THE SHEEP INDUSTRY ON THE MINIDOKA PROJECT. 23 



oil, followed by a change of feed, is the only remedy that has been 

 found generally effective. Bloat occurs rather commonly. One of 

 the best remedies is to administer from a pint to a quart of cows' milk, 

 freshly drawn and warm. A half-pint of warm, sweet cream has also 

 proved effective, as have the common remedies used in cases of bloat 

 in cattle. Tapping should be attempted only as a last resort, as it is 

 seldom that an animal so treated thrives afterwards. 



Miscellaneous ailments. — There are a number of miscellaneous ail- 

 ments which cause some damage. Catarrh, or "sniffles," is common 

 among the open-wooled breeds when the animals are exposed to the 

 rains. It is also common in flocks that are kept in warm, poorly 

 ventilated stables or that are forced to sleep in snow or in wet, muddy 

 yards. Garget, or caked udder, is usually caused by the congestion 

 of milk in the udder, but it may result from chilling, from bruising 

 the udder, or from improper feeding. There is also a contagious 

 form, which, however, has never appeared on the project. If the 

 udder is carefully attended to before lambing time and again when 

 the lambs are weaned, garget seldom occurs. Effective remedies 

 to use are bathing the udder with water as hot as the hand can bear, 

 massage, and applying a mixture of lard and turpentine. 



Lip and leg ulceration is occasionally brought in from the outside. 

 By prompt treatment and rigid quarantine, it so far has been pre- 

 vented from becoming widespread in this section. Usually the atten- 

 tion is first attracted by lameness or perhaps by scabs on the nose 

 and lips of the affected animal, from which a greenish pus is exuded. 

 This gets on the ground and feed and in the water troughs and thus 

 spreads the infection throughout the flock. Affected animals lose 

 flesh rapidly, and if treatment is not given heavy losses may result. 

 It is necessary to resort to hand dressing, in which the scabs are 

 removed and the affected parts treated with a solution of nitric acid, 

 1 part of the acid to from 5 to 9 parts of water. 



One other difficulty which occasionally occurs is gravel stones 

 (calculi). This difficulty usually occurs in rams and wethers that 

 are ranged on beet tops or fed beets or mangels heavily. Ewes are 

 not so affected. As no effective remedy is known, it is best, in feed- 

 ing male sheep, to restrict the quantities of the feeds mentioned. 



Broken pasterns and crippled or deformed feet are commonly caused 

 by allowing the hoofs to become overgrown. This can be prevented 

 by trimming the hoofs once or twice a year. Pruning shears or a 

 sharp knife may be used for this work. 



SHEARING. 



*The month of May is the popular time for shearing the farm 

 flock. Earlier shearing permits the fleece to make such a growth 

 by July and August that the thrift of the animals during these warm 



