206 SHEEP DISEASES. 



ment is frequently impossible. As kafir and sor- 

 ghum stubble is not uniformly poisonous it may 

 be worth while to "try" it with only a few sheep 

 otherwise it is unsafe to turn a band onto such 

 forage. The danger is greater in dry seasons 

 than in normal seasons. 



29. Bearded Grasses. 



A number of grasses such as foxtail, bearded 

 barley or wheat, cheat, needle-grass and sand- 

 burrs all cause trouble to sheep by mechanical ir- 

 ritation. A violent gastro-enteritis is often in- 

 duced by eating them. Sometimes a bunch of the 

 spikes or awns lodge in the mouth under the 

 tongue and the animal starves to death from in- 

 ability to eat. 



When once affected, absolutely no treatment is 

 known that is successful if the irritation occurs 

 in the stomach or bowels. A careful post-mortem 

 examination will reveal the cause, and an exten- 

 sive repetition of the trouble can be avoided by 

 changing pastures. 



30. Ensilage. 



Cases have been known where a large number 

 of sheep have been killed by feeding on mouldy 

 silage, or silage that apparently was in good con- 

 dition, but contained the fungus, ' i Penicillium. ' ' 



The symptoms are the same as from mouldy 

 feed of any kind: A violent colic, constipation, 

 followed by fetid diarrhea, convulsions and death. 



Treatment is very unsuccessful, since, when the 

 animals begin to exhibit typical symptoms, fatal 



