Chapter IV: Sheep (3)

May be prevented by smearing with a composition made of two pounds lard or soft grease, one pound sulphur, half pint oil of amber, or oil of tar, or tar alone. A small spoonful is sufficient for a sheep.--_Genesee Farmer._

Protection from the Gad-Fly.

In July, August, and September, in the Northern states, the _gad-fly_ (_[OE]stus ovis_) attacks the nostrils of the sheep, and there deposites its eggs, which, on being hatched, immediately crawl up and make a lodgment in the head. They are frequently repelled by laying a thick coat of tar on the bottom of the troughs, and sprinkling it with salt. The smell of the tar adhering to the nose will drive off the fly. A more effectual remedy is to apply it thoroughly with a brush to the external part of the nose.

If a few furrows of loose earth are turned up in their pastures, the sheep will hold their noses to them, and thus keep off the fly.

The symptoms of grubs in the head, are drooping of the head and ears, discharge of bloody and watery matter from the nostrils, and loss of strength in the limbs.

If worms have made a lodgment, take half a pound of good Scotch snuff, and two quarts boiling water: stir, and let it stand till cold. Inject about a tablespoonful of this liquid and sediment up each nostril, with a syringe. Repeat this three or four times at intervals, from the middle of October till January: the grubs are then small, and will not have injured the sheep. The efficacy of the snuff will be increased, by adding half an ounce assaf[oe]tida, pounded in a little water. The effect on the sheep is immediate prostration and apparent death, but they will soon recover. A decoction of tobacco will afford a substitute for snuff.--_N. Eng. Far._

Blacklock's remedy is, to half fill the bowl of a pipe with tobacco, light it, and then hold the sheep, while a person inserts the stem some distance into the nostril, and blows a few whiffs into the nose. The operation is then repeated with the other nostril.

Swollen Mouth

Is sometimes fatal. It is said to be cured by daubing the lips and mouth plentifully with tar.--_Albany Cultivator._

Foul Noses.

Dip a small swab into tar, then roll in salt. Put some on the nose, and compel the sheep to swallow a small quantity.--_American Far._

A disease indicated by drooping, running at the eyes, weakness in the back and loins, inability to use the hind legs, was removed by turning the sheep into a pasture containing lobelia, (_Indian tobacco._) Dried lobelia was also given, and produced the same effect.--_Cultivator._

Scab.

This loathsome disease, to which fine-woolled sheep are particularly liable, is caused, like itch in the human subject, by a small insect, a species of the _acari_. It is first manifest by the rubbing of the sheep, and soon after by one or more tufts of wool, which is loosened at the roots. On feeling the skin, a hard, dry tumor is perceptible. To prevent contagion, remove the infected sheep to a separate pasture or yard as soon as discovered.

_Remedies._--The Spanish shepherds dissolve a little salt in their mouth, and drop it upon the infected part.

When the tumor has become enlarged, the wool should be removed closely to the skin, the scab scraped with a curry-comb, then wash with strong soap-suds or ley, and afterwards rub thoroughly with sulphur or brimstone, mixed with lard or grease.

An effectual remedy is prepared by taking one pound of tobacco, which add to 12 quarts ley from wood ashes of sufficient strength for washing, and four quarts urine; to this add another mixture of a gill high-wines; 1/4 oz. camphor; 1/4 oz. Spanish brown, and 1/2 gill spirits of turpentine. A small quantity of this applied to the sore will never fail.

Immediately after shearing, scab may readily be cured by immersing the sheep, (excepting the head,) in a strong decoction of tobacco liquor, adding a gill of spirits of turpentine for the first, and making a slight addition of fresh liquid for each sheep, enough to keep up the strength of the tobacco and turpentine, and taking care to rub the affected part thoroughly. For lambs, this liquor should be diluted, but yet left strong enough to kill ticks in one or two minutes, which may be ascertained by experiment.

Scab is also removed by using a composition of one pound plug tobacco to three gallons of water, with lime-water and oil of vitriol added; or a decoction of hellebore with vinegar, sulphur, and spirits of turpentine.--(_H. D. Grove._)

Scab is propagated more by using the same rubbing posts, than by contact with each other. Sheep in low condition are more subject to it than others.

Ticks and Lice

Sometimes infest sheep. Good feeding and shelter is a partial preventive, but when they have made their lodgment, they must be dipped in a decoction of tobacco water. The most effectual time for their destruction, is a few days after shearing, when they will have left the naked bodies of the old ewes, to hide in the fleeces of the lambs. The dipping in tobacco water, with the addition of a small quantity of turpentine, is an effectual remedy.

