Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1915)
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION Care of Arrivals at Lambing Time (Special to tho Ftirm Magazine.) THE Spring of tho year Is the shep herd's harvest. After the long Win ter of ceaseless toll and care the lambing time Is the joy and fruit of the shepherd's labors. To htm It Is the great est pleasure to welcome each newborn babe whether he be single, twin or trip let. Lambing time, like the grain har vest, is not a time of ease. The success ful shepherd must be very skilled and use the best judgment in feeding and caring for the flock at this time. Feed. About a month of so prior to lambing, the ewes should be fed a little grain. A mixture of one and one-half parts oats to one part bran makes a good grain mix ture when fed with some roots or silage and alfalfa, clover, or oat and vetch hay. About one-half to three-fourths of a pound of the grain mixture and two pounds of roots or silage, with whatever hay the ewes will eat, makes a good dally ration for a pregnant ewe. Such a ration will tone up her system and, bring her Btrongly in. milk at lambing time. In beginning to feed grain or any feed care must be used In starting with small quan tities, and gradually increasing the amount until a full ration is reached. During the lambing season the ewes should have the run of good pasture and access to a good shed. Ewes, like the females of other species, require consid erable exercise during the period of preg nancy. Lambs from ewes properly exer cised are dropped easier and are much stronger at birth. Tare of Flock at Lambing. The ewe flock should be watched very carefully to see that the lambs are pre sented properly and owned by their mothers. Perhaps the best way of han dling the ewe at lambing time is the method using the lambing pen. This pen is nothing more than two panels four feet long and three feet high, made of 1 by 4 Inch lumber, and hinged together In such a manner that they will open and close, forming the letter L when open. A small pen 4 by 4 Inches can be easily made by standing a set of these panels open in the corner of the shed. The walls of the shed form two sides of the pen, and the panels the other two. Whenever a ewe shows signs of being In the labors of lambing she should be sep arated into one of these pens. Here she should bo kept during lambing and until proper maternal relationships have been well established. There are several distinct advantages In the use of the lambing pen. They can be enumerated as follows: 1. The ewe and newborn lamb are sep arate from the rest of the flock and are In no danger of being trampled upon. 2. The ewe in the pen requires less at tention than she would If she were out with the rest of the flock. 3. Ewes are more apt to own their lambs. This is especially true with twins and triplets. In such cases, if the ewe were left with the flock she would very likely disown one of them, because the first lamb born usually Is the strongest, and would wander off, looking for its first meal while its mother was giving birth to the other lamb. It would thus be surrounded by other ewes and the mother would lose Its scent and conse quently disown it. Tasking. Right after lambing the ewes should be tagged. By this term we mean the clip ping of wool away from the udder. This practice gives the lamb a good chance at his first claim on life. Many lambs have been killed by sucking locks of wool in stead of the nipple which was intended for their use. A lamb should suck a few hours after birth. If he does not do it of his own accord he should be helped. The ewe's udder should be examined everv few days in the beginning to see whether or not the lamb Is using all the milk which tlib ewe produces. Neglect In MIMDED D:RECT from LUIHDLIy THE MILL cROMT ,1 DOORS AT THE J TIL UHI i PRICE ! ffi Send us your bill for estimate and save the middle man's profit. MII.DINfi MATE RIALS AT LOW EST PIUCES. Ou r Free Cata logue will save you money. Fully Illustrated and every article priced. HOOK OK HOUSE I'I,AS Showing 108 dif ferent homes. Sent postpaid cn receipt of 15c. Wood Fiber Wall Board I'er Thousand Squnre Feet, Send (or Sample. P. A. ROVIG CO. ISO Tost St. SEATTLE, WASH. this regard may lead to a caked or in flamed udder. All male lambs not Intended for breed ing purposes should be castrated. As a rule at about the age of 3 months the ram lambs begin to know, that they are males and get restless and not only fail ' to gain, but actually lose some flesh put on at an earlier period. As a result ram lambs come to market raised under the same conditions. Castration is a simple operation, Involving little risk If done with ordinary care and cleanliness. It should be performed when the lamb Is from one to two weeks old. The opera tion consists in cutting off the lower end of the scrotum and drawing out the testicles, together with the adhering cords. A little disinfectant should be poured into the holes from which the testicles have been removed. Castration should be done In the morning of a bright day. Docking Is also neglect common to sheep farmers. Failure to dock causes a loss of from 25 to 50 cents per hun dred pounds when the lambs are sold, de pending on the amount of dirt collected. Tails are unnecessary appendages on the sheep, and what flow of blood goes to nourish the useless tail no doubt would add to the growth of tho rest of the body. There are several ways of docking lambs; . namely, chopping off the tails with a mallet and chisel, cutting off with a good sharp knife, or removing with hot pinch ers. In any case the tall should be re moved so as to leave a stub or dock of one or one and one-half inches. This op eration should-be performed on ewe lambs at one to two weeks of age, and with ram lambs it should follow from five to seven days after castration. On large ranches both castration and docking are performed at once, to save time, but on the smaller farms better results are obtained where they are done separately. The loss of castration and docking should not be more than one lamb In 500. Growing the Lamb. In order to get a good, cheap lamb in Western Oregon they must be grown in the months of March, April, May and June. These are the months during which green feeds