SPAYING HEIFERS 103 



have been able to confirm his observations. Hav- 

 ing 400 flank-spayed yearlings of his own breed- 

 ing, he purchased 800 median-line spayed year- 

 lings from a neighbor, the operations having been 

 performed within six weeks of each other. 

 Among the flank spayed yearlings were a very 

 few rather persistent stitch abscesses (in a 

 harmless place) which eventually disappeared. 

 Among those operated upon through the median 

 line there were a number of hernial sacs, and 

 more having a (supposedly peritoneal) fistula 

 which discharged a fluid usually clear. These 

 did not fatten, and some few died, a year to 

 eighteen months later. 

 This is my technic for the flank operation: 

 Preparation. — Just preceding the spaying, 

 thirty-six hours of starvation is desirable but not 

 often obtainable on the range from lack of suit- 

 able corrals. The animals should be watered the 

 night before the operation or they get too 

 "proddy." 



Restraint.— I have never tried the chute and 

 should suppose it slow. It is desirable to jam a 

 lot of them in a small corral for roping and 



