it once a week, while they are at grass. It is still better to give them free access to it, at all times, by keeping it in a covered box, open on one side, as in the engraving annexed. A large hollow log, with holes cut along the side for the insertion of the heads of the animals, answers very well. A sheep having free access to salt at all times will never eat too much of it; and it will take its supply at such times and in such quantities as Nature demands, instead of eating of it voraciously at stated periods, as intermediate abstinence will stimulate it to do. When salt is fed but once a week, it is better to have a stated day, sothat it will not be forgotten; and it is well to lay the salt on flat stones—though if laid in little handfuls on the grass, very little of it will be lost.
Tar.This is supposed by many to form a very healthful condiment for sheep, and they smear the nose with it, which is licked and swallowed as the natural heat of the flesh, or that of the weather, causes it to trickle down over the nostrils and lips. Others, suffering the flock to get unusually salt-hungry, place tar upon flat stones, or in troughs, and then scatter salt upon it so that both may be consumed together. Applied to the nose, in the nature of a cataplasm, it may be advantageous in catarrhs; and in the same place, at the proper periods, its odor may, perhaps, repel the fly, the eggs of which produce the “gout in the head,” as it is termed. However valuable it may be as a medicine, and even as a debergent in the case specified, there is but slight ground for confidence in it merely as a condiment.
Dry,sweet pastures, and such as abound in aromatic and bitter plants, are best suited for sheep-walks. No animal, with the exception of the goat, crops so great a variety of plants. They eat many which are rejected by the horse and the ox, which are even essential to their own wants. In this respect they are valuable assistants to the husbandman, as they feed greedily on wild mustard, burdock, thistles, marsh-mallows, milk-weed, and various other offending plants; and the Merino exceeds the more recent breeds in the range of his selections.
In pastures, however, where the dry stalks of the burdock, or the hound’s-tongue, or tory-weed have remained standing over the winter, the burs are caught in the now long wool,and, if they are numerous, the wool is rendered entirely unmarketable and almost valueless. Even the dry prickles of the common and Canada thistles, where they are very numerous, get into the neck-wool of sheep, as they thrust their heads under and among them to crop the first scarce feed of the northern spring; and, independently of injuring the wool, they make it difficult to wash and otherwise handle the sheep. Indeed, it is a matter of the soundest policy to keep sheep on the cleanest pastures, those free from these and similar plants; and in a region where they are pastured the year round, they should be kept from contact with them for some months prior to shearing.
Many prepareartificial pasturesfor their flocks, which may be done with a number of plants. Winter rye, or wheat sown early in the season, may be fed off in the fall, without injury to the crop; and, in the following spring, the rye may be pastured till the stalks shoot up and begin to form a head. This affords an early and nutritious food. Corn may be sown broadcast, or thickly in drills, and either fed off in the fields or cut and carried to the sheep in their folds. White mustard is also a valuable crop for this purpose.
To give sheep sufficient variety, it is betterto divide their rangeinto several smaller ones, and change them as often, at least, as once a week. They seek a favorite resting-place, on a dry, elevated part of the field, which soon becomes soiled. By removing them from this for a few days, rain will cleanse or the sun dry it, so as to make it again suitable for them. More sheep may be kept, and in better condition, where this practice is adopted, than where they are confined to the same pasture.
Shade.No one who has observed with what eagerness sheep seek shade in hot weather, and how they pant and apparently suffer when a hot sun is pouring down upon their nearly naked bodies, will doubt that, both as a matter of humanity and utility, they should be provided, during the hot summer-months, with a better shelter than that afforded by a common rail-fence. Forest trees are the most natural and the best shades, and it is as contrary to utility as it is to good taste to strip them entirely from the sheep-walks. A strip of stone-wall or close board fence on the south and west sides of the pasture, forms a tolerable substitute for trees. But in the absence of all these and of buildings of any kind, a shade can be cheaply constructed of poles and brush, in the same manner as the sheds of the same materials for winter shelter, which will be hereafter described.
Fences.Poorfenceswill teach ewes and wethers, as well as rams, to jump; and for a jumping flock there is no remedy but immoderately high fences, or extirpation. One jumper will soon teach the trick to a whole flock; and if one by chance is brought in, it should be immediately hoppled or killed. The last is by far the surest and safest remedy.
Hopplingis done by sewing the ends of a leather strap, broad at the extremities, so that it will not cut into the flesh, to a fore and hind leg, just above the pastern joints, leaving the legs at about the natural distance apart.Cloggingis fastening a billet of wood to the fore leg by a leather strap.Yokingis fastening two rams two or three feet apart, by bows around their necks, inserted in a light piece of timber, some two or three inches in size.Pokingis done by inserting a bow in a short bit of light timber, into which bit—worn on theunder side of the neck—a rod is inserted, which projects a couple of feet in front of the sheep.
