BARNS AND SHEDS.
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.
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.
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.