DISEASES OF SHEEP 565 



be used in small quantities, and hence are easy to carry and inex- 

 pensive. 



When a sheep becomes hard to herd, circles, or shows other defi- 

 nite signs of gid, it should be marked, a thing easily accomplished by 

 tying a rag or something of the sort to the wool or about the neck, 

 and when the band is brought up to the bedding ground for the 

 night this sheep should be killed and the 'brain destroyed. 



The best way to destroy the brain when it can not be burned is 

 to split the skull longitudinally with an ax or cleaver, scoop out the 

 two halves of the brain, chop them up or crush them, ana pour on 

 them turpentine, formaldehyde, or one of the sheep dips mentioned 

 above. This operation takes only a minute or two, and the death of 

 the gid parasite in the brain would follow in a few seconds after the 

 application of the substances mentioned. A cleaver weighing 1*4 

 pounds is heavy enough to split a sheep skull without difficulty. The 

 brains should be completely covered with the turpentine or whatever 

 is used, but even then it only requires a small amount to do the work. 

 Fifty cubic centimeters (less than a tenth of a pint) would be suffi- 

 cient if carefully applied, and while it would be undesirable to scant 

 the amount, nevertheless a quart bottle would hold an ample supply 

 for one herder for a season under ordinary conditions. Chopping in 

 the top of the skull, and leaving the brains in place after breaking 

 them up and covering with some repellent fluid, is not sufficiently 

 thorough in actual practice. The fluid does not penetrate sufficiently 

 and there is no .saving of time. In cases where the heads are to be 

 boiled and fed to the dogs, the boiling should be prolonged and thor- 

 ough, and the skull should be broken so as to give the hot water free 

 access to the brain. 



DISPOSAL OP GIDDY SHEEP. 



When a giddy sheep has been killed and the brain disposed of 

 by the method just given, the pelt may be taken and the meat dis- 

 posed of as desired. The meat is fit for food at the beginning of the 

 last stages of the disease, before neglect of food has starved the ani- 

 mal and brought on a condition of emaciation. At the same time 

 the usual sentiment among sheepmen is that they are too much ac- 

 customed to the best mutton to eat sheep that were in any way dis- 

 eased. The disease occurs mostly in winter, at a time when the 

 sheep are not in condition to market and when none are being mar- 

 keted. But in case the meat is not to be used for man it can be fed to 

 the herder's dogs, or if the camp tender is around it can be fed to the 

 dogs at the home ranch, or, as one outfit does, to the hogs. Over a 

 large part of Montana when a sheep dies the carcass is allowed to lie 

 where it falls, the pelt being usually, but not always, stripped off. 

 Such a condition aids in spreading a disease like gid. A stream of 

 clear mountain water at the home ranch of one big outfit was defiled 

 by throwing into it the skeletons of sheep after the meat had been 

 fed to the hogs. Big owners with excellent water supplies, amply 

 able to afford concrete watering troughs, preferred to let their sheep 

 drink the water after it had run into a hole in the ground and be- 

 come converted into a stagnant puddle. Montana sheepmen must 



