CAN SHEEP BE TOO BIG?

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13291, 21 May 1907, Page 3

CAN SHEEP BE TOO BIG?

At Waipuktirau recently there was a line oi iv.nnuey noni oluruoou which wt-te tile biggest liamed sua; p i have seen in the ynius for a long ame, writes ills Mawke s oay correopoiiuenc oi the " Otago Witney. In iaut i .<lo not think 1 evil' fa-w a line of liner, biggertrained sheep. Lliev -were only in mouerate condition, anu it would be nard to ,\ay what weight they would go when fat, but it would be somewhere r.eav 301b. It must have taken years of careful cubing to get tluin to that standard. The tiling is: Does it pay to have them so big? I am inclined to think that it dees not. A ewe of great size must require a proportionate amount of food, and if 120 moderate-sized sheep could be carried with the same aniount of grass that it would take to feed 100 of the very big ones, moderate-sized sheep would pay b.st. 1 am no advocate for small sheep, especially breading ewes, but it seems impossible that they can be too big. As a general i ule the veiy big sheep arc light clippers. '1 lio.se mentioned above cut 81b. The question of whether this is an adequate return' for the amount of food consumed is what I ant trying to get at. If size with a proportionate weight of wool can be got, that would be one point in favour of the big sheep. The moderate-sized' ewes should produce a greater number of hunbs for the feed consumed. iS'uppose, for example, 50 acres carries 100 big ewts, producing 81b wool per head, equal to 8001b wool; 50 acres carries 100 big ewes, producing 100 per cent, lamte, equal to ICO lambs producing 81b wool per head, equal to 8001b wool ; 50 acres carries 120 moderate ewes, producing 100 per cent, lambs, equal to 120 lambs }.' reducing 7-2lb wool psr head, equal to 9001b -wool. That would be 20 lambs and 1001b of wool in favour of the 'smaller sheep. I do not uphold these figures a's correct ■ I merely put them in as a suggestion so that each farmer can think the matter out for himself. For my own part I have never put a sheep out of the flock for being too big, but have put out many very big sheep for riot carrying enough wool.