4^ 



Foot-Rot in Sheep. 



[APRIL, 



a very laborious undertaking, but the operator should persist 

 until the loosened horn has been thoroughly removed and all 

 the ulcerous fissures have been exposed. 



The foot must be carefully cleaned and every portion of 

 loosened and detached horn cut away, as the horny tissue 

 once separated from the sensitive parts beneath will never 

 unite with them again, but will remain as a source of pain 

 and inflammation and also a protection for the disease-producing 

 organisms while they attack and destroy the internal structures. 

 Should fungoid granulations be met they should be removed 

 with a knife or pair of curved scissors. All clippings and 

 trimmings that are removed from the diseased feet, whether 

 composed of bits of horn, shreds of tissue, or fungoid growths, 

 should be carefully gathered up and burned or disinfected, 

 as they may serve to spread the disease further if left where 

 passing sheep may come in contact with them. 



If this work has been thoroughly done, standing the sheep 

 for ten minutes in a strong solution of copper sulphate (blue 

 vitriol; made as warm as can be borne by the hand will in most 

 cases effect a cure. This solution may be prepared by dis- 

 solving 4 lb. of copper sulphate in 5 gallons of warm water. 

 The foot-bath should be repeated if necessary. 



An attendant should remain stationed by the side of each 

 sheep whose feet are badly affected to prevent the animal 

 from lying down while it is in the copper-sulphate solution, 

 as sheep of this class, because of the pain produced during 

 their efforts to stand, are liable to drop to their knees or even 

 to lie down in the trough during the application of the treat- 

 ment. Soft bandages should be applied, after the sheep are 

 removed from the foot-bath, to all feet that have required deep 

 cutting, not only for the purpose of protecting the sensitive 

 tissue from becoming bruised, but in order that particles of dirt 

 may be kept from the raw surfaces and that nature may be 

 assisted in the formation of new protective coverings. 



It sometimes happens that the disease assumes an aggravated 

 form in several of the sheep, involving, the deeper sensitive 

 tissues, and necessitating the application of hand dressings to 

 the feet. In such cases all the loose and diseased tissue should 

 be cut away, and the affected parts washed thoroughly with 



