The sheep breeder's guide; being a treatise on the general management and breeding of sheep, describing the varieties best adapted to the different soils and climates of California, Oregon and Washington territory; with directions how to improve the existing breeds in the most economical manner, so as to obtain a fine wooled race especially adapted to the requirements of the states and territory on the Pacific coast belonging to the United States

Front matter

It UNITED STATES OP AMERICA.

THE

SHEEP BREEDER'S GUIDE;

Author's Preface

Mr. Warren, the publisher of this work, mentioned to the author that a general desire existed among the Farmers of California, that he (Mr. W.) should publish a work on Sheep Farming, suggesting the best modes of rearing and the best breeds adapted for the States and Territories of the United States bordering on the Pacific. Mr. W., at the same time, requesting me to undertake the authorship* of such a work. The terms for doing this having been satisfactory settled, the task was undertaken.

In laying this small volume before the public of the North Pacific, the author feels that he may fairly lay claim to a considerable amount of indulgence for its incomplete state, many points of management being entirely omitted, or much curtailed— as it was felt that to allude to them in a mutilated manner would only be productive of error, whilst to give a detailed account would, in a majority of cases, be considered unnecessarily tedious. Some of the points omitted and reduced, required also expensive cuts, in order to render the printed matter sufficiently explanatory ; this particularly applies to the chapters relating to teething and parturition — very important subjects, certainly, but respecting which, it is assumed, that each sheep owner knows something practically, or has a shepherd or neighbor who can be called upon to afford the requisite advice and assistance. Not only cuts, but printing and paper are more expensive in California than in the Eastern States, so much so, that there was no possibility of publishing a large book here on such terms as would obtain a remunerating sale in the East. In one respect, perhaps, a work abounding in the most minute details is more required in California than in any place, because in no other country are there so many persons engaged in sheep farming who had previously been occupied at the anvil, the

6 PREFACE.

bench, other handicraft, or commercial pursuits, who have had no knowledge of the business until they embarked their capital therein. Many such, from mistaken views and limited knowledge, complain at the present time of the great depreciation in the value of their property, owing to the low price of mutton. The wool of Mexican sheep in the south is now valueless to the proprietor, the fleece being given to the shearer for his labor ; with sheep possessing a more valuable wool, the case would have been reversed — the loss turned into gain.

It appeared, under all circumstances, preferable to dismiss as much as possible minute details of practice, and lay before the reader general principles. In doing so, there was this advantage — that a more than usual portion of the anticipated readers, from causes already noticed, are not likely to have their minds prejudiced by long fixed opinions, which is generally, amongst agriculturists, the great barrier to improvement. Practice is undoubtedly better than theory, and the instances known to me are numerous where practices are, or rather appear, occasionally to controvert known general laws, until a further step in scientific discovery reconciles the discrepancy. The author, neither in his former essays and treaties or on the present occasion, has done other than pay a proper respect to well-established rules, founded on local or general experience.

In laying the foundation for the future success of sheep farming in California, Oregon and Washington Terrritory, no ancient practices exist as guides, whilst with regard to copying rules available in England and Germany, so dissimilar are the climate, vegetation, expense of labor, &c, that no parallel can be advantageously drawn. For these reasons the author confined himself as much as possible to general rules, founded on the instances detailed throughout the body of the work, leaving the reader to judge for himself as to the adaptability of any of the described breeds for his own locality.

With these prefatory remarks, the author respectfully leaves the work, as he hopes, to the unbiased criticism of his readers.

THOMAS ROWLANDSON.

San Francisco, August, 1861.

Chapter I

The Zoological Character op Sheep. — Its Names according to Age — The marks by which its age may be known — The Teeth — Natural Age.

