CHAPTER XIX 



THE MORE COMMON AILMENTS OF SHEEP 



The discussion in Chapter XIX dwells briefly on the 

 following: (i) The prevention and treatment of disease 

 in sheep ; (2) Parasites that prey externally on sheep ; 

 (3) Parasites that prey internally on sheep ; (4) Ailments 

 from digestive sources; (5) Ailments affecting the organs 

 of respiration ; (6) Ailments arising from reproduction ; 

 (7) Ailments that affect the limbs ; (8) Ailments peculiar 

 to lambs ; and (9) Ailments miscellaneous in character. 



Protection and treatment of disease — Treatment for 

 diseases and other ailments of sheep are very commonly 

 less satisfactory than with any other class of domestic 

 animals. This is probably owing: (i) To the peculiar 

 location of many of the ailments that afflict sheep, which 

 makes treatment unusually difficult. Such are the ail- 

 ments of stomach worms, which make their abode in the 

 fourth stomach ; of grub in the head, which is located in 

 the nasal sinuses, so close to the brain as to be practically 

 unreachable ; and goiter in lambs, which is located in the 

 glands of the throat. (2) To the absence of that strong 

 vitality that is essential to ability to stand up sturdily for 

 a time at least in the face of attack. This is evidenced in 

 attacks of bloat, where the percentage of the losses under 

 treatment is much larger than the percentage of losses 

 from cattle that are treated for the same. (3) To the 

 further fact that it would seem true that the veterinary 

 profession have centered less on the study of the ail- 

 ments of sheep than on those of the horse and the cow, 

 since the latter are relatively more valuable. 



From what has been said it will be apparent that pre- 

 ventive measures for guarding sheep against diseases will 

 be doubly important. While treatment for tapeworm and 

 stomach worm is difficult, and not infrequently unsatis- 



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