4l6 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



be dipped in tar and applied over the granulations, so as 

 to bring pressure at the right point. The patients should 

 be kept upon clean dry footing and serious cases should 

 be taken up and kept in the yard or in dry stables. For 

 astringent dressing tincture of iron is suitable, varying 

 from full strength to I to 4 dissolved in water. Four per 

 cent carbolized tar makes a nice application for cleansing 

 and disinfecting and keeps out dirt. The medical treat- 

 ment, particularly the astringent, should be very carefully 

 applied, especially into the crevices and deeper recesses. 

 It is frequently advisable to treat the whole flock in a 

 general way ; in that case the flock may be driven through 

 a large pan containing solution of copper sulphate about 

 4 inches deep. The animals should be forced to remain in 

 the pan for several minutes, so as to insure good treat- 

 ment. The solution should be made up dissolved in water 

 in the proportion of one to two pounds per gallon of 

 water. 



Contagious foot rot is not to be confounded with com- 

 mon or simple foot rot. It begins with a redness of skin 

 about the coronet. Then follows, in the order named, 

 vesiculation, scab and desiccation. The hoofs then tend 

 to separate from the sensitive parts which they cover. It 

 usually breaks out on all the feet at once and fever runs 

 high. 



The disease comes through contact. It may come 

 through pastures, corrals, transporting ships or cars, and 

 through the medium of fairs. It runs a course of sev- 

 eral weeks. Preventive measures are very important. 

 They include: (i) Keeping the sheep and their feet in 

 good condition; (2) quarantining diseased animals; and 

 (3) disinfecting affected quarters. The treatment is in 

 many respects similar to that given for common foot 

 rot (see page 415). Removing the diseased parts by par- 

 ing is first in order. Then follows a caustive dressing, 

 preferably applied by pouring or dropping, as a brush or 

 a feather soon becomes tainted with the virus. Tincture 