Sheep belong to the order Ruminantiae, or those aniraals that chew the cud, to the tribe Caprime, and genus Ovis. Of the Ovis there are three varieties — the Ovis Amxon, or Argali, the Ovis Musmon 1 , and the Ovis Aries, or domestic sheep. It is only the last variety with which the California sheep farmer feels economically interested. There are many points of resemblance between the goat and sheep, and it would be difficult to mark out any distinct external appearance found in the one that cannot be more or less discovered in the other. Spiral and curved horns are found in varieties of each genus, wool and hair also. As a general rule, however, wool predominates in the sheep and hair with the goat ; nor am I aware that goats' wool, such as the Thibitian kind, possesses any sensible felting qualities ; in fact, it is to the absence of this felting quality that the fine Cashmere shawls owe the property of maintaining their unrivalled fineness, though in constant use ; other shawls made from sheeps' wool thickening — that is felting — by continuous wear. With the exception of cases of scientific, but of no practical consequence, the difference in appearance between sheep and goats is sufficiently obvious to the most casual observer.

NAMES GIVEN TO SHEEP ACCORDING TO SEX AND AGE.

The male is called a ram or tup, unless castrated, after which it is usually termed a wether, though in many parts of the south of England the word " teg" is employed for the same purpose ; and on the borders of England and Scotland " dinmont" is also used. The general name employed when intending to describe the castrated male sheep is the word wether. In the United States the word " buck" has become very prevalent when alluding to male sheep that have not been castrated, though I believe not extended further as a distinctive appellation than as describing lambs as buck lambs. It would be well if sheep-masters would agree to adopt the most ancient names, such as ram and wether. Whilst with the mother both sexes receive the generic title lamb, and if a more distinctive one is desired the male animals are described as ram lambs or tup lambs. Prom weaning until shearing time it is often called a hog, a hogctt, a hoggerell, a lamb hog, a tup hog, or a teg ; and if castrated, a wether hog. After shearing, when the animal probably will be on an average of cases sixteen months old, he has received the names of a shearling, a shear-hog, &c, and a shearling wether, &c, when castrated. After the second shearing he is called a two-shear ram or tup, or wether ; at the expiration of another year he is called a three-shear ram, etc., the name always taking its date from the time of shearing

SHEEP HUSBANDRY.

It would be of no practical advantage to extend the enumeration into further English provincialisms.

The female is called a ewe or gimnier-lamb until weaned, after which a gimmer hog, or ewe hog, or teg. After being shorn she is a shearling ewe or gimmer ; afterwards is known as a two-shear, a three-shear, or a four or a six-toothed ewe. The last being sometimes called a theave.

THE AGE OF SHEEP — THE TEETH.

It has already been s.tated that the age of sheep is usually reckoned from the time of shearing ; when, however, a doubt exists on the subject, recourse is had to an examination of the teeth. Sheep have no incisor teeth on the front part of the upper jaw, the bars or ridges of the palate thicken as they approach the fore part of the mouth : there also the dense, fibrous, elastic matter of which they are constituted becomes condensed, and forms a cushion or bed that covers the front of the upper jaw, and occupies the place of the upper incisor or cutting teeth, and in part discharges their functions ; the herbage being (irmly held between the front teeth in the lower jaw and this pad, is partly bitten and partly torn away. The rolling motion of the head whilst the animal is feeding, affords an evidence of this tearing action.

The molar teeth in sheep are the same in number as those of the ox, namely, six above and below and on each side. Sheep when arrived at full growth, which is usually during the fifth year, possess eight incisor teeth in the lower jaw, or what is called full mouthed. Sheep are close feeders, and are enabled to shave the grass near to the roots. It is the better enabled to do this owing to the upper lip being deeply divided, and near the centre free from hairs. That part of the tooth above the gum is not only, as in other animals, covered with enamel 9 to enable it to bear and preserve a sharpened edge, but the enamel on the upper part rises from the bone of the tooth nearly a quarter of an inch, presenting a convex surface outward and a concave within, thus forming a little scoop or gouge. From these circumstances the sheep is better adapted for grazing than the ox, and can grow fat where an ox would starve.

The lamb is usually born before any of the temporary teeth — incisors or molars — have penetrated the gums. Generally, however, the first and several pairs of temporary incisors, the four teeth most centrally situated, are cut by the time the lamb is a week old. By the ninth or tenth day the third pair usually comes through, but the fourth or last pair is rarely put up until about the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth week. The temporary molars, or grinders as they are commonly called, three in number on either side of the upper and lower jaw, though uncut at birth, are fairly through the gums by the time the animal is three weeks old.