are most abundant. Of these months April and May are the best. The more growth that can be put on dur ing these two mouths the better the lambs, and the cheaper the ultimate cost. To get good results on the general farm in Western Oregon, the lambs must be grown on some pasture, such as vetch and oats, vetch and rye, clover, rape or rape and clover. It will be necessary to have several fields for the lambs In order to get the best gains, and in order that each kind of pasture may be utilized in its proper season. . It is also especially necessary to have fresh pastures' on which to finish the lambs. Often we find that lambs do well until about ready for the market, then pastures begin to fall, the lambs which were so nearly done begin to go back ward, and the first thing we know the dry season has come on and we cannot get our lambs ready for market until Fall, by which time they are too coarse and heavy to bring the best price, And have cost us moro money than they are worth. It Is, therefore, essential that the ewes and their lambs be supplied with the most liberal pasture through the growing sea son. Spring lambs should be marketed when they get fat. This will ordinarily be at. a weight somewhere between 50 and 80 pounds. Perhaps about 60 ponds Is the proper market weight. There should be no great difficulty In getting a lamb in good market condition by the time he weighs 60 pounds. Spring lambs In the Willamette Valley are usually shipped In carload lots to the stockyards In Port land. The lambs are young and tender and great care must be taken to see that they get the least possible rough treat ment on their journey. These lambs are not weaned but ure taken directly from their mothers to the market. Prying tho Ewes. After the lambs are shipped to the mar ket the ewes should at once be turned Into poorer pasture. Such dry feed will aid very much in drying up their milk flow and preventing spoiled udders. For tunately the requirement of the ewes at this time fit In exactly with the crop con ditions of the Western Oregon farm. The lambs go to market at a time when the fields are getting dry. The clover, vetch, and rape, which was so good earlier in the season becomes woody and there is really no good feed available. The ewes, therefore, should be turned out on the dry hill pastures, or on the meadows after the hay Is cut, or in the stubble fields. In this way they will not only get the feed which Is best for them, but they will get it at the least cost. The raising of the Spring lamb is an industry which fits In very nicely with all phases of agriculture. It is an indus try which usually utilizes the odds and ends which otherwise would probably go to waste, and it is an industry which tends toward the building up of the fer tility of the farm. Because of these fac tors and the high prices that are being paid for a good early Spring lamb, It of fers a great deal of promise to the small farmer. Sale of Used Pianos Many Prominent Makes, Including: Grand Pianos, Player Pianos and Straight Upright Pianos Fully Warrant ed and First-Class Instruments, Affording Great est Opportunity for Piano Buying Ever Known Space here will not permit us to mention all of the pianos on sale. However, below we enumerate a few of the specially low priced instruments which are offered: J. & C. Fischer Piano, good condition , .$127 Ludwig, largest size, fancy upright, in quartered oak $225 Emerson, large size upright, mahogany case, practically new, $245 Hamilton upright, good as new, has been completely refin- ished; fancy mahogany case $220 Vose, good condition $118 Weber upright, rosewood case $162 Stuyvesant, beautifully mottled walnut finish $185 Schilling & Sons, magnolia walnut case . $167 Hazelton upright, rosewood case $145 Kimball, French walnut finish , $195 Smith & Barnes, finished in fancy quarter-sawed oak $210 Story & Clark, finished in specially choice walnut $240 Hoffman, only slightly used, in mahogany $178 Kingsbury, in walnut case $140 Two Stein ways verti-grand style $160 and $190 Kensington, in rosewood. $137 Jewett -. $156 Koehler $117 PLAYER PIANOS Kingsbury, 88-note $318 Hallett & Davis, new, 88-note $465 Playautoma, Circassian walnut, new, 88-note $325 Pianola Piano in mahogany $275 Krell Autogrand, oak $335 USED GRAND PIANOS Wegman small baby grand, in mahogany, at. . .' $475 Another Kimball, slightly larger, at $500 A Gilbert, small apartment-house grand, at $385 A Steinway, beautifully figured mahogany baby grand, at . . . $575 TELEPHONE OR WRITE QUICK Those living out of town should write or telephone for descrip tive lists and number. We send these instruments anywhere for examination. A deposit of amount stated in this advertisement should be sent to show good faith ? MAIL THIS COUPON TODAY -Coupon- Without obligation on my part, please send me full informa tion about pianos player pianos grand pianos selling from $ to $ in your "Used Piano Sale." Name . Address Pianos The Nation's Largest Dealers Filers Building, Broadway at Alder Get a maize your fortune on wheat The present high price of grain is bringing thousands of American farmers to Western Cannon. A fnrtiini. Aurora unii in . lAnt country. Pick out a 160-ocreree farm from the 125,000 recently surveyed homesteads in districts reached by the Canadian Northern Railway. The best farms naturally will be selected first. Go now. Get our free book "The HomeseelferV nml Settlers fnM " If'a fi.lt A.,.., -I,, a..,: richest forming country-113,000 recently surveyed free fertile farms Ameri can runners are gettius; rich on Canadian wheat furms-we will help you Select Unlit frw. farm Wfifn 4nr1tl for frtm in for mm flan to settlers rct-nrdiwr . . , . .F our low rates every Tuesday during March and Apnl, bven If you have already selected your farm, it will pay you to travel on the Canadian Northern via the Dithiih. fc't Kran.a nr f P....I o.iu ., 111,11(1; miuii) , wiiu snip over privileges, .'.naillsn Northern lines serve over ,0oo miles of Canada's richest tunning country. Ati Haiti! your pick of the best H farms. Be sure to write today for a iree copy 01 ine MomeseeKers ana .-H-tllers' (iuide una low rates toi anada. A tortune is waiting foryoit. Canadian Northern Ry. E. Y. WRIGHT. Ren. At Corner 4th and Jackson Streets, raul, Minn.
