412 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



This trouble is the outcome of exposure. Very fre- 

 quently it assumes the form of acute congestion. It may 

 come from chills after unduly rapid driving, or from want 

 of sufficient protection after washing or early shearing. 

 In America it would seem correct to say that the most 

 common cause is exposure to cold rains in the autumn, 

 winter or spring, and especially autumn rains, which may 

 fall unexpectedly, and may be quickly followed by 

 weather severely cold. Sheep with long and open fleeces, 

 and especially those with fleeces that part, as it were, 

 along the line of the back are the most liable to suffer 

 from such visitation. Preventive measures with this dis- 

 ease, as well as nasal catarrh and bronchitis, are all im- 

 portant. The shepherd who is duly alert does not need 

 to pay much attention to the treatment of these diseases, 

 for he will seldom have them in his flock. 



The preventive measures for pneumonia are about 

 the same as for catarrh and bronchitis (see page 410). 

 The treatment is also about the same ; but in the case of 

 pneumonia treatment is usually of but little avail, owing 

 to the rapidity with which the disease puts in its deadly 

 work. 



Pleurisy, which affects the lining that incloses the 

 lungs rather than the lungs themselves, sometimes oc- 

 curs, but not so frequently as pneumonia. In some in- 

 stances the two diseases are operative at the same time. 

 The symptoms of pleurisy are not greatly different, to the 

 general observer, from those that pertain to pneumonia, 

 but the breathing is less labored. The causes are meas- 

 urably virtually the same and also the preventive meas- 

 ures and treatment. 



Ailments arising from reproduction — These include : 

 (i) Abortion and the treatment; (2) retention of the 

 afterbirth and treatment; and (3) inversion of the womb 

 and treatment. These troubles may occur even in flocks 

 that are well managed. 



