Shelters, in northern climates, are indispensable to profitable
sheep-raising; and in every latitude north of the Gulf of Mexico, they
would probably be found advantageous. An animal eats much less when thus
protected; he is more thrifty, less liable to disease, and his manure
is richer and more abundant. The feeding may be done in the open yard in
clear weather, and under cover in severe storms: for, even in the
vigorous climate of the North, none but the breeders of Saxons make a
regular practice of feeding under cover.
[Illustration: SHEEP-BARN WITH SHEDS.]
Humanity and economy alike dictate that, in the North, sheep should be
provided with shelters under which to lie nights, and to which they can
resort at will. It is not an uncommon circumstance in New York and New
England for snow to fall to the depth of from twenty to thirty inches
within twenty-four or forty-eight hours, and then to be succeeded by a
strong and intensely cold west or northwest wind of several days
continuance, which lifts the snow, blocking up the roads, and piling
huge drifts to the leeward of fences, barns, etc.
A flock without shelter will huddle closely together, turning their
backs to the storm, constantly stepping, and thus treading down the snow
as it rises about them. Strong, close-coated sheep do not seem to suffer
as much from the cold, for a period, as would be expected. It is,
however, almost impossible to feed them enough, or half enough, under
such circumstances, without an immense waste of hay--entirely
impossible, indeed, without racks. The hay is whirled away in an instant
by the wind; and, even if racks are used, the sheep, leaving their
huddle, where they were kept warm and even moist by the melting snow in
their wool, soon get chilled, and are disposed to return to their
huddle. Imperfectly filled with food, the supply of animal heat is
lowered, and, at the end of the second or third day, the feeble ones
sink down hopelessly, the yearlings, and those somewhat old, receive a
shock from which nothing but the most careful nursing will enable them
to rally, and even the strongest suffer an injurious loss in condition.
Few persons, therefore, who own as many as forty or fifty sheep, attempt
to get along without some kind of shelters, which are variously
constructed, to suit their tastes or circumstances. A sheep-barn, built
upon a side-hill, will afford two floors: one underneath, surrounded by
three sides of wall, should open to the south, with sliding or swinging
doors to guard against storms; and another may be provided above, if the
floors are perfectly tight, with proper gutters to carry off the urine;
and sufficient storage for the fodder can be furnished by scaffolds
overhead. They may also be constructed with twelve or fifteen-feet posts
on level ground, allowing the sheep to occupy the lower part, with the
fodder stored above.
In all cases, however, _thorough ventilation should be provided_; for of
the two evils, of exposure to cold or of too great privation of air, the
former is to be preferred. Sheep cannot long endure close confinement
without injury. In all ordinary weather, a shed, closely boarded on
three sides, with a light roof, is sufficient protection; especially if
the open side is shielded from bleak winds, or leads into a
well-inclosed yard. If the floors above are used for storage, they
should be made tight, that no hay, chaff, or dust can fall upon the
fleece. The sheds attached to the barn are not usually framed or silled,
but are supported by some posts of durable timber set in the ground. The
roofs are formed of boards battened with slats. The barn has generally
no partitions within, and is entirely filled with hay.
There are many situations in which open sheds are very liable to have
snow drifted under them by certain winds, and they are subject in all
severe gales to have the snow carried over them to fall down in large
drifts in front, which gradually encroach on the sheltered space, and
are very inconvenient, particularly when they thaw. For these reasons,
many prefer sheep-houses covered on all sides, with the exception of a
wide doorway for ingress and egress, and one or two windows for the
necessary ventilation. They are convenient for yarding sheep, and the
various processes for which this is required; as for shearing, marking,
sorting, etc., and especially so for lambing-places, or the confinement
of newly-shorn sheep in cold storms. They should have so much space
that, in addition to the outside racks, others can be placed temporarily
through the middle when required.
The facts must not be overlooked--as bearing upon the question of
shelter, even in the warmer regions of the country--that cold rains, or
rains of any temperature, when immediately succeeded by cold or freezing
weather, or cold, piercing winds, are more hurtful to sheep than even
snow-storms; and that, consequently, sheep must be adequately guarded
against them.
[Illustration: A SHED OF RAILS.]
SHEDS. The simplest and cheapest kind of shed is formed by poles or
rails, the upper end resting on a strong horizontal pole supported by
crotched posts set in the ground. It may be rendered rain-proof by
pea-vines, straw, or pine boughs. In a region where timber is very
cheap, planks or boards, of a sufficient thickness not to spring
downward, and thus open the roof, battened with slats, may take the
place of the poles and boughs; and they would make a tighter and more
durable roof. If the lower ends of the boards or poles are raised a
couple of feet from the ground, by placing a log under them, the shed
will shelter more sheep.
These movable sheds may be connected with hay-barns--"hay-barracks"--or
they may surround an inclosed space with a stack in the middle. In the
latter case, the yard should be square, on account of the divergence in
the lower ends of the boards or poles, which a round form would render
necessary.
Sheds of this description are frequently made between two stacks. The
end of the horizontal supporting-pole is placed on the stack-pens when
the stacks are built, and the middle is propped by crotched posts. The
supporting-pole may rest, in the same way, on the upper girts of two
hay-barracks; or two such sheds, at angles with each other, might form
wings to this structure.
On all large sheep-farms, convenience requires that there be one barn of
considerable size, to contain the shearing-floor, and the necessary
conveniences about it for yarding the sheep, etc. This should also, for
the sake of economy, be a hay-barn, where hay is used. It may be
constructed in the corner of four fields, so that four hundred sheep can
be fed from it, without racking flocks of improper size. At this barn it
would be expedient to make the best shelters, and to bring together all
the breeding-ewes on the farm, if their number does not exceed four
hundred. The shepherd would thus be saved much travel at all times, and
particularly at the lambing-time, and each flock would be under his
almost constant supervision.
The size of this barn is a question to be determined entirely by the
climate. For large flocks of sheep, the storage of some hay or other
fodder for winter is an indispensable precautionary measure, at least in
any part of the United States; and, other things being equal, the
farther north, or the more elevated the land, the greater would be the
amount necessary to be stored.
HAY-HOLDER. Where hay or other fodder is thrown out of the upper door of
a barn into the sheep-yard--as it always must necessarily be in any mere
hay-barn--or where it is thrown from a barrack or stack, the sheep
immediately rush on it, trampling it and soiling it, and the succeeding
forkfuls fall on their backs, filling their wool with dust, seed, and
chaff. This is obviated by hay-holders--yards ten feet square--either
portable, by being made of posts and boards, or simply a pen of rails,
placed under the doors of the barns, and by the sides of each stack or
barrack. The hay is pitched into this holder in fair weather, enough for
a day's foddering at a time, and is taken from it by the fork and placed
in the racks.
The poles or rails for stack-pens or hay-holders should be so small as
to entirely prevent the sheep from inserting their heads in them after
hay. A sheep will often insert his head where the opening is wide enough
for that purpose, shove it along, or get crowded, to where the opening
is not wide enough to withdraw the head, and it will hang there until
observed and extricated by the shepherd. If, as often happens, it is
thus caught when its foreparts are elevated by climbing up the side of
the pen, it will continue to lose its footing in its struggles, and will
soon choke to death.