488 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



WOUNDS OF THE FEET. 



Sheep may occasionally puncture the skin of the interdigital space 

 by forcing a sharp stone or stub between the claws of the foot, but such 

 accidents are infrequent, and the fever and lameness thus produced 

 seldom last for more than a few days. 



A raere common cause of accidental lesions to the feet of sheep is 

 found around some yards or stables, where loose boards with the points 

 of nails sticking up from .their surfaces are carelessly left for the flock 

 to run over. 



Pl'BULENT INFLAMJIATION OF THE INTERDIGIT.\L SPACE ( FOULS ) . 



This condition is one that is frequently met in sheep, and it has 

 often been mistakenly called foot-it)t. From this faulty naming has 

 arisen much of the controversy over the question of the contagiousness 

 of foot-rot. Parties who have had experience only with purulent inflam- 

 mation of the foot, and who have looked upon it as foot-rot. have very 

 reasonably asserted that foot-rot is by no means contagious, that it 

 appears sporadictally, may attack but few members of the fiock, yields 

 promptly to treatment, and nearly always makes its appearance among 

 sheep during their psturage upon low, swampy land. If the term foot- 

 rot is used at all in connection with purulent inflammation of the feet, 

 it should be qualified by calling the affection benign or non-contagious 

 foot-rot, in order to avoid all confusion with the real or contagious form 

 of the disease. This purulent inflammation may result from pasturing 

 or wet, filthy grounds or on low, marshy lands. An irritation of the cleft 

 of the foot occurs which is followed by fissures in the skin and a soften- 

 ing of the horn resembling foot-rot. In rainy weather sheep that are 

 pasturing upon clay soils often accumulate irritating masses of twigs, 

 stubble, or small, sharp pebbles in the. interdigital space of the fcot. 

 These substances become thoroughly embedded in moistened clay, and this 

 mixture is gradually molded to the form of the space between the claws 

 of the foot. In this position it will remain for days unless removed by 

 force, and it may be the cause of serious inflammation, suppuration, and 

 lameness so long as it retains its position in this sensitive place. Each 

 step of the animal causes the projecting points of the offending material . 

 to cut deeper and deeper into the adjoining tissues of the foot. There 

 ensues swelling above the coronet and the whole of this region becomes 

 reddened and feverish. Cases have been noted where marsh-grasses 

 with their saw-like edges have become entangled in the cleft of the .foot 

 and have remained in position long enough to set up a painful irritation 

 by their constant friction. Finally, on examining the foot of a lame 

 sheep, one may discover the presence of none of these pointed objects, 

 and still the inflammation is intense. This condition has been known 

 to follow the entrance of particles of sand and gravel into the cuts, 

 •cracks, or injuries, and one should always bear this in mind while looking 

 for a cause for lameness, and carefully remove the grit or dirt which 

 may be present. Sometimes the horn, having grown rapidly because of 

 the unusual stimulation, may inclose the gravel and retain it within the 

 foot as a constant source of irritation. 



