CATTLE LICE AND HOW TO ERADICATE THEM. 



13 



not accustomed to being handled, are easier to dip than tame farm 

 animals, as they go through the chutes and enter the vat more readily 

 than the tame animals. After the animals have started running 

 through the chute it is often necessary to restrain them to prevent 

 their piling up and drowning in the valt. At large dipping plants a 

 gate is usually provided in the chute near the intake to the vat so the 

 animals in the chute may be held back and allowed to pass only as 

 room is made for them in the vat. If the chute has no gate, a 

 bar which can be slipped across 

 the chute between the side boards 

 will answer the purpose. Gentle 

 farm animals, and especially old 

 milk cows, usually do not enter 

 the vat readily in fact, often 

 it is necessary to push them en 

 the slide board. 



In dipping cattle for lice it is 

 not necessary to hold them in 

 the vat, but they should be com- 

 pletely submerged and the head 

 ducked at least once. When the- 

 heads are ducked the air in- 

 closed in the ears may prevent 

 the dip from wetting the inner 

 surfaces of the ears or coming in 

 contact with the lice attached in 

 the lower folds. Therefore care 

 should be taken to see that the 

 dip enters the ears of each ani- 

 mal as it passes through the vat. 

 This may be accomplished by 

 pushing the heads IOW T enough 

 in the dip so the liquid fills the 

 ears or by splashing the dip 



with an old broom over and into FlG 8 _ Two styles of cattle . dipping forks . 

 the ears. 



Men with clipping forks should be stationed along the vat to duck 

 the heads of the animals and render assistance in case any of them 

 become strangled. The two styles of dipping forks shown in figure 8 

 are the ones commonly used. They may be bought ready-made or 

 may be made to order by the blacksmith. 



After the cattle leave the vat they should be held in the draining 

 pens or corrals until all surplus dip has drained off them. They 

 should not be driven long distances or moved rapidly within 24 

 hours or even longer after dipping, as injury may result from too 