A marked difference exists with regard to the relative sizes of the different pairs of incisors.* The central teeth are broader and longer than the second pair, which also exceeds the third, as the third does the

* Front or cutting teeth.

SHEEP IIUS1UNDRY. I 1

fourth. In these particulars, as in several others, the temporary incisors arc the counterparts of the permanent, which succeed them. They are, however, very much smaller than the permanent.

The number of Loth the temporary and permanent sets of teeth of the sheep is the same as in the ox. The temporary incisors are eight, the temporary molars twelve, and when dentition is perfected by the changing of these teeth and the putting up of twelve more molars, the total number in both animals is thirty-two, namely, eight incisors or cutting teeth, and twenty-four molars or grinders. The temporary molars are likewise similar in form to the permanent, although smaller, excepting the third molar of the lawer jaw, which, like the corresponding temporary tooth of the ox and pig, is composed of three principal parts or lobes blended together. About the third week of the lamb's age both incisors and molars are so well developed as to enable the young animal to crop the grass and live comparatively independent of its dam.

From one month until about three months no change of consequence takes place in either the incisors or the molars. At this time, rather before than afterwards, the lamb cuts its first permanent molar teeth, the fourth in situation. These teeth, as in the calf, are usually more forward in the lower than in the upper jaw, and possessing but two lobes, are scarcely so long from front to back in the lower jaw as the temporary molars which stand before them. With this addition the lamb has by this time sixteen molars.

The next important stage in the process of teething in sheep is the cutting of the molars fifth in position. This takes place when the animal has reached his ninth month, and consequently forms a useful criterion to assist in determining^ question of age, both before and after this date. The molars are now twenty, which added to the incisors, gives a total of twenty-eight teeth.

At nine months the incisors offer but few facilities for ascertaining the animal's age. In most cases they will have reached their, full development ; and in some few, when the sheep have pastured on tough herbage, especially if intermixed with sand, will begin to give evidence of slight wear. Both the fourth and fifth molar teeth consist of two main parts or lobes blended together. The animal now passes nine months of his life without any addition being made to the number of his teeth, the sixth molar not coming up until he is eighteen months old.

At a year old, in cases not unfrequent of early teething sheep, they cut the first pair of 'permanent incisors. Cotswold sheep, as a rule, have their first permanent teeth before either Southdowns, Shropshires, or Hampshiredowns. Leicesters closely follow the Cotswold in early teething- In a majority of cases, however, sheep do not cut these teeth until they are about fifteen months old. At eighteen months most sheep will cut the sixth molar tooth.

As with the first pair of " broad teeth," so with the second ; many sheep do not put them up until three months after others. A year and three-quarters is the average time when sheep will cut their second pair of incisors. But instances are not wanting of sheep being nearly two years old before these teeth are in the mouth.

From a number of observations of early teething, it lias been found that the earliest appearance of six permanent incisors occurred at two years and a quarter. The third pair of permanent teeth does not, even in sheep of early dentition, succeed in the same time as those teeth did the first — there being six months only between the cutting of the first and the second pair, but nine between the second and third. In sheep of late dentition, the second pair of permanent incisors is not in the mouth till two years ; and in these animals the third pair is sometimes not cut until about two years and three-quarters.

Another nine months will sometimes elapse between the cutting of the third and the fourth pair. During this period, from daily attrition, the four central teeth will give increased evidence of wear. They will, in many instances, be flat on their surface, or it may be that this is worn into hollows.

The fourth pair of permanent incisors succeed the third at an interval of about nine months, which bring the sheep of early dentition to three years, and those of late dentition to three years and six months. It is not, however, to be assumed that all sheep will be "full mouthed " even at three years and a half ; there are exceptions, for greater regularity attends the time of cutting the fourth than any of the preceding pairs. Allowing for occasional cases where these teeth are not in the mouth until four years of age, it will be seen that even in those late exceptions just noticed, the dentition of sheep is completed a year before the time accorded to it by Youatt and other writers who have written on the subject. It is with regret that I have been compelled to abreviate these valuable observations of Professor Simmonds to so large an extent. Condensed as it is, however, I believe it is the most copious and correct account of ovine dentition which has appeared in any work" upon sheep.

