When the ground is frozen, and especially when covered with snow, the
sheep eats hay well on the ground; but when the land is soft, muddy, or
foul with manure, they will scarcely touch hay placed on it--or, if they
do, will tread much of it into the mud, in their restlessness while
feeding. It should then be fed in racks, which are more economical, even
in the first-named case; since, when the hay is fed on the ground, the
leaves and seeds, the most valuable part of the fodder, are almost
wholly lost.
[Illustration: A CONVENIENT BOX-RACK.]
To make an economical _box-rack_--the one in most general use in the
North--take six light pieces of scantling, say three inches square, one
for each corner, and one for the centre of each side. Boards of pine or
hemlock, twelve or fifteen feet long, and twelve or fourteen inches
wide, may then be nailed on to the bottom of the posts for the sides,
which are separated by similar boards at the ends, two and a half feet
long. Boards twelve inches wide, raised above the lower ones by a space
of from nine to twelve inches, are nailed on the sides and ends, which
completes the rack. The edges of the opening should be made perfectly
smooth, to prevent chafing or tearing out the wool. The largest
dimensions given are suitable for the large breeds, and the smallest for
the Saxon; and still smaller are proper for the lambs. These should be
set on dry ground, or under the sheds; and they can be easily removed
wherever necessary. Unless over-fed, sheep waste very little hay in
them.
Some prefer the racks made with slats, or smooth, upright sticks, in the
form of the common horse-rack. This kind should always be accompanied by
a broad trough affixed to the bottom, to catch the fine hay which falls
in feeding. These racks may be attached to the side of a building, or
used double. A small lamb requires fifteen inches of space, and a large
sheep two feet, for quiet, comfortable feeding; and this amount of room,
at least, should be provided around the racks for every sheep.
[Illustration: A HOLE-RACK.]
With what is termed a _hole-rack_, sheep do not crowd and take advantage
of each other so much as with log-racks; but they are too heavy and
unnecessarily expensive for a common out-door rack. This rack is
box-shaped, with the front formed of a board nailed on horizontally, or,
more commonly, by nailing the boards perpendicularly, the bottoms on the
sill of a barn, and the tops to horizontal pieces of timber. The holes
should be at least eight inches wide, nine inches high, and eighteen
inches from centre to centre.
In the South, racks are not so necessary for that constant use to which
they are put in colder sections, as they are for depositories of dry
food, for the occasional visitation of the sheep. In soft, warm
weather, when the ground is unfrozen, and any kind of green herbage is
to be obtained, sheep will scarcely touch dry fodder; though the little
they will then eat will be highly serviceable to them. But in a sudden
freeze, or on the occurrence of cold storms, they will resort to the
racks, and fill themselves with dry food. They anticipate the coming
storm by instinct, and eat an extra quantity of food to sustain the
animal heat during the succeeding depression of temperature. They should
always have racks of dry fodder for resort in such emergencies.
These racks should have covers or roofs to protect their contents from
rain, as otherwise the feed would often be spoiled before but a small
portion of it would be consumed. Hay or straw, saturated with water, or
soaked and dried, is only eaten by the sheep as a matter of absolute
necessity. The common box-rack would answer the purpose very well by
placing on the top a triangular cover or roof, formed of a couple of
boards, one hung at the upper edge with iron or leather hinges, so that
it could be lifted up like a lid; making the ends tight; drawing in the
lower edges of the sides, so that it should not be more than a foot wide
on the bottom; inserting a flow; and then mounting it on, and making it
fast to, two cross-sills, four or five inches square, to keep the floor
off from the ground, and long enough to prevent it from being easily
overturned. The lower side-board should be narrow, on account of the
increased height given its upper edge by the sills.
A rack of the same construction, with the sides like those described for
the hole-rack, would be still better, though somewhat more expensive; or
the sides might consist of rundles, the top being nailed down in either
case, and the fodder inserted by little doors in the ends.
[Illustration: THE HOPPER-RACK.]
What is termed the _hopper-rack_, serving both for a rack and a
feeding-trough, is a favorite with many sheep-owners. The accompanying
cut represents a section of such a rack. A piece of durable wood, about
four and a half feet long, six or eight inches deep, and four inches
thick, having two notches, _a a_, cut into it, and two troughs, made of
inch boards, _b b b b_, placed in these notches, and nailed fast,
constitute the formation. If the rack is to be fourteen feet long, three
sills are required. The ends of the rack are made by nailing against the
side of the sill-boards that reach up as high as it is desired to have
the rack; and nails driven through these end-boards into the ends of the
side-boards, _f f_, secure them. The sides may be further strengthened
by pieces of board on the outside of them, fitted into the trough. A
roof may be put over all, if desired, by means of which the fodder is
kept entirely from the weather, and no seeds or chaff can get into the
wool.