After dipping the sheep or lambs, the liquor should be pressed out from the wool, upon an inclined plane, so arranged as again to run into the vessel.

Pelt-rot

Will be recognised as one of the staple diseases of our _native sheep_, described on page 89. The wool in this case falls off, leaving the sheep partially or almost wholly naked; but this is not accompanied with soreness or apparent disease. The animal must be provided with a warm stall and generous feed, and the naked skin should be anointed with tar and grease. The preventive is good keeping and shelter.

Staggers or Sturdy, and Water in the Head,

Sometimes affect sheep, but more especially lambs under a year old. The first is caused by the _hydatid_. It is considered as an almost incurable disorder, but is sometimes removed by trepanning.

Chancellor Livingston carefully supplied two thus attacked, with food for three months, when nature effected a cure. Removal to dry lands and purging, is a good precaution when they are first taken.

An English lad lately cured one which had been given up, by boring with a gimlet into the soft place on the head, when the water rushed out, and the sheep immediately followed the others to the pasture. A correspondent of the Albany Cultivator asserts, that 1/2 a pint of melted lard poured down the throat, will cure blind staggers in ten minutes.

Abortion

Occurs sometimes, and is usually caused by excessive fright or exertion, and sometimes by severe exposure and poor feed. It is seldom fatal, except to the lamb.

The Uterus

Is occasionally protruded after lambing. It should be immediately returned, first washing it in warm milk and water, if any dirt adheres to it. For this, the hand only should be used. After rubbing it with lard or oil, hold up the hind legs, and gently replace the protruded parts, then keep the ewe quiet till fully recovered.

For Garget, or Caked Bag.

Keep the bag thoroughly drained of milk, for which purpose the lamb is the most efficient. If it is lost, another may be temporarily substituted. Purge freely with Epsom salts, and wash the udder repeatedly with very warm water. If matter forms, it should be opened with the lancet.

Bleeding.

"Nothing tends so much to the recovery of an animal from a disease in which bleeding is required, as the rapid flow of the blood from a large orifice. Little _impression_ can be made on an acute disease by the slow removal of even a large quantity of blood, as the organs have time to accommodate themselves to the loss, which might, for any good it will do, as well be dispensed with. Either bleed rapidly, or not at all. The nearer the commencement of an ailment, in which you employ bleeding, the operation is resorted to, the greater the chance of its doing good.

Bleeding by nicking the under surface of the tail, does very well, where no great deal of blood is required, but it is not to be thought of if the veins of the face or neck can possibly be opened. These are to be taken in preference to a vein on the leg, as they are much more readily got at. The facial vein commences by small branches on the side of the face, and runs downwards and backwards to the base of the jaw, where it may be felt within two inches of the angle, or opposite the middle grinding tooth. It is here that the orifice must be made: the thumb of the left hand being held against the vein, so as to prevent the flow of blood towards the heart, will make it _rise_.

Some prefer opening the jugular vein, which commences behind the eye and runs down the side of the neck. This vessel is, however, more difficult to open than the former, being better covered with wool, and not so easily exposed or made to swell. _Stringing_ is the mode commonly resorted to for this end; that is to say, a cord is drawn tightly round the neck close to the shoulder, so as to stop the circulation through the vein, and render it perceptible to the finger.

A lancet is the instrument generally used in bleeding, though a well-pointed penknife will do at a pinch. The opening must always be made obliquely; but before attempting this, the animal must be secured, by placing it between the operator's legs, with its croup against a wall. The selected vein is then fixed by the fingers of the operator's left hand, so as to prevent its rolling or slipping before the lancet. Having fairly entered the vein, the point of the instrument must be elevated at the same time that it is pushed a little forward, by which motion it will be lifted from or cut its way out of the vein.

_A prescribed quantity of blood should never be drawn_, for the simple reason that this can never be precisely stated. If the symptoms are urgent, as in all likelihood they will be, your best plan is not to stop the flow of blood till the animal fall or is about to fall. When this occurs, run a pin through the edges of the orifice, and finish by twisting round it a lock of wool."--(_Blacklock._)

Large cuts are healed

By first sewing and then covering with salve. Smaller ones may be secured with an adhesive plaster or bandage.

To protect lambs from wolves and foxes,

Smear the neck plentifully with a mixture of tar and sulphur. Bells are also said to guard the flock, as both are excessively wary, and have a great dislike to any thing artificial. Large dogs will keep them at bay. A better remedy is to kill the marauders, which may be done by inserting strychnine in fresh meat and leaving it in their haunts.