THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



331 



hill country. However well he has contrived to bring 

 the flock withia easy range, his eye and hand are con- 

 stantly in action, and the master will do well to render 

 him frequent assistance. At night, during a busy time, 

 an extra pair of hands may save many lambs. 



Every breeding farm should have a paddock con- 

 sisting of two or three acres, well protected with a high 

 hedge, and situated near the shepherd's or the farm- 

 house. In lieu of such a permanent lambing fold, a 

 row of faggots, obliquely laid upon the sward, and 

 staked down, or a line of hurdles, wattled with straw, 

 cutting off a bit of the most convenient grass-field, can 

 be made to answer the purpose. Indeed the stack- 

 yard is often used, and with less expense. Set up 

 within the enclosure, in some warm situation against a 

 wall or hedge, roofed with straw, a row of pens, con- 

 structed of wattled hurdles or stubble. They 

 serve as a refuge for ewes that lamb in the night, 

 or at any other time of day, and require temporary pro- 

 tection from cold, wind, and rain. If possible the pas- 

 tures into which the lambed ewes are turned are pro- 

 vided with triangular shelters, or pens made of three 

 wattled hurdles. 



The fold is intended to hold either the whole flock, or 

 those who by their marks are expected to lamb first, 

 and they are driven in at night-fall. 



Those ewes that have no lamb, termed generally 

 " guile," must about this time be selected and put with 

 the fattening sheep. Their blooming fleece and active 

 motions betray them ; and if a doubt exists, the shepherd 

 should examine the udder. If the teat upon pressure 

 yields no dark, thick viscid substance, the fact of no 

 lamb may be considered proved. Before the lambing 

 commences the shepherd must be supplied with brandy, 

 castor oil, Epsom salts, ginger, peppermint, spirits of 

 nitre, laudanum, one or two bottles for milk, a cord, 

 knife and hook ; with the most important of these he 

 must fill his budget, and the rest must be at hand. For 

 his nightly rounds he will need a lantern, and to facili- 

 tate the capture of individuals of his flock without run- 

 ning any, a crook is necessary. 



Symptoms of Labour. — These are enlargement, and 

 reddening of the parts beneath the tail, drooping of the 

 flanks, impatient stamping, isolation, frequent stretch- 

 ing, shifting from place to place, lying down and rising 

 almost immediately. 



Labour and its Phases. — The immediate preliminary 

 of labour is the expulsion of the bag of water from the 

 vagina, subsequent to which ensue violent pains, and 

 seeming desire of relief. But until the yellow hoofs 

 appear in the passage, with the mouth lying upon them, 

 the ewe should be left entirely to itself. 



In case the ewe proves too weak to deliver herself, 

 the shepherd must deliver her, with the remembrance 

 that a hasty parturition superinduces inflammation. 

 Experience must guide him as to the proper time to 

 wait between the appearance mentioned and the assist- 

 ance rendered. 



Where the shepherd is alone, the most sensible mode 

 of delivering a ewe is by gently laying her on her left 

 side. He then bestrides her body, kneeling, with his 

 right knee against her loin, his left heel against the lower 

 part of her abdomen, and, of course, his face to the 

 tail. Thus with both hands free, he proceeds to push 

 out from him, with both hands, one leg of the lamb, 

 and then the other, and seizing both lejjs above the fet- 

 locks with his left hand, he pushes them downwards 

 from the ewe's back. With his right hand he endeavours 

 to free the head of the lamb from the vulva of the ewe ; 

 which done, the action of the hands being simultaneous 

 with the strainings of the ewe, only helping not tearing, 

 the operation is completed. Pains are taken to induce 

 the ewe to recognize the lamb ; it ia placed near her 



head, its tail is put in her mouth, and if she attempts 

 to run away, as many will do from their first lamb, she is 

 penned with her lamb, and if necessary penned in very 

 close quarters, so as to prevent her butting it. 



If the ewe continues to lie and strain after the deli- 

 very, it may be supposed that she possesses a second 

 lamb, which may be delivered in the same fashion. It 

 not unfrequently occurs, however, that one of these two 

 lambs is dead, or misplaced. In case it is dead, and 

 has been so for a fortnight, it will be sufficiently rotted 

 to allow of being pulled away peacemeal. If it is not 

 so far decomposed, it must be cut away. When a false 

 presentation does occur, the shepherd must gently en- 

 deavour to rectify it, by introducing his hand, well 

 lubricated with fresh lard. And the less dogging and 

 disturbance of any kind the ewes receive during preg- 

 nancy, the less risk is there of unnatural presentations. 

 In case of twins there is danger of mistaking the legs. 



Supposing the head to be bent back, it must be 

 brought forward ; and the legs, if bent, must be pushed 

 back and straightened. The presentation of a breech 

 gives rise to a difiicult case, and renders the delivery 

 tedious and painful. The hind legs must first be brought 

 out, and the. rest of the body must quickly follow, or the 

 lamb will be drowned in the liquor amni. 



Or it may be necessary to rest the ewe on her 

 shoulder, raise her rump, and turn the lamb with the 

 hand in the womb, to its proper position. 



There are many curious operations rendered neces- 

 sary by the delivery of malformations ; but it is not ne- 

 cessary to dwell upon them here. Before I pass on, 

 however, I will remind you that in ease of twins the ewe 

 may be so employed with and fond of the first-born, as 

 to cause the pains of labour to cease for the second. 

 The unskilful shepherd may be misled by this fact, and 

 keen observation alone detects her true state. 



To reproduce pains in such a case, or where fruitless 

 pains have been succeeded by apathy, two table spoons- 

 ful of ergot of rye, repeated as a second dose in a 

 quarter of an hour, will be efficient. 



From the afier-pains or reaction of the womb after 

 birth, great loss is often sustained. This malady mani- 

 fests itself sometimes immediately after parturition, or 

 not until the first, second, or third day. It seems to 

 be the effect of the great exhaustion of the nervous 

 system. If it continues twelve hours, the life of the ewe 

 may be given up. In severe cases a dose of two ounces 

 of laudanunixa&yhe given three times a day. Inflamma- 

 tion of the womb after lambing is usually seen between 

 the first and fourth day. Its coui-se is very rapid and 

 fatal. Bleedings, and purgatives of Epsom salts, are the 

 usual remedies. The true preventive is care not to 

 overfeed previous to lambing. 



A little trouble is likely to be occasioned to the shep- 

 herd by a protrusion of the uterus in some of the ewes, 

 A stitch or two with a needle-and-thread to keep it in, 

 and a little laudanum to prevent paining, will generally 

 suffice ; but the ewe should never again be used for 

 breeding purposes. 



It may be as well to mention here that the placenta 

 drops soon after delivery. It should on no account be 

 allowed to lie upon the lambing-ground. Indeed, the 

 pens and paddock cannot be kept too clean, or too fre- 

 quently bedded, as many losses occur to the slovenly 

 manager from the contact of rotting and impure sub- 

 stances, at this time, with the inflamed and lacerated 

 parts of the ewes. 



Sue/cling, ^'c— It is well for ewes producing twins 

 to be separated ; for if, left in the crowd, they lose sight 

 of one lamb, they often refuse to recognize it again, 

 even if the separation has not existed three hours. There 

 are endless repudiations and capricious partialities now 

 shown by the ewes, which try the patience of the shep- 