These and similar devices, to prevent rams from scaling fences, may be employed as a last resort by those improvident farmers who prefer, by such troublesome, injurious, and, at best, insecure means, to guard against that viciousness which they might so much more easily have prevented from being acquired.
Dangerous rams. From being teased and annoyed by boys, or petted and played with when young, and sometimes without any other stimulant than a naturally vicious temper, rams occasionally become very troublesome by their propensity to attack men or cattle. Some will allow no man to enter the field where they are without making an immediate onset upon him; while others will knock down the ox or horse which presumes to dispute a lock of hay with them. A ram which is known to have acquired this propensity should at once behooded, and, if not valuable, at the proper season converted into a wether. But the courage thus manifested is usually the concomitant of great strength and vigor of constitution, and of a powerfully developed frame. If good in other particulars, it is a pity to lose the services of so valuable an animal. In such cases, they may be hooded, by covering their faces with leather in such a manner that they can only see a little backward and forward. They must then, however, be kept apart from the flock of rams, or they will soon be killed or injured by blows, which they cannot see to escape.
It sometimes happens that a usually quiet-tempered ram will suddenly exhibit some pugnacity when one is salting or feeding the flock. If such a person turns to run, he isimmediately knocked down, and the ram learns, from that single lesson, the secret of his mastery, and the propensity to exercise it. As the ram gives his blow from the summit of the parietal and the posterior portion of the frontal bones onthe topof his head, and not from the forehead, he is obliged to crouch his head so low when he makes his onset that he does not see forward well enough to swerve suddenly from his right line, and a few quick motions to the right and left enable one to escape him. Run in upon him, as he dashes by, with pitch-fork, club, or boot-heel, and punish him severely by blows about the head, if the club is used, giving him no time to rally until he is thoroughly cowed. This may be deemed harsh treatment, and likely to increase the viciousness of the animal. Repeated instances have, however, proved the contrary; and if the animal once is forced to acknowledge that he is overcome, he never forgets the lesson.
Prairie feeding.Sheep, when destined for the prairies, ought to commence their journey as early after the shearing as possible, since they are then disencumbered of their fleece, and do not catch and retain as much dust as when driven later; feed is also generally better, and the roads are dry and hard. Young and healthy sheep should be selected, with early lambs; or, if the latter are too young, and the distance great, they should be left, and the ewes dried off. A large wagon ought to accompany the flock, to carry such as occasionally give out; or they may be disposed of whenever they become enfeebled. With good care, a hardy flock may be driven at the rate of twelve or fourteen miles a day. Constant watchfulness is requisite, in order to keep them healthy and in goodplight. One-half the expense of driving may be saved by the use of well-trained shepherd-dogs.
When arrived at their destination, they must be thoroughly washed, to free them from all dirt, and closely examined as to any diseases which they may have contracted, that these may be promptly removed. A variety of suitable food and good shelter must be provided for the autumn, winter, and spring ensuing, and every necessary attention given to them. This would be necessary if they were indigenous to the country; but it is much more so when they have just undergone a campaign to which neither they nor their race have been accustomed.
Sheep cannot be kept on the prairies without much care, artificial food, and proper attention; and losses have often occurred, by reason of a false system of economy attempted by many, from disease and mortality in the flocks, amply sufficient to have made a generous provision for the comfort and security of twice the number lost. More especially do they require proper food and attention after the first severe frosts set in, which wither and kill the natural grasses. By nibbling at the bog—the frostbitten, dead grass—they are inevitably subject to constipation, which a bountiful supply of roots, sulphur, etc., is alone sufficient to remove.
Roots, grain, good hay, straw, corn-stalks, and pea or bean-vines are essential to the preservation of their health and thrift during the winter, everywhere north of thirty-nine degrees. In summer, the natural herbage is sufficient to sustain them in fine condition, till they shall have acquired a denser population of animals, when it will be found necessaryto stock their meadows with the best varieties of artificial grasses.
The prairies seem adapted to the usual varieties of sheep introduced into the United States; and of such are the flocks made up, according to the taste or judgment of the owners. Shepherd dogs are invaluable to the owners of flocks, in these unfenced, illimitable ranges, both as a defence against the small prairie wolves, which prowl around the sheep, but have been rapidly thinned off by the settlers, and also as assistants to the shepherds in driving and herding their flocks on the open ground.