DENTITION OF THE SHEEP.

Table of early Dentition.

Years. Months.

1 0. Central pair of temporary incisors replaced by permanent.

1 6. Second pair replaced by permanent.

2 3. Third pair

3 0. Fourth pair " " "

Years. Months.

Table of late Dentition.

1 4. Two permanent incisors.

2 0. Four

2 9. Six

3 6. Eight

In examining sheep, there will frequently be very considerable difference, on comparing the teeth of the

Figure I.

Figure 2.

Lambs full mouth — temporary incissor teeth.

Figure 3*

Second pair of permanent fncissors, which appear at the *ge of from. IS month? to 2 years.

Appearance of the first pair of permanent incissors. which appear at the age of from 12 to 1(> m oaths.

Figure 4.

Third pair of permanent incissors-, which appear at the age of from 2 year.- and 3 months to 2 year? and 9 months.

Figure 5.

Figure G.

Fourth pair of permanent incissors, (or full mouthed.) which appear at the age of from 3 years to 3 years and 6 months.

Example of displacement calculated to deceive, unless carefully examined.

hogs, or the one shear ; this may be accounted for in several ways, as difference in the period of lambing, as also to the natural stamina and vigor of the animal, especially if of a forward breed and highly fed ; owing to the latter cause alone a difference of a most marked character between the forward or backward appearance of the teeth in whole flocks may be observed, accordingly as they have received good and abundant feed, or been stinted to poor food.

The want of improvement observed sometimes in sheep, without any variation having taken place in the pasturage, arises from the animal being unable to ob'tain her ordinary amount of food in consequence of the inflamed state of the jaw, whilst the permanent teeth are protruding through the gums. It would be well if such are observed, to have ready some carrots, potatoes or other roots, sliced and mixed with bran or cut hay, in order to enable the animal to hold his own until the teething fever has passed.

The careless examiner may sometimes be deceived with regard to the three-year old mouth. The teeth may appear perfectly developed, no diminutive ones at the sides, and the mouth apparently full, and if the teeth are not counted, the observer will probably conclude that the sheep is four years old. In such cases a process of displacement and of diminution have taken place ; the outside milk teeth are not only shrunk to less than a fourth part of their original size, but the three-year old teeth may have grown before them, and so perfectly conceal them, unless the mouth is completely opened. Figure 6 represents this deceptive appearance.

After the permanent teeth have all appeared and are perfectly grown, there exists no criterion as to the age of sheep. In most cases the teeth of sheep remain sound according to circumstances, for about a couple of years after becoming full-mouthed, after which at uncertain intervals, whether from the effects of age or having to feed on hard, tough pasturage, especially when much sand is intermixed with the pasturage, the teeth become worn down to the gums ; or in cases where there is a deficiency, if carbonate and phosphate of lime in the food, they break off owing to natural slenderness, or occasionally from the effects of age they loosen and fall out. When therefore favorite ewes that have been kept for breeding, begin at six or seven years old to lose condition, their mouths should be carefully examined. If any of the teeth are loose, they should be extracted, and a chance given to the animal to show how far, by browsing early and late, she may be able to make up for her diminished number of - incisors. It sometimes happens that ewes with broken teeth, some even with all the incisors gone, will keep themselves in condition equal to the soundest of the flock ; such have, however, to be well taken care of during the winter — indeed, requiring an extent of care which w r ould only be justified on rare occasions with very fine animals from which I expected to obtain an exceedingly valuable progeny.

When sheep get much older than six years, it loses not only much of its property to fatten, but the wool also declines. This remark more especially applies to very high bred sheep. The kinds which nearest approach to a natural or wild state, such as the Herdwicks, I have known to produce lambs after they were fifteen years of age, and occasionally living to beyond twenty. The natural age of sheep is usually estimated at ten years ; to which age, if properly kept, they will generally breed and thrive well.

