DAIL Y MANAGEMENT OF LAMBS AND TEGS. 143 



get his own breakfast. After this he may clean another supply, 

 or set another pen, according to necessity. Before turning the 

 sheep into a fresh pen he should go over it with a four-tine fork 

 and dig out any small pieces of twitch which may be there. 



If any sheep show signs of lameness they should be caught and 

 dressed. Very often lameness is caused by dirt, or stalks of turnip 

 leaf, which should be taken out, and a mild caustic wiped in between 

 the claws. This will, in most instances, prevent foot-rot. In case 

 of foot-rot the sheep should be isolated and kept from other sheep 

 until all traces of disease are destroyed. Whenever a sheep is 

 dressed for lameness, a temporary mark of ochre should be put 

 on it so that it may be recognised easily. Before going to his 

 dinner the shepherd should give the sheep another feed of roots. 

 A good opportunity is generally afforded about dinner-time for the 

 shepherd to put up the cake, hay and chaff that he will require 

 for the following day. In the afternoon he can continue his work 

 of cleaning a fresh supply of roots, moving hurdles, or other necessary 

 work, and can give his sheep their second supply of corn about an 

 hour before he will leave the pen at night. When the corn is cleared 

 up he can commence to give the sheep their supper. He should 

 continue this until all the sheep are satisfied, then he should fill 

 up the troughs and leave them filled. The sheep will then rest 

 contentedly through the night. 



The last duty before going awayis to carefully look round thesheep, 

 and notice that there are none ailing. Then all the hurdles should 

 be tested to see that they and the stakes are safely secured. After 

 a drought, when it is difficult to drive the stakes far into the ground, 

 the change to heavy rains occasions risks of the hurdles becoming 

 insecure in fact, they will sometimes fall almost of their own 

 accord on account of the loose state of the soil. This occurs 

 also at the break-up of a frost. Special care is, therefore, needed 

 on these occasions. In winter, at the approach of frost, when 

 severe weather may be expected during the night, the stakes 

 should be loosened, or in all probability they will be frozen into 

 the ground ; and if the frost continues the hurdles will be rendered 

 useless until after the frost breaks up. In all long frosts large 

 numbers of hurdles are frozen in this way, and the penning of the 

 sheep becomes a matter of difficulty. 



Fold-Setting. The shepherd has less hurdle-setting to perform 

 if he takes two pens instead of a single pen down the field at once, 

 as there are then only three sides instead of four sides to set, the 

 middle row forming an outside to both pens. On page 144 the usual 

 plan of folding sheep is shown. The full lines show the outsides 

 of the folds ; the dotted lines indicate where the dividing hurdles 

 have been, but are removed to form a fall-back. The line A shows 

 the row of hurdles which is left behind when only a single pen 



L 2 



