MORTALITY AMONGST EWES

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1536, 4 September 1912, Page 10

MORTALITY AMONGST EWES

: '. A FARMER'S IDEAS. A well-known Wairarapa sheepbreed«r writes as under:- , - . ■' ; "I read in last Wednesday's farm notes an article on mortality amongst ewes Jt may bo right, but my experience is differ•ent; In the first place 1 don't believe m puttintr ewes on short commons, especially when near lambing. I think it would make, the complaint worse. Some years ago I lost some ewes on turnips. X believo they got sick of them. Inis year 1 had seven hundred ewes on swedes almcst continuously, and I have not lost one, although we have had a veTy wet winter. I now let them have a grass paddock to run on at will, and I believe Hie chanro !of feed keeps their appetites good. My ewes are almost all fat now, and lambing splendidly. I once had a ewe getting down cften, so I hobbled her on tho front legs. Sho was the first ewe I ever saw with the dMriWon , grass; Of course she fell away limcondition.,, I am ; quite satisfied starvaIfionlis''the, main caiiso of ,tlie trouble. I believe if we started lambing, say, on' September 1, we .would miss most of it; the c.wes would have more milk and would stick to their lambs bettor and the wool would be in better form. ' "1 wonder if a stud breeder ever had a ewe that he was _ feeding up for tho "show get the complaint if on good preen .feed.- "If there is a case, I wish he would publish it in your paper. I will think then, perhaps, lam wrong. My experi : erica may be wrong, but I expect other sheep farmers aro experimenting, and J hope they will give us the benefit of their experience."