Chapter II

Climate as an Element in Sheep Culture. — Northern zone, within which Sheep flourished best — Cause of abandonment of the growth of fine wool in England — Requisites for the growth of fine Wool — Periodical scarcity of food — Fine wooled Sheep best adapted to warm climates, whether wet or dry; long, open-wooled breeds to wet climates — Effects of climate on pasturage, and cultivated food — Wider provision requisite and improved management required, if improved breeds are to become general in California — Special adaptability of race for special localities acquired by time — Peculiarity of character the result of irregularity of feeding, when Sheep are left in the natural state.

Of all the subjects connected with sheep grazing, whether considered as regards its direct or indirect action, no one is of so great importance as climate. This matter will be considered under two points of view, namely, the immediate action of climate upon the animal, chiefly affecting the skin in the .first place, and subsequently by sympathy the other organs and animal functions. The secondary one is perhaps of the greatest economical importance, and relates to the supply of food as dependent upon climate. For to a certain extent, abundance of food, possessed of a nutritious character, will compensate in degree for inclemency of climate ; to derive this advantage, however, it in the first place is requisite that the animal becomes acclimatized to the changed condition in which it is placed, otherwise most serious evils will arise.

Perhaps no tribe of animals possess so cosmopolitan a character as the Capridse, the goat from which the tribe has derived its name, possessing, in this respect, a wider range of adaptability to circumstances, than sheep. Nevertheless sheep are spread over a most extended portion of the earth's surface, being found from the equator to the icy circle, and from the level of the sea to an elevation only a little below the region of perpetual snow. , It is not one of the least excellent properties of this truly valuable animal, that it possesses a constitutional adaptability for living under such a wide range of climatic changes, but also the property of maintaining itself on pasturage greatly dissimilar.

Notwithstanding sheep live within the torrid zone, and also within the arctic circle, it will be found in each case that the general form of the animal becomes changed, as compared with those occupying the temperate regions of the earth. The most marked change displays itself in the wooly covering. In the equatorial regions, the fine fleecy wool becomes converted into hair, like that of goats, without any undergrowth of wool ; whilst in the colder regions that part of the wool is converted into hair, (kemps,) intermixed with long, straight hair-like wool, and beneath a thick fleece of very fine silk-like curly wool, similar to that which is found on the celebrated Cashmere goat. Between these two extremes a multitude of differences exist, an account of which alone would more than fill a volume like the present.

To sum up a brief synopsis, it may be stated, that north of the equator sheep flourish the best between the

30th and 55th parallel ; the dry and warm climes within these limits being best adapted for the production of the finest kinds of wool ; whilst the moist and cooler regions, yielding an abundance of succulent herbage, are most genial to the production of long and heavy fleeces, with proportionate carcasses. In such countries the symmetrical frame of sheep combining the greatest weight of wool and mutton, will always be naturally produced, and in cases where very great care and attention have been paid to the selection and breeding, an amount of excellence has been produced such as would have been incredible half a century ago. The improved Southdowns, Leicesters and Cotswolds, of England, are examples of what care and attention can attain in sheep husbandry. As a general rule, I have found that excellence of mutton is usually produced in moist, whilst fineness of fleece is best seen in dry climates. The character of the pasturage has, however, much to do with the production of each ; the effects of this, however, will be considered more fully hereafter, and will have to be referred to more than once. In England the cultivation of extremely fine wool has been almost abandoned, not as many suppose from an entire unsuitableness of climate, for in this respect the English climate is more favorable for the production of fine wool than that of Saxony, from whence are procured the extraordinary fine wool known as " Electoral. " The true reason of the almost total abandonment of the growth ol fine wool in the British Isles, arises from the spread during the last half century of the growth of what is usually termed green crops, such as turnips f rape, tares, mangold, ruta-baga, etc., etc., which can be consumed by long and open-wooled flocks during the comparatively mild and open winters of Britain. It will be shown hereafter, when treating of the Saxon Merino, that such a system is wholly incompatible with the growth of fine wool ; whilst on the other hand it is specially well adapted for the growth of the greatest weight of wool and mutton in the shortest period on the smallest surface. For such a system of husbandry, the Merino and its Australian and Saxon derivations are wholly unfitted, not only by constitutional disposition, but also from this circumstance, namely, that where fine wooled sheep are allowed to consume succulent and nutritious food in considerable quantity both wool and carcass becomes heavier, but at a sacrifice of the fineness and value of the former ; the extra weight of fleece not equaling in value the loss sustained by diminished price. (As an example of this, see Appendix.)

