FITTING SHEEP 



being set on very high, is next noticeable. A lowering of 

 the belly, and a somewhat distracted look next follows 

 .and adds to the many symptoms. After a while a slight, 

 clear discharge is noticed coming from the vulva, which 

 increases in quantity until the water bladders or sacs make 

 their appearance. The ewe now usually has severe pains 

 ^ind commences to strain violently. She will lay down and 

 .get up again repeatedly and paw the ground and make a 

 series of circular movements of the body as if seeking a suit- 

 able place for depositing her offspring. She appears the 

 very picture of misery. When the final "pains" of parturition 

 come, however, she will lay on the ground and strain very 

 "heavily until she has succeeded in bringing forth her off- 

 spring. 



How to Manage a Ewe When Yeaning. 



Just so long as a ewe is doing well, according to the 

 -usual course of Nature, it is best to let her alone, but where, 

 in the case of her experiencing unnecessary trouble and diffi- 

 culty in bringing forth her offspring, a little help is not out 

 of place, but rather beneficial to her. Now, in the case of 

 a large-headed lamb, sometimes by a little timely help from 

 the shepherd, the ewe may be spared a considerable amount 

 of pain and loss of strength. Where the lamb's head is 

 -abnormally large the shepherd can materially assist the ewe 

 by putting his opened hand on the skin of the vulva, that 

 covers the skull of the lamb, and by gently pushing or 

 pulling it rather back over the skull of the lamb, the 

 head is practically free. The ewe, left to her own resources, 

 Ttnay have had a very trying time, of a duration of an hour 



