224 



SHEEP— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



\y designedly mischievous; and in the 

 struggle between a sheep and the dog a 

 leg has now and then been broken. The 

 treatment of fracture below the elbow or 

 the hock is easy enough. The broken 

 limb must not be roughly stretched or 

 handled, but the divided edges of the 

 bone must be brought gently and as per- 

 fectly opposite, and close, and fitting 

 again to each other as possible, and kept 

 together by some strips of adhesive plas- 

 ter or pitch spread upon leather wound 

 round the part. Over this splints should 

 be placed, reaching a little beyond the 

 joint, above and below, and these con- 

 fined with more plaster, or with waxed 

 thread. A little lint or linen rag should 

 have been previously placed under the 

 end of the splints, to prevent them from 

 excoriating or injuring the part beneath. 

 This being done, the leg should not be 

 meddled with until the bandage becomes 

 loose, which will be in about ten days. 

 The splints must be replaced once, and 

 at the expiration of another ten days, the 

 edges of the bone will generally be found 

 to have united; the animal, however, 

 should be kept for a little while longer 

 as quiet as possible, and if the bone is not 

 quite firm, the strips, without the splints, 

 should be once more bound round it. 



Sometimes considerable swelling will 

 take place after the splints have been em- 

 ployed. They may have been put on a 

 little too tight, or they do not press 

 equally. They should not, however, be 

 taken off at once, for the bones beginning 

 to unite may again be separated during 

 the removal of the bandages; but, with a 

 sharp and strong pair of scissors, two or 

 three notches should be cut through the 

 edge of the bandage above and below. 

 This will generally afford sufficient room 

 for the re-establishment of the circulation, 

 and the swelling will subside, without the 

 fracture having been disturbed. 



If it should be a compound fracture, 

 that is, if a portion of the bone should 

 protrude through the skin, either the set- 

 ting of the bones must be deferred until 

 the wound is healed, or the bandages 

 must be so applied, that the wound can 

 be readily got at for the purpose of dress- 

 ing. This, however, is so difficult a mat- 

 ter that it will be prudent to destroy the 

 animal that has a bad compound frac- 

 ture. 



Sheep are far oftener subject to wounds 

 than they ought to be, from the ferocity 

 of the shepherd's dog, encouraged by his 

 brutal master needlessly to worry the 

 flock. They are too frequently seriously 

 lamed, and the ears almost torn from 

 their heads. The proprietor of sheep 

 should never forgive wanton cruelty of 

 this nature. 



The treatment of wounds in sheep is 

 very simple, and consists mostly in avoid- 

 ing the burning irons and caustics, of 

 which the farrier, and sometimes the shep- 

 herd, are too fond. 



The first thing is to clean the wound 

 thoroughly with a sponge and warm wa- 

 ter, and to remove those parts which are 

 much lacerated, or in a manner torn off. 

 If it is a simple cut wound, and the edges 

 are not far separated, all that will 

 be necessary to be done will be to 

 apply daily a little tincture of aloes, and 

 to cover the part, that the flies may not 

 deposit their eggs on the sore. If it is a 

 wide and gaping wound, the edges of it 

 must be brought as nearly and accurately 

 together as possible, and confined by one 

 or two or more stiches passed through 

 them with a crooked needle and waxed 

 thread, and which the shepherd should 

 always carry with him. The only dress- 

 ing wanted here will be the tincture of 

 aloes, with occasional fomentations if 

 there is much inflammation; but the 

 wound should be more carefully covered 

 from the flies, either by a bandage or 

 pitch plaster, or for a small wound, a lit- 

 tle tar will answer. 



No dependence is to be placed on the 

 accounts which are given by some au- 

 thors of the udders of the ewes being 

 sucked by snakes. The reptile has never 

 been seen thus employed; but sheep are 

 sometimes bitten by the viper, and a few 

 have been destroyed by the swelling hav- 

 ing been neglected, and inflammation 

 widely spreading. It is difficult at all 

 times to discover the accident. Whenev- 

 er a sheep is lamed, the affected limb 

 should be well examined; and at other 

 times, if he is evidently ill, and the illness 

 accompanied by local or general swelling, 

 careful search should be made into the 

 nature of the mischief. The wound in- 

 flicted by a viper will be very small, but 

 there will be swelling and heat about it, 

 and a great deal of tenderness. 