The climate of England is better adapted to the growth of fine wooled sheep than Saxony, and other things, as labor, the value of land, etc., being equal, it could be raised more economically and most probably of a finer texture, than any thing produced in Saxony. Meat however in those densely populated isles, yields a higher monetary return than fine wooled sheep would do, occupying the same ground. It cannot, therefore, be a matter of surprise that the production of fine wool in England has been almost wholly abandoned. In fact

England possesses, or at least possessed until very recently, an indigenous breed of fine wooled sheep, the Ryeland, which has shown itself better adapted than any other breed to consume green food with the least deterioration in the quality of the fleece. This breed, if still in existence, is without any doubt the oldest known as possessed of what is called by breeders " fixity of type" its appearance, habits, etc., being the same as they were six centuries ago ; there are also strong reasons for believing that they are the ancestors of the Merino. Long however as this fixity of type has existed, it has not been found sufficient to counterbalance the eifect of food, for at the commencement of the present century it was found that flocks of Ryelands that were allowed to feed on green crops during the winter, had the quality of their wool deteriorated as regards fineness, when compared with the old style of feeding in cots with straw, pease-haulm, hay and other dry food ; the weight of wool on those which were green fed, was however found to have increased.

The example here given will bear a general application, and is one that should be ever kept in mind by the intending flockmaster, and will not be without its use to those already engaged in sheep farming.

Colonel Randall has stated in his work " Sheep Husbandry in the South" that warmth of climate renders wool coarser. In this opinion I do not fully concur, but rather infer that when such is seen in warm countries within given limits, that the coarseness will be found rather attributable to grazing on succulent herbage, which is often found in the vales of countries possessing warm climates. In order to maintain a fine wool it is requisite that the animal should be limited in the quantity of food, and that food ought to be of a dry character. In order to produce wool of the finest staple and in the greatest quantity, with the least amount of superintendence, several things are required, namely : In the first place, a fine wooled flock to start with ; secondly, a warm climate : thirdly, dry, nutritious but not over abundant herbage ; and lastly, a dry soil, or only possessed of just sufficient moisture as will maintain the pasture plants in a healthy growth. I have already alluded to the fact that in the torrid zone, that sheep when allowed to rove in a state of nature, the wool becomes changed into hair. Mr. Youatt gives an illustration of the converse of this, namely, that the first sheep introduced by the English into Australia, were the coarse, hairy sheep of Bengal. In the short space of three years these were so far changed by the effect of climate and other circumstances, that their hair was entirely gone, and was succeeded by a fleece of wool ; of what quality, however, has not been stated. Although the change from hair to wool is a curiously physiological and very instructive fact, the writer doubts whether the wool of animals so descended would in any reasonable period of time become of fine quality ; nor would it be very safe for a California sheep-breeder to rely upon his flocks of immediate, or not very remote Mexican descent, with their straight harsh wool, almost like hair, becoming changed into wool of even moderate fineness, through the ameliorating agency of a California climate. Mr. Youatt further adds : " The Southdown and Leicester sheep were subsequently introduced, and their crosses with the Bengal sheep soon became as fine as the pure bloods of the former." At length some Merinos were imported by the colonists, and says Mr. Youatt, " the experiment was satisfactory beyond their expectation." The third or fourth cross with the then prevalent sheep of the colony, produced an animal with a fleece equal to that of the pure Merino in Europe ; and the wool of the pure blood seemed to improve as rapidly as the native breed had done.