1907 . 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
THE PARASITES OF SHEEP. 
A subscriber in Georgia asks for an 
article giving treatment for all internal 
parasites in sheep, “Such knowledge is 
too wonderful for me; it is high; I can¬ 
not attain unto it.” He should have ap¬ 
plied to a veterinarian of years and ex¬ 
perience, not to a plain farmer like the 
writer, who can only speak from such 
light as he receives from others and 
from—too often—costly personal experi¬ 
ence. I can simply cite a few of the 
most common parasites and the remedies 
for them, of which I know. I write this 
statement that my position may be clear, 
for I do not want to sail under false 
colors. First the external parasites: 
The Gad-fly —This is the cause of the 
trouble, later known as “grub in the 
head.” These flies are about half an 
inch long and deposit their eggs in July 
and August on the sheep’s nostrils. As 
soon as they hatch the larva crawls up 
the nostrils and remains in the sinuses of 
the head, living on the secretions until 
the next Spring, when it is ready to 
crawl out, always causing the sheep great 
annoyance, both in entering and leaving, 
and sometimes proving fatal in the latter 
instance. Usually, however, if the sheep 
is well fed there will be no serious trou¬ 
ble. These grubs never go to the brain, 
as many believe. If the sheep can have 
access to a dark place in which to lie at 
the season when the flies lay their eggs 
or some tar is smeared on the nose at 
this time once or twice a week there will 
be little annoyance from this pest. There 
is no remedy worth while after the grub 
has entered the head; they will come 
forth in due season. 
The Sheep Louse —Often called the 
“red louse,” although only its head is 
red, its body being a pale yellow, marked 
with dark bands. It is so small that usu¬ 
ally onlv sharp eyes will see it. Its fa¬ 
vorite place is in the back upper parts 
of the fore and hind legs. They irritate 
the sheep exceedingly and sometimes in 
their efforts to free themselves they have 
become strangled in the fences or large 
bushes. Sheep that have been properly 
dipped are seldom troubled with this 
parasite. One of the carbolic dips well 
rubbed on the parts affected will usually 
destroy the pest, or one may use an oint¬ 
ment made of two ounces of flowers of 
sulphur, one pound of lard and two drops 
of creosote. 
Scab Insect —This is another external 
parasite, much more serious than either 
of the other two. It digs down into the 
skin and finds a lodging place within its 
tissues. This produces an inflammation 
of the skin. In the sheep’s efforts to 
dislodge it the insect secretes a serous- 
like fluid which, drying on the surface, 
creates a scab. The eggs are very nu¬ 
merous and they hatch in three days. It 
has been estimated that one female can 
produce over a million eggs in 90 days. 
This explains both its rapid spread and 
its infection. Left alone, it proves fatal. 
There is nothing any better than some of 
the prepared dips above referred to. The 
sheep should be thoroughly soaked in the 
dip (at a temperature of not less than 
100 degrees), until the scabs soften; then 
they should be removed and the dip al¬ 
lowed to penetrate into the skin where 
the insect is. This also acts as a disin¬ 
fectant and healer. Repeat the operation 
after 10 days to kill any that are newly 
hatched. It is always better to shear the 
sheep before dipping for scab. The sides 
of the pen where the sheep have rubbed 
should also be gone over with the same 
material. These external parasites are 
the least to be dreaded, for it is a case 
of working by sight and not by faith, as 
with the internal ones, the latter always 
a more difficult matter. Then, too, there 
is little danger to be feared from the two 
last mentioned if one does not buy in 
sheep from outside, which should always 
be most carefully examined, 
Internal Parasites —Now we come to 
a more complicated problem. I shall 
only refer to a few of the most common. 
Hair worms in the intestines infest the 
stomach and intestines, burrowing their 
heads into the membrane lining of these 
organs, which submit to no treatment 
while the worms remain. A cough is 
often present along with diarrhoea, and 
of course the sheep becomes debilitated. 
Half-ounce doses of salt given on alter¬ 
nate days with one-dram doses of sur- 
phate of iron is a very sure remedy for 
this class of parasites. The food should 
be most nutritious to overcome the de¬ 
bilitating of the worms and should also 
be laxative. 
Tapeworms. —These are quite common, 
as the grass in the pastures is infested 
with the eggs deposited by several ani¬ 
mals, both domesticated and wild. The 
sheep soon become enervated. They will 
eat greedily at one time and at others 
refuse food altogether. They will pass 
much soft manure, which becomes at¬ 
tached to the tail and hind parts, often 
becoming very offensive. If the sheep 
are fed plenty of pumpkins with the 
seeds in the Fall and their salt is sprin¬ 
kled with turpentine at all times there 
will be little trouble from tapeworms. 
When they become established Dr. Smead 
advises a dram of the oil of male fern 
with a dram freshly powdered areca nut, 
given in half a pint of sweet milk after a 
12-hour fast. Twenty-four hours later 
give two ounces of castor oil and two 
ounces of raw linseed oil. Repeat the 
dose after four days. This will also af¬ 
fect the so-called round worms and have 
some effect on the ordinary stomach 
worm. They affect only young sheep; it 
is very seldom that one over two years is 
troubled by them. 
The Stomach Worm —This little 
worm is three-quarters of an inch long 
and no thicker than a hair. It lives in 
the fourth stomach and especially affects 
lambs. They become thin and weak, their 
eyes dull and their skin blue. While 
much damage has come to sheep from 
dogs, without doubt this worm has done 
much greater damage to the flocks of 
this country. The worms inhabit old 
sheep, but as a rule do them little harm. 
The mature worms pass from the body 
of the sheep as their eggs hatch; they 
doubtless infest the grass, which when 
eaten by the lambs makes them the host 
of growing worms. From May to Octo¬ 
ber they are most in evidence; cold 
weather seems to destroy, for a time at 
least, their vitality. It may be, too, that 
when a lamb has survived through Octo¬ 
ber it has gained sufficient strength to re¬ 
sist the more serious effects. To treat 
the old sheep so they will expel the 
worms before going to pasture and keep 
them off old pastures are means of pre¬ 
vention not to be neglected. The most 
common remedy is gasoline and most, 
like the writer, have found it a most ef¬ 
fective one.. For a lamb one-quarter 
ounce, a sheep one-half ounce; put with 
four times its bulk of linseed oil or milk, 
the former preferred, as it acts as a 
purgative; give like all drenches on an 
empty stomach. Repeat the dose the third 
day and again at the end of a week. 
Usually this will be sufficient, although I 
have heard of as many as six doses being 
given. EDWARD van alstyne. 
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T 
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.J1S32 
■\W~ W TvgTFj 
