10S 



SHEEP— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



When the time of yeaning approaches, 

 a little care may prevent a very great loss 

 to the farmer. The ewes should be 

 brought as nearly home as possible. They 

 should be sheltered from the wind, it it 

 be only a high and thick hedge; but a 

 kind of shed, however rudely constructed 

 would abundantly pay the expense of 

 building it. At night, particularly, they 

 should be folded in some sheltered place. 



The care of the farmer or lamber will 

 vary a great deal according to tne period 

 of the year and the state ot tne weather. 

 In the early lambing the greatest losses 

 are at the beginning; they arise princi- 

 pally from cold. In March or April the 

 latter part of the lambing season is most 

 dangerous, for there is more abundant 

 keep, and more tendency to inflamma- 

 tion. 



The clatting of the ewes is a very useful 

 practice now. They are tiirown, and a 

 portion of the wool is remo'/ed from their 

 tails and udders. The sticking together 

 of the wool from the purging to which 

 the ewe is often subject in "the early part 

 of the spring, when the grass is fresh, has 

 lost many a lamb. When the udders are 

 thus cleaned, the lamber will more easily 

 perceive the stain on the part, which, and 

 Avhich alone, will sometimes tell him 

 whether the ewe has yeaned ; for it is no 

 uncommon thing for a young ewe to 

 desert her lamb, and be found grazing 

 with the rest of the flock as unconcernedly 

 as if nothing had happened. 



An experienced lamber win almost 

 always tell when the ewe is about to 

 yean. If he finds her soon afterwards 

 taken with labor pains, and they continue 

 to succeed each other regularly, and she 

 remains lying down, he will take care not 

 to disturb her ; but if a couple of hours 

 pass, and the lamb is not produced, he 

 carefully examines her. If the nose and 

 the tips of the toes have presented them- 

 selves, and the lamb seems to be in a 

 proper position, but the head is large, or 

 the passage is narrow, he leaves her 

 again for another hour; but if there is 

 evidently a false presentation, he intro- 

 duces one or two fingers, or his hand, 

 well guarded with oil, puts the young one 

 in the proper position, and nature speedily 

 effects the rest. 



The principal art of the lamber is to 

 know when he should interfere. In every 



case of false presentation his help should 

 be ready and immediate ; but otherwise 

 he should very rarely meddle with the 

 ewe, except the mother is nearly ex- 

 hausted, or the life of the young one 

 appears to be in danger. One moment's 

 observation will discover the state of the 

 mother; and the degree of protrusion of 

 the tongue of the young one, and its 

 color, will not often deceive with regard 

 to him. When the tongue hangs far 

 from the mouth, and is getting livid or 

 black, it is high time for the lamber to 

 interfere. 



The lamber should use as little violence 

 as possible; but then he should recollect 

 that the ewe will often bear a great deal 

 of force being applied without the slight- 

 est injury to her, and sometimes with no 

 great danger to the little one. The 

 exhausted state of the one or the other 

 Avill regulate the degree of force. When 

 there is much exhaustion, no time is to 

 be lost, and some strength should be 

 applied in the extraction of the lamb. 



The state of the weather, too, will 

 somewhat regulate this. In cold weather 

 more time may be allowed. The process 

 of parturition is then slower. In warm 

 weather there is more tendency to fever, 

 and the ewe should not be suffered to 

 exhaust herself too much. 



Unnatural presentations are often very 

 awkward things to have to do with. The 

 ewe should be driven into the pound, and 

 after having rested a few minutes, some 

 of the fingers, or the hand, if it is small, 

 should be introduced into the vagina. If 

 only one leg presents, and the shoulder 

 thus forms an obstruction, the other leg 

 will generally be easily laid hold of and 

 brought down. If the neck is bent, and 

 the crown of the head presents itself, it 

 may be pushed back, and the two fore- 

 paws brought into the passage, and then 

 the muzzle will naturally follow. If the 

 foetus lies sideways, the cord and the 

 position of the legs will enable the shep- 

 herd to distinguish between the spine and 

 the belly. The turning is sometimes a 

 difficult thing; but practice will often 

 give the lamber a great deal of clever- 

 ness in this operation. 



In extreme cases, and when the lamb 

 is evidently dead, it may be necessary to 

 introduce a blunt-pointed knife into the 

 uterus, and cut the little animal to pieces. 



