CATTLE DAIRY HUSBANDRY. 



towards the end of autumn among cattle grazed 

 on low damp situations, subject to hoar-frost 

 It also occurs during summer, when the season is 

 dry, with heat and cold alternating. The disease 

 is confined chiefly to young animals, or cows that 

 have recently calved. Red-water has been at- 

 tributed to sudden chills ; the animal exposed to 

 the sun's rays during the day, lies all night on 

 cold ground, while the temperature falls below 

 the freezing-point. The disease is connected with 

 a deranged state of the digestive organs, prin- 

 cipally of the liver. The first symptom is diar- 

 rhoea, with loss of rumination ; this is followed by 

 constipation; the faeces also become black, and 

 the animal rapidly loses condition ; and if in milk, 

 the secretion almost wholly ceases. The disease 

 should be treated with calomel. The following 

 may be given in oatmeal gruel : Calomel, one 

 and a half scruples; carbonate of ammonia, 

 four drachms; sulphur, six ounces; sulphate of 

 magnesia, six ounces. After the animal is con- 

 valescent, exposure to cold or extreme heat should 

 be avoided. 



Chronic diarrhoea is common to cows that have 

 been improperly managed when young ; it is also 

 hereditary. The disease is generally, however, 

 owing to recurrence of causes commonly unsus- 

 pected, till the constitutional disturbance shews 

 itself. The animal loses condition. Diarrhoea 

 is frequently the concomitant of other diseases, 

 consumption being the most common. With 

 cows turned out daily during early spring, or 

 kept late in the season at pasture, receiving 

 little house-feeding, the scanty fare in the fields, 

 with the cold and wet, cause diarrhoea. The 

 local terms of wasting, consumption, rot, scouring, 

 &c. all indicate a state of disease, which, if not 

 checked, ultimately causes death. In dairy dis- 

 tricts, the complaint occasionally carries off a 

 great number of cows. Calves are also subject 

 to scour, arising from a derangement of the 

 stomach. Carbonate of magnesia, two drachms, 

 may be given to a calf: for cows and young cattle 

 calomel, two scruples; opium-powder, half a 

 drachm ; chalk, three ounces, mixed in gruel. 

 It is sometimes advisable to empty the intestines 

 by a dose of salts. Half a pound of Epsom salts 

 may be given this followed by calomel and 

 opium, half a drachm of each given daily. 



Quarter-ill, black-leg, felon, shewt of blood, &c. 

 are local names for a disease of an inflammatory 

 nature, to which young cattle are exceedingly 

 disposed, unless their condition is kept up and 

 their comfort otherwise studied. Sudden in its 

 attack, and rapid in its progress, generally ter- 

 minating fatally, all that can be successfully 

 attempted is prevention. The animal is observed 

 to be lame; the affected limb when examined is 

 found swollen ; the skin over the part, when 

 pressed, gives a crackling noise ; exudated bloody 

 serum is collecting in the cellular tissue. The 

 inflammation proceeds; mortification ultimately 

 ensues ; and the animal usually dies within a few 

 hours after being observed to be unwell. Calves 

 weaned and kept late in the season at pasture, in 

 fields exposed to the prevailing winds or to the 

 miasma of a marsh or damp ground, with the 

 herbage hard and deficient in nutriment, are 

 extremely liable to become affected, either during 

 the period or within some months after they are 

 removed. When the disease appears after the 



removal, the feeding has usually been improved 

 in quality. A sudden change in the flow of blood 

 causes a febrile condition, followed by congestion 

 in one or other of the limbs in some cases, in 

 the brisket. An extrication of gas, followed 'by 

 serum, in the cellular membrane, and, if the 

 animal survives, extensive sloughing of the skin, 

 take place; but sloughing is so exceptional, that 

 few practitioners have witnessed a cure. When 

 one animal of a herd becomes affected, the others 

 as well as the patient, should be bled; the 

 intestines relieved by a dose of salts, from one 

 quarter to one pound of Epsom or common 

 salts. With those not affected, the supply of food 

 should be regulated so as to prevent a rapid for- 

 mation of blood. The bowels should be kept 

 in a healthy state: to secure this, allow oil- 

 cake from two to five pounds daily. The disease 

 is confined to young animals ; and is rarely 

 known to attack those which have reached two 

 years. 



Catarrh, cold, cough, is often induced by ex- 

 posure to cold and wet, occurring mostly in 

 spring, when the wind is easterly. Inflammation 

 of the mucous membrane of the air-passages 

 which line the nostrils, causes a slight cough ; the 

 throat is usually affected, the coat staring. If 

 the cough is short, husky, and dry, and the animal 

 looks anxious and haggard, the inflammation has 

 extended to the lungs; bronchitis is present, a 

 dangerous disease, requiring the aid of the most 

 skilful veterinary surgeon. Catarrh is not un- 

 frequently manifested as epizootic. Fever is 

 invariably present, but not always of the same 

 character; sometimes of a low typhoid kind; in 

 other cases, active. When one animal of a herd 

 becomes affected, it should be kept apart in 

 a warm but well-aired house ; and bleeding, with 

 aperients and counter-irritation, employed. Those 

 not apparently affected should receive a dose 

 of common salt, the throat being rubbed with 

 a stimulating liniment Cake should be allowed ; 

 if previously given, the quantity should be in- 

 creased, and the animals protected from cold, 

 and especially from wet If they are confined 

 to an ill-ventilated byre, a portion should be 

 removed to another place, the ventilation im- 

 proved, and cleanliness strictly carried out The 

 disease is so subtile, that unless the greatest care 

 is taken, a portion may be expected to succumb. 

 Some practitioners insert a seton 'in the dewlap, 

 as a preventive of this as well as of quarter-ill. 



When inflammation of the lungs sets in, there is 

 quick and laborious breathing, occasionally accom- 

 panied with a low noise ; cough, short and painful ; 

 the pulse is sometimes full and strong, but is 

 frequently weak ; the nostrils are dry and red, the 

 mouth hot, the eye dull ; the skin is cold to the 

 feel, and the hair partially staring. The rumina- 

 tion almost wholly ceases ; condition is rapidly 

 lost ; and unless the disease is checked, the ani- 

 mal, gradually becoming weaker, dies. Bleeding 

 in the earlier stage, opening and keeping active 

 the bowels, with application of counter-irritants to 

 the sides immediately behind the armpits, are the 

 only means at command, but they seldom prove 

 successful in the treatment of cattle. The most 

 insidious, and, at the same time, the most exten- 

 sively fatal form of inflammation of the lungs, is 



Pleura-pneumonia. There has been difficulty 

 in tracing the origin of this epizootic pestilence. 