Fall feeding.In the North, the grass often gets very short by the tenth or fifteenth of November, and it has lost most of its nutritiousness from repeated freezing and thawing. At this time, although no snow may have fallen, it is best to give the sheep a light, daily foddering of bright hay, and a few oats in the bundle. Given thus for the ten or twelve days which precede the covering of the ground by snow, fodder pays for itself as well as at any other time during the year. It is well to feed oats in the bundle, or threshed oats, about a gill to the head, in the feeding-troughs, carried to the field for that purpose.
Winter feeding.The time for taking sheep from the pastures must depend on the state of the weather and food. Severe frosts destroy much of the nutriment in the grasses, and they soon after cease to afford adequate nourishment. Long exposure to cold storms, with such food to sustain them, will rapidly reduce the condition of these animals. The only safe rule is to transfer them to their winter-quarters the first day they cease to thrive abroad.
There is no better food for sheep than well-ripened, sound Timothy hay; though the clovers and nearly all the cultivated grasses may be advantageously fed. Hundreds and thousands of northern flocks receive, during the entire winter, nothing but ordinary hay, consisting mainly of Timothy, some red and white clover, and frequently a sprinkling of gum, or spear grass. Bean and pea straw are valuable, especially the former, which, if properly cured, they prefer to the best hay; and it is well adapted to the production of wool. Where hay is the principal feed, it may be well, where it is convenient, to give corn-stalks every fifth or sixth feed, or even once a day; or the daily feed, not of hay, might alternate between stalks, pea-straw, straws of the cereal grains, etc. It is mainly a question of convenience with the farmer, provided a proper supply of palatable nutriment within a proper compass is given. It would not, however, be entirely safe to confine any kind of sheep to the straw of the cereal grains, unless it were some of those little hardy varieties of animals which would be of no use in this country.
The expediency of feedinggrainto store-sheep in winter depends much on circumstances. If in a climate where they can obtain a proper supply of grass or other green esculents, it would, of course, be unnecessary; nor is it a matter of necessity where the ground is frozen or covered with snow for weeks or months, provided the sheep be plentifully supplied with good dry fodder. Near markets where the coarser grains find a quick sale at fair prices, it is not usual, in the North, to feed grain. Remote from markets it is generally fed by the holders of large flocks. Oats are commonly preferred, and they are fed at the rate of a gill a head per day. Some feedhalf the same amount of yellow corn. Fewer sheep, particularly lambs and yearlings, get thin and perish where they receive a daily feed of grain; they consume less hay, and their fleeces are increased in weight. On the whole, therefore, it is considered good economy. Where no grain is fed, three daily feeds of hay are given. The smaller sizes of the Saxon may be well sustained on two pounds of hay; but larger sheep will consume from three and a half to four or even five pounds per day. Sheep, in common with all other animals, when exposed to cold, will consume much more than if well protected, or during a warmer season.
It is a common and very good practice to feed greenish cut oats in the bundle, at noon, and give but two feeds of hay, one at morning and one at night. Some feed greenish cut peas in the same way. In warm, thawing weather, when sheep get to the ground and refuse dry hay, a little grain assists materially in keeping up their strength and condition. When the feed is shortest in winter, in the South, there are many localities where sheep can get enough grass to take off their appetite for dry hay, but not quite enough to keep them in prime order. A moderate daily feed of oats or pease, placed in the depository racks, would keep them strong and in good plight for the lambing season, and increase their weight of wool.
Few Northern farmers feedIndian cornto store-sheep, as it is considered too hot and stimulating, and sheep are thought to become more liable to become “cloyed” on it than on oats, pease, etc. Yellow corn is not generally judged a very safe feed for lambs and yearlings. Store-sheep should be kept in good, fair, plump condition. Lambs and yearlings maybe as fat as they will become on proper feeding. It is stated that sheep will eatcotton-seed, and thrive on it.
It must be remembered that sheep are not to be allowed to get thin during the winter, with the idea that their condition can at any time be readily raised by better feed, as with the horse or ox. It is always difficult, and, unless properly managed, expensive and hazardous, to attempt to raise the condition of a poor flock in the winter, especially if they have reached that point where they manifest weakness. If the feeding of a liberal allowance of grain be suddenly commenced, fatal diarrhœa will often supervene. All extra feeding, therefore, must be begun very gradually; and it does not appear, in any case, to produce proportionable results.
Roots, such as ruta-bagas, Irish potatoes, and the like, make a good substitute for grain, or as extra feed for grown sheep. The ruta-baga is preferable to the potato in its equivalents of nutriment. No root, however, is as good for lambs and yearlings as an equivalent of grain. Sheep may be taught to eat nearly all the cultivated roots. This is done by withholding salt from them, and then feeding the chopped roots a few times, rubbed with just sufficient salt to induce them to eat the root to obtain it; but not enough to satisfy their appetite for salt before they have acquired a taste for the roots.
