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Show SANITARY BARNS FOR SHEEP Need Not Be Built for Warmth, but Must Be Dry and Well '--' .-.ti. jts'J Drafts Are F... Sheep barns are not as expensive as tliope for cattle, horses, or hogs for the simple reason that they need not be built lor warmth. Let them be dry and well ventilated and the flock will thrive in the coldest of winter win-ter weather. That dampness is fatal was amply demonstrated on a farm near Madison, Wis. The owner telephoned tele-phoned to the university that his sheep were dying, and that an expert should be sent out to determine the cause. The instructor no sooner stepped into the barn and got his slioes rilled with water than he jumped hack and said, "1 know already. Water." Wa-ter." The barn had been built against a sidchill and no attention paid to the drainage. As a result, the heavy thawing thaw-ing of spring caused the moisture to just seep through one of the foundation founda-tion walls in streams, covering the floor four Inches deep. Pneumonia then wiped out the fiock in a very short time. Sheep barns should not be built on low or marshy tracts, but on high elevated areas so that the water may drain away. They should be set in such a manner as to form a windbreak wind-break against the prevailing cold winds from the northwest. A yard should always be connected with this windbreak, as sheep should be driven out of doors every time the weather permits. The ventilation must be perfect. The King system is probably the most convenient yet devised, although many of the home-made devices are good. There is just this about the King system; It takes some men a little time before they are able to grasp its principles and get it to working successfully. Windows are needed for proper lighting, as sheep will not thrive In the dark any more than any other animal, in fact, will not thrive under lighting conditions found tolerable by cattle. Again, windows win-dows are excellent as part of the ventilating ven-tilating system if care is taken not to open them in such a manner that a draft is formed on windy days. Drafts are fatal to sheep. |