DRY FEED FOR

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22307, 22 January 1938, Page 11

DRY FEED FOR

PREVENTION OF WORM TROUBLE

When advised to feed ewes some hay or chad' in the spnn«limc /armcrs complain that they cannot get their sheep to cat dry feed at that time of the year. Though the period is not a suitable one to teach them to adopt the habit, there are methods involving a little work which can be adopted. Practically all the advice on the prevention of worm trouble hinges on the question of giving the ewes more dry feed Apropos of the note in another column concerning lamb mortality some observations made recently by Mi D J. Sidcy, of the staff of Lincoln College, may be closely studied. It is 100 late this season to put the advice l„ much use. but tbe severe lessons that are being taught should make lamb fattencrs store the advice away for future guidance. In his advice Mr Sidey stressed the desirability of encouraging the lambs to eat some supplementary dry fodder while still with their mothers. His reasons for doing this were that once a sheep had learned to feed out of a trough, hay rack, or other feeder, it could be readily persuaded to do so again. Also the young lambs would learn more readily by following the example of their mothers than in any other way. He felt certain that a big proportion of the lamb and hogget losses which were experienced in Canterbury last season could have been avoided had adequate supplies of good quality dry feed been available to and eaten by the lambs, in order to counteract the effects of the over-abundance of succulent clover and immature rape which was available. To get the best results from almost pure clover pastures it was essential to feed some dry fodder to the stock. With the increase in the practice ot top-dressing (and the tendency to sow more clover dominant, continued Mr more clovers) pastures were becoming Sidey Consequently it would be increasingly important to watch the feeding of the sheep. The dairy farmers in the North Island had already found out that pastures which were clover dominant required different treatment and management. In Canterbury the same thing was becoming increasingly evident. In areas where it was dry it would have been desirable to feed a ration consisting of oats and oatsheaf chaff in order to keep the lambs thriving. It should be possible to get sheep to eat supplementary feed at any time of the year and on any class of grazing. Show sheep could be taken as an example. They were fed usually on the very best of grazing, but they ate with relish a rich supplementary diet. In this case the stud shepherd went to some trouble to educate his sheep to eat out of troughs because he knew how necessary this dry feed was to add that variety to the diet of his sheep so that they would thrive and come out in the pink of condition. A little care and time devoted to ordinary flock sheep would result in their eating anything which might prove good for them. "Where it was riesir d to encourage sheep to eat a strange feed." said Mr Sidey, "farmers should run a coil of netting across the corner of a field and put some troughs or hay racks in the enclosure. Then put a small quantity of fresh chaff or hay into the troughs or racks. As late in the evening as convenient bring the sheep into the enclosure and shepherd them quietly up to the new feed. The sheep should be left in the enclosure overnight and' <nven a fresh supply of hay or chaff first thing in the morning. An hour or so later let the sheep out to graze again. In this way the least possible check is given to the sheep and, w;hat is probably more important, particularly in damp seasons, the sheep are kept off the pasture when the grass is dewv in the morning and conditions are favourable for the sheep to pick up the infective larvae of the parasitic worms.''