166 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



the general observation that in the majority of prolonged preg- 

 nancies the offspring is male. Lord Spencer found a preponder- 

 ance of males between the two hundred and ninetieth and the 

 three hundredth days, but strangely enough all born after the three 

 hundredth day under his observation were females. It might be 

 reasonably inferred that while the prevailing tendency is to carry 

 the males overtime, yet that the smaller and comparatively much 

 less developed female sometimes fails to stimulate the womb to 

 contraction until very far beyond the regular date. 



HYGIENE OF THE PREGNANT COW. 



Among domestic animals considerations of hygiene must be 

 made subservient to profit, and therefore the first consideration is 

 not to secure the most robust health, but such a measure of vigor 

 and stamina as is compatible with the most profitable utilization of 

 the animal. The breeding cow must carry a calf every year, and 

 this notwithstanding that she is at the same time suckling another 

 large growing calf. The dairy cow must breed every year, and at 

 the same time must furnish a generous flow of milk from nine to 

 eleven months yearly. If her health is lowered thereby or her life 

 shortened, the question of profit must still hold sway, and she must 

 yield her place to another when disqualified. There are excep- 

 tions, of course, but this rule generally holds. 



There are certain points, however, in which the interests of 

 hygiene may be considered. The pregnant cow should have exer- 

 cise, and as regards both exercise and food, nothing is better than a 

 run on a smooth pasture. She should be withheld from all violent 

 excitement, hunting with dogs, riding or being ridden by cows in 

 heat, driving in herd rapidly through narrow gateways, causing to 

 jump ditches or fences, subjecting to blows with the horns of 

 pugnacious cattle, driving on icy or otherwise slippery ground, 

 carrying in railroad cars, kicking by vicious attendants, and fasten- 

 ing or throwing down for operations. The diet should be good, 

 not of a kind to fatten, but with a generous amount of nitrogenous 

 constituents which will favor at once the yield of milk and the 

 nourishment of the fetus. Aliments rich in lime and phosphates, 

 like wheat bran, middlings, etc., can be used to advantage, as there 

 is a constant drain of earthy salts for the building of the body of 

 the calf, and thereby the danger of undue concentration of the urine 

 is lessened. 



Hard, innutritions, and indigestible aliments, musty grain or 

 hay, partially ripened rye grass, millet, Hungarian grass, vetches, 

 peas, or maize are objectionable, as they are liable to cause indiges- 

 tion or even paralysis; and corn or hay affected by smut or ergot, 

 or that has been spoiled by wet, overripened, and rendered fibrous 

 and innutritions, are equally objectionable. The food should be in 

 the main laxative, as costiveness and straining are liable to cause 

 abortion. Roots and green food that have been frosted are objec- 

 tionable, as being liable to cause indigestion, though in their fresh 

 condition most wholesome and desirable. Ice-cold water should be 

 avoided, as calculated to check the flow of milk, to derange diges- 



