A PRACTICAL SHEEP SHED
(FROM A WISCONSIN FARM-INSTITUTE BULLETIN)
Fig. 61—Perspective of sheds.
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.
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.
Fig. 64.
Fig. 65.
Rack for inside feeding.
Fig. 66.
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.