240 THE SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 



has been pushed back. If the placenta or after-birth has not 

 come away in due season, it may be gently pulled by the hand, 

 when it will be generally expelled in a short time. If the ewe is 

 weak, a little warm gruel, sweetened and flavored with ginger, 

 may be fed with a spoon or given with a horn. It is the poor, lean, 

 badly kept ewes which suffer most in lambing ; those in good condi- 

 tion, or even fat, rarely experience any difficulty. 



Parturient Fever rarely attacks our native sheep, but imported 

 sheep are sometimes subject to it. It generally occurs within a 

 few days of lambing. The first symptoms are refusal of food, 

 twitching of the hind legs and ears, dullness and stupidity; the 

 head is carried down, the eyes are half closed, and a dark colored 

 discharge flows from the vagina. If the lamb is now dropped it 

 is dead, but the ewe, if kept quiet and well nursed, will generally 

 recover in two or three days. But if the lamb is not then expelled, 

 the symptoms grow worse, the ewe suffers from fever, and moans 

 with pain, and the discharge is very offensive. The lamb, if ex- 

 pelled at this stage, is in a high state of putrefaction, and the ewe 

 falls into a condition of collapse, from which she rarely recovers. 

 If the lamb is not expelled, the ewe dies. 



The treatment should consist of the removal of the ewe from 

 the flock to a quiet pen, on the first appearance of sickness. She 

 should be well cared for, and fed with warm gruel of linseed or 

 oat-meal. As soon as the dark colored discharge occurs, the lamb 

 is almost certainly dead, and beginning to decompose, and its re- 

 moval is necessary. The vagina should be washed with warm 

 water, and the finger, smeared with the extract of belladonna, 

 should be introduced into the passage every three hours until it is 

 sufficiently dilated to allow of the expulsion of the lamb. Two 

 tablespoonfuls of the following medicine should be given twice a 

 day, viz : 



Calomel 8 grains. 



Extract of Hyoscyamus 1 dram. 



Linseed Tea V P in t. 



At the same time a quarter of a pint of the following should be 

 given alternately with the above : 



Epsom Salts 8 ounces. 



Nitrate of Potash Va " 



Carbonate of Soda 2 " 



Water. 1 pint. 



The above mixtures should be shaken up before giving them. 



