SHEEP— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



however, the fatal result is to be attributed 

 to bad management. The younger the 

 lambs are the better, provided they are 

 not very weak. From ten days to a fort- 

 night seems to be the most proper time, 

 or, we may say, as soon as the testicles can 

 be laid hold of. We would advise the farm- 

 er never to set apart a day when the whole 

 or the greater part of his male lambs are 

 to undergo the operation, for many of 

 them will then be too old, and he will 

 assuredly lose some of them. He should 

 take them as soon as they are ready, al- 

 though there may be only a few at a time. 



The lamb being well secured, the scro- 

 tum or bag is to be grasped in one hand 

 high up, and the testicles pushed down as 

 low as possible : two incisions are then to be 

 made across the bag at the bottom of it, 

 and the testicles forced out. The gelder 

 now often takes the stones between his 

 teeth, and bites the cord asunder. This 

 is a nasty and a cruel way of proceed- 

 ing. The better way is to draw the testi- 

 cles down an inch or more from the scro- 

 tum, and then to cut through the cord 

 close to the scrotum with a knife that is 

 not very sharp. Scarcely a drop of blood 

 follows when the cord is thus separated ; 

 the end of the cord retracts into the bag, 

 and there is not half the danger of inflam- 

 mation which there is when the cord is 

 gnawed and torn by the teeth. 



Except the lambs are very weakly, and 

 the ewes much exhausted and emaciated, 

 it will not be requisite to give any medi- 

 cine after yeaning. In the great majority 

 of cases the animals will do a great deal 

 better without it. Should, however, tonic 

 medicine be necessary, we know nothing 

 better than the Tonic Drink. (See No. 

 65, Domestic Animals, Medicines for.) 



If the ewes will not feed well at all, 

 they should be forced with good gruel, 

 and the best is made of equal parts of oat 

 and linseed meal. 



IAMBS, Coagulation of the Milk.— We 

 have spoken of this when treating of the 

 diseases of calves. The lamb is, if pos- 

 sible, more subject to this curdling of the 

 milk than the calf is, and it carries off the 

 finest and best of the flock. The farmer 

 likes to see his lambs growing fast 5 but it 

 is possible to make more haste than good 

 speed. The lamb may have excess of 

 nutriment, and particularly of its mother's 

 milk. When a lamb thrives at an extra- 



ordinary rate, the bag of the mother 

 should be examined, and if it is too large 

 and full, it will be prudent to milk away- 

 daily a little of its contents, otherwise the 

 yet weak stomach of the young animai 

 may have more coagulated milk in it than 

 it can digest. All the milk that is swal- 

 lowed by the young lamb coagulates in 

 the stomach, and if it accumulates too 

 fast, the stomach will become perfectly 

 choked with it, and the lamb will be de- 

 stroyed. Two pounds of curdled milk 

 have been found in the stomach of a 

 lamb. When a thriving lamb, with a 

 healthy mother having a full bag, begins 

 all at once to be dull, and stands panting 

 and distressed, and can scarely be induced 

 to move, and is considerably swelled, it is 

 probably from this cause. 



In this disease there is often apparent 

 purging of a light color, which is, in fact, 

 the whey passing off, whilst the curd accu- 

 mulates and produces obstinate constipa- 

 tion. 



The first thing to be done is to admin- 

 ister an alkali, to dissolve the mass, such 

 as magnesia, in doses of half an ounce 

 twice a day; after which two to four 

 drachms of Epsom salts, with a little gin- 

 ger, dissolved in warm water, and the 

 warm water often repeated, if necessary, 

 by means of the stomach-pump as useful 

 for them as for cattle. When the bowels 

 have thus been opened, and the curdled 

 milk has in some measure passed off, the 

 stomach may be strengthened by occa- 

 sional doses of the Tonic Drink for Cat- 

 tle. (See No. 32, Domestic Animals, 

 Medicines for.) The ewe and lamb 

 should then be turned into scantier pas- 

 ture. 



LAMBS, Diarrhoea. — There is not a 

 more destructive disease among young 

 lambs than this. It frequently attacks 

 them when they are not more than a day 

 old, and carries them off in the course of 

 another day. Oftener it does not appear 

 until they are nearly a week old, and the 

 lambs have not then a much better chance. 

 But if they are two or three months old, 

 and have gained a little strength, they 

 may, perhaps, weather the disease. The 

 causes are various, but not always diffi- 

 cult to discover. They are generally re- 

 ferrable to the neglect and mismanage- 

 ment of the farmer. It may be the 

 consequence of absurd and cruel ex- 



