(FROM A WISCONSIN FARM-INSTITUTE BULLETIN)
[Illustration: FIG. 61—Perspective of sheds.]
[Illustration: FIG. 62—Frame plan.]
It is in the nature of sheep to dislike dampness. In the pasture they
will fold at night always on the high and dry elevations. In selecting
the site of a sheep shed these facts should determine the choice of a
site that is drained and dry throughout the year. Dryness is one of the
essentials of a good foundation for a healthy shed; second only to this
in importance is the ventilation. Warm, close sheds mean the downfall
of the sheep that are folded in them. A sheep is warm in body, as its
blood temperature is high, and then the nature of the fleece is such
as to be very retentive of the body’s heat. The cause of most failures
to keep sheep profitably has been from housing them in warm, close
buildings.
[Illustration: FIG. 63—Ground plan.]
Closely connected with the question of ventilation is the size of the
shed. The amount of room required by a sheep will vary considerably,
ranging from ten square feet for the Merino and Southdown to fifteen
square feet for the larger breeds, including the Cotswolds and larger
Downs. It is not advisable to crowd breeding ewes into a small area.
The crowding is most injurious when it results from restricted room at
the feeding rack and when it occurs through narrow doors. A breeding
ewe weighing one hundred and fifty pounds will require fully one and
one-quarter feet of space at the fodder rack.
A desirable attribute of a shed is the entrance of sunlight; this
particularly encourages the growth of the lambs, and it is to them that
the shed will do the most good. To further the entrance of sunlight
the windows should be higher than they are wide, which will materially
assist in diffusing the rays over the greatest amount of inside space.
In addition to these a shed should be large enough to supply storage
space for sufficient fodder to feed the sheep while they must be
sheltered. Estimating that a ton of hay requires five hundred cubic
feet, and that a sheep will not eat over three pounds of hay per day,
it would require about one hundred and twenty-five cubic feet of space
to contain the hay needed to maintain a sheep during six months. There
should also be room available for a root cellar and for the storage of
straw.
[Illustration: FIG. 64.]
[Illustration: FIG. 65. Rack for inside feeding.]
[Illustration: FIG. 66.]
[Illustration: FIG. 67. Rack for outside feeding.]
The plan here given is of a building forty feet wide and sixty feet
long. It has two stories, the first being nine feet high and the
second six feet from the floor to the eaves. It is advisable to make
the height of the lower story nine feet to secure the best results in
ventilation. The sills are six by eight inches, resting preferably
on stone foundation, and if set on posts they should be heavier. The
ground both on the inside and outside should come close to the sills,
so that no obstruction is offered by the sills to the free passage of
the sheep through the doors. The doors are all four feet wide, and
those that are used by the sheep should be sliding; the windows are
three feet wide and four and one-half feet high. In the center of the
sheep apartment there are double doors ten feet wide. When both are
opened and the center post removed a wagon can be driven through to
remove the manure from the pens.
The arrangement of the lower floor has been adjusted so as to give
the sheep the smallest amount of space and yet have easily accessible
feed racks that would give sufficient room to the sheep for feeding.
The feed racks are all permanent, as there is no necessity for their
removal, and they form a wall for the passage way which runs through
the center. In this way it is easy to put hay in them, and it is very
easy to put grain into the troughs in front of them. As will be seen in
the ground plan there are two chutes at each end, down which the hay is
thrown from the loft. From where it falls it is easily distributed into
all the racks.