THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS 225 



should also be given to the food of the cows, and if decorticated 

 cotton cakes or other highly nitrogenized foods are being used, they 

 should be stopped for a few weeks before and after calving, and 

 crushed oats, brewers' grains, Indian meal, and bran used instead. 

 The nitrogenous matter in cotton-seed cakes causes the milk to be of 

 too stimulating a nature for a young calf's system to assimilate. 



336. Hair and Wool Balls are accumulations of hair or wool 

 in the stomach of the young calf and lamb. They may be caused 

 by the animals licking and sucking one another, by which means a 

 quantity of hair and wool is drawn into the mouth by the tongue, 

 whence it is passed on to the stomach, where, by the churning motion 

 of the stomach, it becomes matted and formed into balls. Another 

 cause is that of giving the calf unstrained milk, which is a great mis- 

 take. Milk given to calves should always be put through a strainer. 

 When these balls are present, they cause a good deal of derangement, 

 with impaired appetite and a puffing up or swelling of the left side. 

 Should the swelling occur several times daily, the best plan is to 

 make the animal into veal or lamb as soon as possible, or the 

 stomach may be cut into and the offending ball removed. Occa- 

 sionally a calf may recover, in which case the ball or balls, highly 

 polished, are found in the paunch of the adult animal on slaughter- 

 ing, having been a frequent cause of tympanites during life. 



337. Navel-Ill is a septic inflammation of the navel string, with 

 suppuration, caused by small germs infesting the navel opening, and 

 a common complaint in young foals, calves, and lambs up to a week 

 or fortnight old. The animal appears dull and listless, lies stretched 

 out flat on its side, refuses its milk, and breathes fast and catchy, 

 perhaps moaning. On examining the navel it will be felt to be 

 hard and swollen. It should be laid open with the knife, and 

 dressed with carbolized oil or iodine solution (par. 1060, No. III., and 

 par. 1069, No. V.) ; a flannel folded five or six ply thick, wrung out of 

 hot water, should then be applied to the navel, and kept in place with 

 a bandage round the body. Tablespoonful doses of Gregory's powder 

 or magnesia may be given daily. Prevention. — Dress the navel string 

 as per instructions given under White Scour. 



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