44 THE SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 



cared for, will produce as large lambs and as many twins as older 

 sheep. The young ewes having their first lambs are apt to be ner- 

 vous, and need careful attention at yeaning time ; it is then that 

 the great convenience resulting from having a docile and friendly 

 flock, well acquainted with, and confiding in, their shepherd, is 

 manifest. The young ewes should not be put to the ram until the 

 older ones are served, so that they will not drop their lambs until 

 the spring is well advanced, and the pressure upon the shepherd 

 becomes lighter. As a rule they are poor nurses, and if the season 

 is cold, will lose many lambs. If they are not allowed to have 

 lambs until April or May, so much the better ; it will then be neces- 

 sary to keep them from the ram until November and December. 

 Difficulty in parturition is sometimes experienced with young ewes, 

 and assistance is often needed. This should be given with the 

 utmost gentleness and tenderness. When the presentation is all 

 right and natural, and the fore feet appear, but difficulty occurs in 

 ejecting the head, a very slight and slow drawing upon the feet 

 may help the ewe in expelling the lamb. Sometimes in her ner- 

 vous struggles the head may be turned backwards, and does not 

 appear when the fore legs have protruded. In this case the lamb 

 should be gently forced backwards, and the hand or fingers, well 

 oiled with linseed oil, and the finger nails being closely pared, are 

 inserted, and the head gently brought into position, when it will 

 be expelled without further trouble. For more difficult and ab- 

 normal presentations, the services of an experienced shepherd will 

 be needed, but such cases are very rare, and will very seldom oc- 

 cur if the flock has been carefully attended to, and has not been 

 overdriven, or worried by dogs, or knocked about by horned cattle. 

 When a ewe loses her lamb it is best to make her adopt one of 

 another ewe's twins. This may be done by rubbing the skin of 

 the live lamb with the dead one, removing the dead one and shut- 

 ting up the ewe and live lamb together in a dark pen. When a 

 lamb loses her dam, it may be given to a ewe that has lost her 

 lamb, or from which her lamb has been taken, or with care it may 

 be brought up by hand without difficulty. In every considerable 

 flock it will pay to have a fresh cow on hand at the lambing sea- 

 son, to fill the place of foster mother to disowned or abandoned 

 lambs, or to assist those whose dams for any reason are short of 

 milk. 



The question as to when a lamb becomes a sheep, although of 

 no practical utility, has sometimes been of sufficient importance 

 to require a decisive reply. A legal decision was given in an 

 English court not long since, which is probably as reasonable as 



