SHEEP— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



SHEEP, Diarrhoea, or Purging in.— The 

 full-grown sheep is almost as subject to 

 purging as is the lamb, but it is not so 

 difficult to be cured, nor is it so fatal. A 

 sheep can scarcely be turned into fresh 

 pasture in the spring without beginning 

 to scour, and especially when warm 

 weather is succeeding to cold, and the 

 grass shoots rapidly; but this in most 

 cases is beneficial rather than injurious. 

 It rouses the digestive organs to full and 

 healthy action, and the sheep that scours 

 a little when first turned into the meadow 

 or on the marsh, is sure to thrive more 

 quickly afterwards. The purging, how- 

 ever, must not be too violent, nor con- 

 tinue too long. 



The looseness caused by feeding on 

 young succulent grass, seldom lasts more 

 than a few days; but if it should continue 

 longer, the sheep must be removed to in- 

 ferior pasture, and a little hay allowed 

 them if they can be induced to eat it : 

 some dry sound old seeds should also be 

 put before them, and the astringent powder 

 (See No. 80 Domestic Animals, Medi- 

 cines for) administered. 



A favorite remedy with some farmers, 

 and succeeding in slight cases, but ineffi- 

 cacious in severe ones, is suet boiled in 

 milk. Others give a very curious medi- 

 cine : it consists of the lime dug out of an 

 old wall, and mixed with tar. What good 

 purpose the tar can answer, we cannot 

 conceive, and the lime would be super- 

 seded by the prepared chalk recommend- 

 ed in the last recipe. 



When the disease abates, the sheep 

 must not be turned out again on their 

 former pasture, but on the best old grass 

 land which the farm will yield ; and even 

 then, a little good hay and corn should 

 be daily allowed them. 



The farmer should be careful that he 

 does not confound the consequence of 

 the diarrhoea with costiveness. When 

 there is much mucous discharge, it is very 

 sticky, and adheres to the wool under the 

 tail, and glues it to the rump, thus form- 

 ing a mechanical obstruction to the pas- 

 sage of the dung. The sheep straining 

 very hard, careless observers have sup- 

 posed that he was costive, and have given 

 him a strong dose of physic, and thus 

 added fuel to the fire. 



There is but one form of the disease 

 under which all hope is precluded, and 



that is when it is connected with chronic 

 cough or confirmed hoose. That animal 

 may be patched up for a little while, but 

 he will most assuredly perish. 



It is necessary to make a distinction 

 between diarrhoea and dysentery, the 

 latter being attended with considerable 

 fever and the evacuations are often slimy 

 and bloody, and the disease sometimes 

 terminates fatally in a few days. It some- 

 times follows diarrhoea, but is generally 

 produced by change of food or pasture 

 and exposure to bad weather. Lambs 

 are rather more liable to the disease than 

 sheep, and it has been found to attack 

 them very frequently on coming from low 

 lands to high. The treatment should 

 consist in giving Mild Laxatives (See No. 

 81 Domestic Animals, Medicines for). 



SHEEP, Dysentery, (See Sheep, Diar- 

 rhoea). 



SHEEP, Indigestion and Debility in. — 

 Bad management, and that alone, causes 

 the appearance of these complaints in a 

 flock. When sheep have been over- 

 driven, and excessively wearied ; or ewes 

 have had twins, and have afterwards been 

 kept with their lambs on scanty pasture, 

 where there was not enough even for the 

 mother ; or have weaned very early, before 

 there was any flush of grass ; or, during the 

 winter, have not yet been supplied with a 

 proper quantity of hay or corn — in all 

 these cases, the sheep are apt to pine 

 away. They do not seem to relish their 

 food, but wander over the field picking a 

 little here and there, the belly being tuck- 

 ed up and the back bowed. 



The remedy for this is simple enough if 

 the sheep have not been neglected too 

 long. It is plain that the powers of diges- 

 tion are weakened or suspended, and the 

 object to be accomplished is to rouse them 

 once more to their proper tone and action. 

 A mild purgative should lay the founda- 

 tion for this. Half the Purging Drink (See 

 No. 66 Domestic Animals, Medicines 

 for) should be given, and this followed 

 up by tonics or stomachics. Some farm- 

 ers content themselves with giving a little 

 good caudle for two or three successive 

 days, and with general good effect, except 

 that its sweetness is objectionable. The 

 Tonic Drink for Debility (See No. 82 

 Domestic Animals, Medicines for) will 

 be preferable. 



Repeat the half-dose of physic a week 



