320 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



heavy English breeds. I should infer not, from the elaborate directions, 

 in the premises, by Youatt, Blacklock, and other English waiters on Sheep ; 

 though with the comparatively small number of these varieties which I 

 have bred, I have had no difficulty in this particular. Among the thou- 

 sands and thousands of iine-wooled sheep which I have bred, I never have 

 known a single instance of a false presentation of the fcEtus, and never 

 have had mechanical assistance rendered in to exceed half a dozen in- 

 stances. The objection to interfering, except as a last resort, is that the 

 ewe is frightened when caught, and her efforts to expel the lamb cease. — 

 When aided, the gentlest force should be applied, and only in conjunction 

 with the efforts of the ewe. 



While the lamb is tumbling about and attempting to rise, and the ewe 

 is licking it dry, it is better to be in no haste to interfere. A lamb that 

 gets at the teat without help, and gets even a small quantity of milk, knows 

 how to help itself afterward, and rarely perishes. If helped, it sometimes 

 continues to expect it, and will do little for itself for two or three days. — 

 The same is true when lambs are fed from a spoon or bottle. 



But if the lamb ceases to make efforts to rise, particularly if the ewe has 

 left off" licking it while it is wet and chilly, it is time for the shepherd to 

 render his assistance. It is better not to thi'ow the ewe down, as is fre- 

 quently practiced, to suckle the lamb, because instinct teaches the latter to 

 point its nose upward in search of the teat. It is doubly difficult, there- 

 fore, to induce it to suck from the bag of the prostrate ewe ; and when 

 taught to do this, by being suckled so several times, I have invariably no- 

 ticed that it renders it awkward about finding the teat in the natural 2>osi- 

 tion, when it begins to stand and help itself. Nothing is stupider than a 

 weakly lamb ! Carefully disengaging the ewe from her companions, with 

 his crook, the assistant should place one hand before the neck and the other 

 behind the buttocks of the ewe, and, then pressing her against his knees, 

 he should hold her firmly and stilly, so that she shall not be constantly 

 crowding away from the shepherd. The shepherd should set the lamb on 

 its feet, inducing it to stand, if possible ; if not, supporting it on its feet by 

 placing one hand under its body — place its mouth to the teat, and encour- 

 age it to suck by tickling it about the roots of the tail, flanks, &c., with a 

 finger. The lamb, mistaking this last for the caresses of its dam, will re- 

 double its efforts to suck. Sometimes it will evince great dullness, and 

 even apparent obstinacy, in refusing for a long time to attempt to assist 

 itself, crowding backward, &c. ; but the kind and gentle shepherd, who 

 will not sink himself to the level of a hrutc by resenting the stujuditij of a 

 hrute, will generally carry the point by perseverance. Sometimes milking 

 a little into the lamb's mouth, holding the latter close to the teat, will in- 

 duce it to take hold. 



If the ewe has no milk, the lamb should be fed until the natural supply 

 commences, with small quantities of the milk of a 7iew-milch cow. This 

 should be mixed, say half and half, with water — with enough molasses to 

 give it the purgative effect of biestings, or the first milk — gently warmed 

 to the natural heat (not scalded and suffered to cool), and then fed through 

 a bottle with a sponge in the opening of it, which the lamb should stick, 

 if it can be induced so to do. If the milk is j^oiired in its mouth from a 

 spoon or bottle, as already remarked, it is frequently difllicult afterward to 

 induce it to suck. And, moreover, unless milk is poured in the mouth 

 slowly and with care — no faster than the lamb can swallow — a speedy 

 wheezing, the infallible precursor of death, will show that a portion of the 

 fluid has been forced into the lungs. I have known lambs frequently 

 killed in this way. 



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