6.II

It should always be a fast rule that in the season of hay turn the stables and sheepfolds should not be cleaned out because the dampness that comes forth from the earth more abundantly then than in any other season adheres to the walls and partitions of the folds and stables and breeds corruption in the fold from its dreadful miasma and stench.

In winter the ice and cold dissipate such humors and miasmas and they are not as harmful as in hay turn. The reason is that the earth then opens its passages and spews forth the excesses of its bowels more abundantly. Therefore it is better and more advisable to leave the manure in the ewe’s stable in Hay turn than to remove it, since the earth’s humor, which breeds bad air and stench in the stable, does not have a great strength when it is covered with manure.

The fetid air causes many maladies and great grief to the animals in this season, so it is good to avoid that by leaving the manure, for the freshness of the manure is not so bad or dangerous as the corrupt dampness of the stable’s earth because of the vapors that come from the earth, as has been seen.

In all other seasons, except that of hay turn, the stable can and should be kept clean and the manure removed each season two or more times. If done more, even better, for more the animals are kept clean and in order, the more they prosper.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

The shepherd should avoid and prevent with all his power his animals becoming wet at any time, because rain is unfavorable and harmful to sheep and marks them weaken and fall off. Therefore he should watch carefully that they do not go out in the rain and that they are not wet except in the season of Hay Turn.

In Hay turn it is good for the eyes to have rain before they are shorn, because the wool is more clean, better to shear, and more marketable. Also the rain falling on the wool before shearing brings forth the ewes’ good grease, which protects their body and is very beneficial to them.

However, as much as the rain is valuable and helpful to the ewes before shearing, it is even more harmful and damaging after they are shorn and at all other times.

In all weathers and all seasons the shepherd should lead forth his animals and ewes and bring them back for their comfort and profit and keep watch over them. All these rules should be observed by each shepherd, as well as others that are necessary and appropriate to this learning and those which will be presented separately hereafter.

-Old Jean of Brie, a Shepherd of the Free Men’s Lands.