Chapter XII: Section II: The Sheep

The management of sheep varies greatly--depending upon the breeds of the animal, the localities in which they are reared and fattened, and various economic conditions. The tupping season varies of course with the country: in Ireland it commences about the middle of September and lasts for two months; in England and parts of Scotland, the season is about a month earlier. The best kinds of sheep admit of being very early put to breed. Both ram and ewe are ready for this purpose when about fifteen months old. One ram is sufficient for about 80 ewes. The breeding flock should be in a sound, healthy condition, and the ram ought to be as near perfection as possible. The condition of the sire ought to be good, but at the same time it is not desirable to have him over fat. The more striking indications of good health in the sheep are dry eyes, red gums, sound teeth, smooth, oily skin, and regular rumination. The color of the excreta should be natural.

_Breeding Ewes._--After the tupping season, which generally lasts for a month, the sheep are usually put on a pasture, which need not be very rich. In cold situations ample shelter should be afforded to the breeding flocks; and in severe weather they should, if possible, be removed to sheds. When snow covers the ground, the animals must be supplied with turnips, or cooked food of some kind. At such time a little oil-cake will be found very useful.

_Yeaning._--In March the yeaning season sets in; and as this time approaches, the food of the animals should be improved, and the greatest care must be taken of them. The shepherd should be unceasing in his watchfulness, frequently examining every individual animal. The lambing, if possible, ought to take place in sheds, or some covered place.

_Rearing of Lambs._--Delicate lambs require great care. Very weak ones often require to be hand fed. Should a mother die, her offspring may be placed with another ewe; on the other hand, should a lamb perish, its mother may be appointed to rear one of another ewe's twins (if such be available). The ram lambs, not intended for breeding purposes, are subjected to a necessary mutilation when they are about three weeks old. If this operation be performed later, there is great danger that fatal inflammatory action may set in; on the other hand, a lamb much younger than three weeks is hardly strong enough to bear the pain of the operation. The tails of the lambs are shortened about the same time; but it would be better in the case of the rams not to perform both operations on the same day. These operations are best performed during moist or cloudy weather; if they must be done on frosty or stormy days, the lambs should be kept under shelter for two or three days, as otherwise the cold might induce inflammation. The lambs remain with their mothers for about four months, after which they are weaned, and put upon a good pasture. When the herbage is poor, oil-cake, say 1/4 lb. daily, or some other nutritious food, should be used to supplement it. During the summer and part of the autumn the young stock, as a rule, subsist upon grass; but many flock-masters give them other kinds of food in addition. As winter approaches, the young sheep on tillage farms receive soft turnips, and sometimes a little hay or straw. The allowance of oil-cake may be increased to 1/2 lb., or if corn be cheap, it may be substituted for the oil-cake. After Christmas Swedish turnips are used.

Mr. Mechi gives the following information on the subject of rearing lambs during a season when roots are scarce:--

Two hundred lambs, which cost 22s. 6d. each on September 12th,
were kept on leas and stubble until November 3rd, then on
turnips until December 19th, when fifty of them were drafted to
another flock getting a little cotton-cake. On the 3rd of February
fatting commenced with linseed-cake in addition to cut Swedes. On
the 7th of April the fifty tegs were put on rye with mangels, and
they were sold on the 4th of May at 61s. each.

The remaining 150 lambs were wintered as stores at little cost,
on inferior turnips uncut; they were put on rye from March 8th
till May 4th, when they were valued at 48s. each.

The district just referred to became so exhausted of its stock,
that at some of the later fairs the number of lambs and of ewes
exhibited was less than one-fourth of the average. But in Essex,
on six adjoining farms, including that from which I write, the
number of sheep wintered has been greater than these heavy lands
ever carried before. This has been effected by the extension of
a system of management often practised on heavy land, that of
eking out a scanty supply of green food by a liberal allowance
of straw, chaff, and grain; which happily were good in quality,
as well as plentiful and low in price in 1864.

By these means we were enabled last winter to keep 1,500 sheep
on about 650 acres of arable, and 350 acres of dry upland
pasture--chiefly park surrounding a mansion. The arable land
does not very well bear folding in winter, as a preparation for
spring corn. Neither climate nor soil are favorable to turnips,
and notwithstanding our efforts in assisting Nature, our crops
of turnips, rape, or Swedes, are never first-rate, and sometimes
very bad. Strong stubbles, good beans, clover-seed, and mangel,
are the specialities of the locality, and they indicate heavy
land, corn-growing, and yard-feeding. Sheep have been generally
"conspicuous by their absence," though even the heavy-land farmer
is glad to winter a yard of them instead of cattle, that he may
keep some, at least, of the stock that pays best.

In the autumn of 1864 our root crops consisted of some white
turnips and rape, eaten by the ewes in September, and of a very
bad crop of mangel, the whole of which was reserved for the ewes
at lambing-time. In this predicament we wintered about 1,000
half-bred lambs, more than 400 ewes, and some fatting sheep.
All, except the fatting sheep, were folded on the stubbles, and
allowed a daily run on the park of about an hour for each flock.
The freshest grass was reserved for the ewes, and a very meagre
bite remained for the lambs; in fact, except for a few weeks
in autumn, the parks afforded them little or nothing except
exercise and water.

