204 SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

 DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



[In the section on Management, references will be found to many of the 

 diseases of sheep. As it is not intended that this volume should be a complete 

 veterinary handbook, we shall not now enter into a detailed catalogue of ail- 

 ments, but the following paragraphs describe a number of the more serious 

 disorders. Several of these notices are from the pen of Professor Axe.] 



SORE MOUTHS AND TEATS IN LAMBS AND EWES. 



THE article on aphthae, thrush or canker, by Professor 

 Axe (see page 223), is well worth the careful attention 

 of sheep breeders. There are few breeders but must 

 have suffered at certain periods of the year from the 

 disease which is there described. The consequences are 

 serious, as they entail the loss of many ewes and lambs, 

 and the effects are even more far reaching than this. I 

 remember a severe attack in the spring of 1886, after a 

 scarcity of roots, and a too free use of hay, cake, and other 

 dry foods. The ewes were in good condition, and the lambing 

 season was particularly fortunate and fruitful. A finer lot of 

 lambs, and a seemingly healthier lot of ewes I have seldom 

 seen up to March. It was at this time that some of the lambs 

 were seen to be affected with sore mouths, and simultaneously 

 ewes were noticed to be suffering from a pimpled and crusted 

 condition of the teat. As a precaution, the affected couples 

 were separated from the rest, but the disease spread notwith- 

 standing, and involved a great part of the flock. The spring 

 was cold and late, and harsh east winds prevailed, which 



