-..}; DIFFICULTIES. 155 



the buttocks will also often cause a lamb to draw its first 

 breath, when animation appears to be suspended for a few 

 seconds after birth. 



The lamb is most conveniently carried by its two fore-legs, 

 and in this position it is taken to one of the pens, or cribs, 

 already described, followed by its anxious mother. As soon 

 as the lamb has got on to its feet, and has found the teat, and 

 the shepherd is satisfied that the ewe has a sufficient supply 

 of milk, he will proceed to give her two or three swedes, a 

 mangel, or better still, a white or yellow turnip or two. A 

 little hay may also be supplied, and after these simple atten- 

 tions the ewe may be left in charge of her lamb, and if all 

 goes on well there is no need for more elaborate treatment. 



From what has been said it is then evident that where 

 a ewe is naturally delivered of her lamb she requires no 

 medicinal treatment, but only to be placed in a sheltered 

 position and to be fed with ordinary food. 



DIFFICULTIES. 



One of the first difficulties to be overcome happens most 

 frequently in the case of two-tooth ewes, which occasionally 

 refuse to take to their lambs. This is more likely to occur 

 in the open field than in a pen, and the best plan is to place 

 lamb and dam in a small crib and hold the ewe while the 

 lamb sucks. In all such cases a little patience is all that is 

 required, and in a short period the maternal instincts will 

 assert themselves. 



It is less easy to make a ewe take to a strange lamb, but 

 this is managed by the shepherd without much difficulty. 

 One of the best methods is to keep the lamb in readiness, and 

 as soon as a ewe with plenty of milk is delivered of a single 

 lamb the stranger is rubbed with the newly-yeaned lamb, and 

 smeared with the liquor amnios which flows copiously from the 

 womb of the dam. The lamb is then presented to the ewe, 

 which will at once take to it, and place it on the same affec- 

 tionate footing as her own natural offspring. 



