SHEEP- EEAEINa.j 



SHEEP, 



[SHEEP-EEARIKG. 



left to themselves. "When a day or two old, 

 they may be docked, which will be the means 

 of saving a great deal of trouble afterwards, 

 when the disease called " pinding" attacks them. 

 About three inches is, perhaps, a length suffi- 

 cient for the tail ; but males, provided pinding 

 does not take place, should not be docked 

 until the season for performing the operation 

 of castration has arrived. When lambs ex- 

 hibit little signs of sportiveness, in all proba- 

 bility there is something the matter with them, 

 and they should be examined, as well as their 

 dams. By nature they are lively and frisky, 

 full of fun, and much given to play; if, there- 

 fore, they exhibit little or no signs of this 

 disposition, it may be taken as a certainty 

 that there is something the matter, either with 

 them or their dams. If they are in any way 

 deformed, they should be slaughtered for home 

 consumption. Should a lamb die, it ought to 

 be slowly dragged home, when the ewe will 

 follow it. After she has been brought into 

 the house, a twin lamb from another ewe may 

 be put to her ; and, as soon as she has allowed 

 it to suck, they may be both turned out 

 together. 



In the weaning of lambs, the ewes should 



be taken from the lambs, and not the lambs 



from the ewes. It is said to be always best 



to place the ewes and lambs together in a 



pasture most suitable for the lambs. The 



ewes should be carried out of hearing of their 



oiFspring, and placed in a poor pasture, and 



milked for a few days, until the lactiferous 



system ceases to secrete, and then it is best 



to send them to a cool upland, if possible. 



Lambs, however, should be allowed to suck 



during three months and a-half, after which 



they may be taken up and kept for a fortnight 



or three weeks, at a distance from their dams. 



Sale lambs are usually not taken up till their 



purchaser comes and removes them at once. 



It is the practice of some to wean their lambs 



about the middle of July, considering it as 



important to habituate them to a change of 



provender before the arrival of the season 



when braxy is likely to set in. If nature 



were to be taken for our guide, however, early 



in August would be sufficient time for the 



removal of the lambs. 



Should lambs become infested with vermin 

 before the time of smearing, the following 

 736 



directions, given by Dr. Parry, will be found 

 serviceable : — The ticlc, or hippohosca ovina, is 

 extremely injurious to sheep, by making the 

 animal bite and rub itself, so as not only to 

 prove detrimental to the fleece, but to break 

 the skin ; in consequence of which, the fly is 

 apt to fix on the wool near the wounded part, 

 and there deposit its eggs. This troublesome 

 animal may be, in a great measure, destroyed 

 by a solution of white arsenic in powder, 

 made in boiling water, in the proportion of 

 an ounce to a gallon, and poured, when cold, 

 on the back of the sheep, and allowing it to 

 diS'use itself down the skin on each side ; in 

 this method, however, several of the ticks 

 escape by crawling to the extremities of the 

 filaments. It will be still better to wash the 

 lambs in the autumn, whether shorn or not, 

 in a tub of a similar mixture. Eor this pur- 

 pose, three pounds of the same arsenic in 

 powder, may be dissolved in six gallons of 

 boiling water, and the solution mixed with 

 forty gallons of cold water. The whole being, 

 then, well stirred with a stick, the lambs may 

 be plunged into it, great care being taken that 

 they do not dip their heads, or taste the 

 water. The liquor must be squeezed out of 

 their fleeces back into the vessel, in order that 

 it may not be wasted. It is hardly necessary 

 to point out the poisonous quality of this 

 liquid, and how important it is to keep the 

 vessel locked up, and, after the operations are 

 performed, to clean it well ; or rather never to 

 use it for any other purpose ; and to throw 

 the liquid which remains, where not the 

 smallest quantity of it can be drank by any 

 creature whose life we value. Infusion of 

 tobacco is equally eflective, but not so eco- 

 nomical. 



When the lamb is fairly on its legs, and able 

 to do something for itself, it is frequently the 

 case, that a pasture is chosen for the dam, as 

 uncongenial for the production of milk, as it 

 is unfit for teaching the ofl"spring to feed, which 

 thus prolongs the dependence of the latter on 

 the lacteal supplies which it must draw from 

 the mother. When the vegetable food which 

 the lamb consumes becomes increased, the 

 milk of the dam diminishes ; and, either from 

 natural constitution, or from some accident, it 

 frequently happens that she becomes dry, not- 

 withstanding the efl"ort3 of the lamb to preserve 