The flocks were divided between three separate farms, and their
food was prepared at the respective homesteads. The treatment
was in every respect similar; we shall therefore only notice in
detail the management at one farm.

The following details are taken from our "Live Stock Book:"--

EXTRACTS FROM STOCK BOOK.

_Lambs._

Payments. Remarks.

_November 4th, 1864._
L s. d.

352 lambs, cost at date, 30s. 9-1/2d. each 542 2 3 (a)
_Cost of keeping 24 weeks to April 21, 1865_:-- (b)
Corn and cake, as per granary book 245 16 9 (c)
Cutting 25 tons of chaff, at 6s. 7 13 0 (d)
Grinding 96 qrs. 6 bshls. of corn, at 9d. 3 12 6
Attendance, at 19s. 10d. per week 23 16 0 (e)
Horse labor, at 6s. per week 7 4 0
Coal, 3s. 2d. per week 3 16 0 (f)
Use of 21 troughs, at 3d. each per month 1 11 6 (g)
Use of 180 hurdles, at 1d. each per month 4 10 0
1-1/2 cwt. of rock salt 0 4 6
==========
L840 6 6

Remarks.

(a) Total cost of keeping 352 lambs for 24 weeks, L298 4s. 3d.
(b) Cost per head, 16s. 11d.
(c) Cost, food only, 14s. 11d.
(d) Value of the manure, reckoned at one-fifth the cost of the
corn and cake, L49 3s. 4d.
(e) Cost of the lambs, per head, L2 7s. 8d.
(f) Value of manure, per head, 2s. 10d.
(g) No charge made for the straw-chaff eaten on the land.

The tegs would probably have been sold at a profit in April;
they were, however, put on grass and clover, and were fattened
in the summer.

_September 29th._--352 lambs in the parks, on a little cotton-cake
and some oats, until November 4th, when they were folded on a wheat
stubble. Gave them 5 bushels of meal daily, mixed with 468 lb. of
straw chaff. Cost 3-1/2d. each per week for meal.

_December 20th._--Increased the food to 6-1/2 bushels of meal and
1 bushel of oil-cake.

_December 18th._--

lb.

2-3/4 bushels of maize crushed and boiled 143
4-1/2 bushels of mixed meal 200
1 bushel of oil-cake 50
---
393
===

Cost 5-1/2d. per week for corn and cake; chaff, 2-1/4 lb. each,
between these and the ewes, the lambs eating rather less than
2 lb. each.

Eight pounds of rock-salt licked up by the 352 lambs per week.

_January 23rd._--The food was increased to 7-1/2 bushels of meal,
2 bushels of oil-cake, and 2 bushels of rape-cake.

Mixture of Corn.

Wheat 4 parts.
Barley 4 "
Oats 2 "
Maize 4 "

Cost per stone (14 lb.)
s. d.
Wheat 1 0
Barley 0 10
Oats 1 0
Maize 0 10
Oil-cake 1 4-1/4
Rape-cake 0 9

_Sheep Feeding._--In Ireland sheep are often exclusively fed on grass; but in most cases the addition of other food is desirable, and more especially is it necessary during winter. When confined to roots, sheep, on an average, consume about 26 lbs. daily, unless when under shelter, which diminishes the quantity by from five to ten per cent. Some sheep on which Dr. Voelcker experimented were fed as follows:--

lbs. ounces.

Mangel wurtzel 19 8
Chopped clover hay 1 3/10
Linseed cake 0 4-8/100
--------------
Total 20 15-38/100

On this diet four sheep were maintained from the 22nd of March until the 10th of May, a period of forty-seven days. The weights were as follows:--

22nd Mar. 10th May. Gain.

No. 1 153 170-1/2 17-1/2
No. 2 134 151-1/2 17-1/2
No. 3 170 187 17-1/2
No. 4 136 155 19

This experiment shows that the sheep can increase in weight on a daily allowance of food, much less than is usually given to them; but it will be found that growing sheep will usually consume a greater quantity of food than that used by Dr. Voelcker's fattening animals.

Sheep washing is performed before the animal is shorn. It is a process which should never be neglected, as dirty wool is certain to bring a less price than the same quality would if clean. After being washed, sheep should be kept in dry pasture for about ten days in order to allow the loss of yolk removed by the washing to be repaired; they will then be in proper condition for the shearer.

_Sheep Dips_ are used for the purpose of removing parasites from the animal's skin. They often contain arsenic, or bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate), which are very objectionable ingredients. The glycerine sheep dip, prepared by Messrs. Hendrick and Guerin, of London, is a safe mixture, as it is free from mineral poisons, whilst the tar substances which it includes, act as a powerful cleanser of the skin, without injuriously affecting the yolk of the wool.