It is customary with some farmers to cut down, from time to time in the winter, and draw into the sheep-yards, young trees of thehemlock, whose foliage is greedily eaten by the sheep, after being confined for some time to dry feed. This browse is commonly used, like tar, for some supposed medicinal virtues. It is pronounced “healthy” for sheep. Much thesame remarks might be made about this as have been already made concerning tar. No tonics and stimulants are needed for a healthy animal. If the foliage of the hemlock were constantly accessible to them, there would be no possible objection to their eating it, since their instincts, in that case, would teach them whether, and in what quantities, to devour it; but when entirely confined to dry feed for a protracted period, sheep will consume injurious and even poisonous succulents, and of the most wholesome ones, hurtful quantities. As a merelaxative, an occasional feed of hemlock may be beneficial; though, in this point of view, a day’s run at grass, in a thaw, or a feed of roots, would produce the same result. In a climate where grass is procurable most of the time, browse for medicinal purposes is entirely unnecessary.
Sheep undoubtedly requiresaltin winter. Some salt their hay when it is stored in the barn or stack. This is objectionable, since the appetite of the sheep is much the safest guide in the premises. It may be left accessible to them in the salt-box, as in summer; or an occasional feed of grined hay or straw may be given them in warm, thawing weather, when their appetite is poor. This last is an excellent plan, and serves a double purpose. With a wisp of straw, sprinkle a thin layer of straw with brine, then another layer of straw, and another sprinkling, and so on. Let this lie until the next day, for the brine to be absorbed by the straw, and then feed it to all the grazing animals on the farm which need salting.
Wateris indispensable, unless sheep have access to succulent food, or clean snow. Constant access to a brook or spring is best; but, in default of this, they should be watered at leastonce a dayin some other way.
Feeding with other stock.Sheep should not run, or be fed,in yards, with any other stock. Cattle hook them, often mortally; and colts tease and frequently injure them. It is often said that “colts will pick up what sheep leave.” But well-managed sheep rarely leave any thing; and, if they chance so to do, it is better to rake it up and throw it into the colts’ yard, than to feed them together. If sheep are not required to eat their food pretty clean, they will soon learn to waste large quantities. If, however, they are over-fed with either hay or grain, it is not proper to compel them, by starvation, to come back and eat it. This they will not do, unless sorely pinched. Clean out the troughs, or rake up the hay, and the next time feed less.
Division of flocks.If flocks are shut up in small inclosures during winter, according to the northern custom, it is necessary to divide them into flocks of about one hundred each, consisting of sheep of about the same size and strength; otherwise, the stronger rob the weaker, and the latter rapidly decline. This is not so important where the sheep roam at large; but, even in that case, some division and classification are best. It is best, indeed, even in summer. The poorer and feebler can by this means receive better pasture, or a little more grain and better shelter in winter.
By those who grow wool to any extent, breeding ewes, lambs, and wethers, are invariably kept in separate flocks in winter; and it is best to keep yearling sheep by themselves with a few of the smallest two-year-olds, and any old crones which are kept for their excellence as breeders, but which cannot maintain themselves in the flock of breeding ewes.
Old and feeble or wounded sheep, late-born lambs, etc.,should be placed by themselves, even if the number be small, as they require better feed, warmer shelter, and more attention. Unless the sheep are of a peculiarly valuable variety, however, it is better to sell them off in the fall at any price, or to give them to some poor neighbor who has time to nurse them, and who may thus commence a flock.
Regularity in feeding.If any one principle in sheep husbandry deserves careful attention more than others, it is, thatthe utmost regularity must be preserved in feeding.
First, there should be regularity as tothe timesof feeding. However abundantly provided for, when a flock are foddered sometimes at one hour and sometimes at another—sometimes three times a day, and sometimes twice—some days grain, and some days none—they cannot be made to thrive. They will do far better on inferior keep, if fed with strict regularity. In a climate where they require hay three times a day, the best times for feeding are about sunrise in the morning, at noon, and an hour before dark at night. Unlike cattle and horses, sheep do not feed well in the dark; and, therefore, they should have time to consume their food before night sets in. Noon is the common time for feeding grain or roots, and is the best time, if but two fodderings of hay are given. If the sheep receive hay three times, it is not a matter of much consequence with which feeding grain is given, only that the practice be uniform.
