GENERAL FEATURES IN SHEEP MANAGEMENT. 181 



arises elsewhere ; a simple fracture may become a compound one 

 through wrong handling. 



Catching and Turning a Sheep. In catching a sheep in the open 

 the crook is very convenient, and the hold should always be got at 

 the hock, as, if taken lower, and the sheep swerves, the stifle may 

 be put out ; this applies also to hand catching ; and if a tight 

 grip is taken over the hamstring, the sheep soon succumbs. When 

 turning a sheep on to its rump, the left hand should be placed 

 well under the throat, the right knee low under the left flank, 

 and the right arm well over and under the off flank, then with a 

 quick heave on to the knee, the sheep will be jerked by the leverage, 

 and easily set over. Very heavy sheep, such as big, fat rams, 

 can be turned easily by gripping the under jaw by placing the 

 right thumb in the mouth on the off side, then giving the head 

 a sharp twist, and running the sheep back quickly whilst the 

 neck is locked ; in the endeavour to avoid a crick, the sheep will 

 sink on to its rump, and before it can right itself, a quick move- 

 ment will enable the shepherd to secure it. This is not often 

 practised, but at times it is very convenient, especially when 

 dressing sheep for foot-rot, or to prevent it. Sheep are liable 

 to get on their backs to become cast from which it is difficult 

 for them to get back on to their feet, in which case death from 

 starvation would be certain but they quickly suffocate. The 

 surface of land should, therefore, not be rough, as the risk then 

 is greater ; deep furrows should be avoided, and ant-heaps and 

 other lumps should be levelled. In view of the prevalence of 

 foot-rot the shepherd should never neglect the feet. 



Foot Troubles. Ill-shaped feet conduce to foot-rot, because, 

 sooner or later, some part of the foot will provide an easy 

 inlet to the foot-rot germs. Although paring will not altogether 

 prevent foot-rot, it minimises the risk very greatly. The best 

 practice to learn how to dress a diseased foot is to work frequently 

 on sound ones, and thus get an intimate idea of the form of the 

 foot. With this knowledge a dresser can cut boldly on the worst 

 misshapen foot without fear of cutting the tender portions ; 

 whereas a novice niggles and frets away little piece after little 

 piece, and probably ends up by cutting too deeply. When trimming 

 a foot, it should be held up sole uppermost, to give the shape, 

 and each claw should be trimmed to similar shape. A rather 

 strong artery runs nearly to the end of the digit or toe about 

 half an inch back as a rule and if this is cut there is profuse bleed- 

 ing. To stop this bleeding the thumb should be placed firmly 

 between the digits where they join ; by doing this, pressure is applied 

 to the artery, and bleeding ceases. If it does not cease in a short 

 time, a piece of wood, about half an inch thick, should be placed 

 over the artery and be held down tightly by some binding. It 



