THE SIRE OF FAT LAMBS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XX, Issue 162, 28 June 1930, Page 12

THE SIRE OF FAT LAMBS

POINTS TO LOOK EOR. A fat lamb sire should be a blocky sheep on short legs, with masculine, well-proportioned head, widely distended nostrils; wide between ears and eyes; good thick neck; wellcovered loins; well-sprung ribs, and full, level flanks. The leg should be well developed down to the hock. The skin of a healthy, well-bred ram is soft and pink in colour, and it will be noticed that when a sheep is ailing or unhealthy the skin becames a light blue in colour. There is a goof deal of truth in the saying that “the ram is half the flock,” hence the necessity of selecting him with care. While it is quite possible to pay too much for a ram, the mistake of paying too little is often made. Hanis of clfcniinate appearance should be

strictly avoided. It is a good plan to select the rams early in the season. A ram with a pedigree is not certain to be a good one, but a ram without one is almost certain to be more or less worthless for breeding purposes, It must always be borne in mind that the profit on the flock is, to a great extent, determined by the quality of the ram. Tho best are invariably the cheapest in tho end.