Secondly, it is highly essential that there should be regularity inthe amountfed. The consumption of hay will, it is true, depend much upon the weather; the keener the cold, the more the sheep will eat. In the South, much depends upon the amount of grass obtained. In many places, a light, dailyfoddering supplies; in others, a light foddering placed in the depository racks once in two days, answers the purpose. In the steady cold weather of the North, the shepherd readily learns to determine about how much hay will be consumed before the next foddering time. And this amount should, as near as may be, be regularly fed. In feeding grain or roots, there is no difficulty in preserving entire regularity; and it is vastly more important than in feeding hay. Of the latter, a sheep will not over-eat and surfeit itself; of the former, it will. Even if it be not fed grain to the point of surfeiting, it will expect a like amount, however over-plenteous, at the next feeding; failing to receive which, it will pine for it, and manifest uneasiness. The effect of such irregularity on the stomach and system of any animal is bad; and the sheep suffers more from it than any other animal. It is much better that the flock receive no grain at all, than that they receive it without regard to regularity in the amount. The shepherd shouldmeasureout the grain to the sheep in all instances, instead ofguessingit out, and measure it to each separate flock.
Effect of food.Well-fed sheep, as has been previously remarked, produce more wool than poorly fed ones. No doctrine is more clearly recognized in agricultural chemistry than that animal tissues derive their chemical components from the same components existing in their food. Various analyses show that the chemical composition of wool, hair, hoofs, nails, horns, feathers, lean meat, blood, cellular tissue, nerves, etc., are nearly identical.
The organic part of wool, according to standard authorities, consists of carbon, 50.65; hydrogen, 7.03; nitrogen, 17.71; oxygen and sulphur, 24.61. The inorganic constituents are small. When burned, it leaves but a trifling per cent. of ash.The large quantity of nitrogen contained in wool shows that its production is increased by highly azotized food; and from various experiments made, a striking correspondence has been found to exist between the amount of wool and the amount of nitrogen in food.Peaserank first in increasing the wool, and very high in the average comparative increase which they produce in all the tissues.
The increase of fat and muscle, as of wool, depends upon the nature of the food. It is not very common, in the North, for wool-growers to fatten their wethers for market by extra winter feeding. Some give them a little more generous keep the winter before they are to be turned off, and then salt them when they have obtained their maximum fatness the succeeding fall.
Stall-feeding is lost on an ill-shaped, unthrifty animal. The perfection of form and health, and the uniform good condition which characterizes the thrifty one, indicate, too plainly to be misunderstood, those which will best repay the care of their owner. The selection of any indifferent animal for stall-fattening will inevitably be attended with loss. Such ought to be got rid of, when first brought from the pasture, for the wool they will bring.
When winter fattening is attempted, sheep require warm, dry shelters, and should receive, in addition to all the hay they will eat, meal twice a day in troughs—or meal once and chopped roots once. The equivalent of from half a pint to a pint of yellow corn meal per head each day is about as much as ordinary stocks of Merino wethers will profitably consume; though in selected flocks, consisting of large animals, this amount is frequently exceeded.
Experience has amply demonstrated that—in the climate of the Northern and Eastern States, where no grass grows from four to four and a half months in the winter, and where, therefore, all that can be obtained from the ground is the repeatedly frozen, unnutritious herbage left in the fall—it is better to keep sheep confined in yards, excepting where the ground is covered with snow. If suffered to roam over the fields at other times, they get enough grass to take away their appetite for dry hay, but not enough to sustain them; they fall away, and toward spring they become weak, and a large proportion of them frequently perish. Flocks of some size are here, of course, alluded to, and on properly stocked farms. A few sheep would do better with a boundless range.
Some let out their sheep occasionally for a single day, during a thaw; others keep them entirely from the ground until let out to grass in the spring. The former course is preferable where the sheep ordinarily get nothing but dry fodder. It affords a healthy laxative, and a single day’s grazing will not take off their appetite from more than one succeeding dry feed. It is necessary, in the North, to keep sheep in the yards until the feed has got a good start in the spring, or they will get off from their feed—particularly the breeding ewes—and get weak at the most critical time for them in the year.
Yards should be firm-bottomed, dry, and, in the northern climate, kept well littered with straw. The yarding system is not practised to any great extent in the South; nor should it be, where sheep can get their living from the fields.
When the ground is frozen, and especially when covered with snow, the sheep eats hay well on the ground; but when the land is soft, muddy, or foul with manure, they will scarcely touch hay placed on it—or, if they do, will tread much of it into the mud, in their restlessness while feeding. It should then be fed in racks, which are more economical, even in the first-named case; since, when the hay is fed on the ground, the leaves and seeds, the most valuable part of the fodder, are almost wholly lost.