Chapter IV · SHEEP (continued 2)

The prairies seem adapted to the usual varieties of sheep introduced into the United States; and of such are the flocks made up, according to the taste or judgment of the owners. Shepherd-dogs are invaluable to the owners of flocks, in those unfenced, illimitable ranges, both as a defence against the small prairie-wolf, which prowls around the sheep, but which are rapidly thinning off by the settlers; and also as assistants to the shepherds in driving and herding their flocks on the open ground.

DISEASES OF SHEEP.

The dry and healthful climate, the rolling surface, and the sweet and varied herbage, which generally prevail in the United States, insure perfect health to an originally sound and well-selected flock, unless peculiarly exposed to disease. No country is better suited to sheep, than most of the northern and some of the southern parts of our own. In Europe, and especially in England, where the system of management is necessarily in the highest degree artificial, consisting frequently in early and continued forcing the system, folding on wet, plowed grounds, and the excessive use of that watery food, the Swedes turnip, there are numerous and fatal diseases. Hence the long list which lumbers the pages of foreign writers on sheep.

The most destructive of these are the rot, and epidemics which are scarcely known in America, except by report. The diseases incident to our flocks may generally be considered as casualties, rather than as inbred, or necessarily arising from the quality of food, or from local causes. It may be safely asserted, that with a dry pasture, well stocked with varied and nutritious grasses; a clear, running stream; sufficient shade and protection against severe storms; a constant supply of salt, tar, and sulphur in summer; good hay, and sometimes roots, with ample shelters in winter; young sheep, originally sound and healthy, will seldom or never get diseased on American soil.

The few diseases which it may be necessary here to mention, will be treated in the simplest manner. Remedies of general application, to be administered often by the unskilful and ignorant, must neither be elaborate nor complicated; and, if expensive, the lives of most sheep would be dearly purchased by their application.

A sheep which the owner has reared or purchased at the ordinary price, is the only domestic animal which can die without material loss to its owner. The wool and pelt will, in most instances, repay its cost, while the carcasses of other animals will be worthless except for manure. The loss of sheep from occasional disease, will leave the farmer's pocket in a very different condition from the loss of an equal value in horses or cattle. Yet humanity, equally with interest, dictates the use of such simple remedies for the removal of suffering and disease, as may be within reach.

Diarrhœa or Scours,

When light and not long continued, calls for no remedy. It is a healthful provision of nature for the more rapid expulsion of some offending matter in the system, which, if retained, might lead to disease. It is generally owing to improper food, as bad hay or noxious weeds; to a sudden change, as from dry food to fresh grass; or to an excess, as from overloading the stomach; and sometimes, from cold and wet.

The remedies are obvious.

Change to suitable food in the first two cases; enforce abstinence after repletion; and provide warm, dry shelter, with light diet, if owing to the latter causes.

When severe or long continued, a dose of castor oil may be given, and after its operation, give four grains of opium and one ounce chalk, and put them on dry food. Wheat-bran or shorts, and oat-meal or flaxseed ground, are both good for ailing lambs and sheep; as are also ripe oats or wheat, fed in the sheaf, with well cured, sweet hay, and plenty of salt. Fresh boughs of the juniper, or pine and hemlock, help to check the disorder.

Looseness in the larger lambs is prevented by having chalk within their reach; or if they refuse it, administer it in their food. When it happens soon after birth, place it with the ewe in a warm place, and feed the latter with plenty of oats, or other sound grain. If the milk be deficient, give the lamb cow's milk scalded, or let it suck the cow. The tail is sometimes glued on to the buttocks, while the scours continue. Separate it immediately by the use of warm water, and rub the parts with dry loam or clay.

Dysentery.

This is a different and frequently a fatal disease, but resembles the former in its general symptoms. It is owing to prolonged diarrhœa, unwholesome or meager food, and other causes. Bleeding and physic should be resorted to, after which give warm, nourishing gruel.

Hoven.

For description and remedies, see hoven in cattle.

Braxy.

This is manifested by uneasiness, loathing of food, frequent drinking, carrying the head down, drawing the back up, swollen belly, feverish symptoms, and avoidance of the flock. It appears mostly in late autumn and spring, and may be induced by exposure to severe storms, plunging in water when hot, and especially by constipation brought on by feeding on frostbitten, putrid, or indigestible herbage.

Remedies are not often successful, unless promptly applied. Bleed freely, and to effect this, in consequence of the stagnant state of the blood, immersion in a tub of hot water may be necessary. Then give two ounces Epsom salts, dissolved in warm water, with a handful of common salt.

If this is unsuccessful, give a clyster made with a pipe-full of tobacco, boiled for a few minutes in a pint of water. Administer half, and if this is not effectual, follow with the remainder. Then bed the animal in dry straw and cover with blankets, and assist the purgatives with warm gruels, followed by laxative provender till well.—(Blacklock.) Thousands of sheep have died on the prairies from braxy, induced by exposure and miserable forage. Entire prevention is secured by warm, dry shelters, and nutritious, digestible food.

Costiveness.

This is removed by giving two tablespoonfuls of castor oil every twelve hours, till the difficulty is removed; or give one ounce Epsom salts. This may be assisted by an injection of warm, weak suds and molasses.

Stretches.

Sheep sometimes stretch out their noses on the ground, and around their sides, as if in severe pain. This may be caused by an involution of one part of the intestine within another. When owing to this cause, the difficulty is frequently removed by jerking the animal by the hind-legs several times, when the pain disappears.

But it is generally occasioned by costiveness, which see above. This may be prevented by using green food, roots, &c., once a week, or by allowing them to browse on the evergreens, pines, hemlock, and firs.

Poison,

From laurel and other plants, is cured by pouring a gill of melted lard down the throat, or boil for an hour the twigs of the white ash, and give half to one gill of the strong liquor immediately; to be repeated if not successful.

Inflammation of the Lungs.

This is produced by improper exposure to cold and wet. The remedy for slight affections, is warm, dry shelter, and light food. When severe, resort must be had to bleeding and purging freely, then to light bran or linseed mashes.

Rot.

This sometimes causes the death of a million of sheep in a single year in England, yet it is a disease almost unknown in this country. Foreign authorities ascribe it entirely to excessive humidity of climate, wet pastures, or too watery food.

The preventives are therefore obvious. After the use of dry food and dry bedding, one of the best is the abundant use of pure salt. In violent attacks, early bleeding, followed by a dose of two ounces Epsom salts, to be repeated if necessary, with a change of diet and location, is all that can be done.

Foot-Rot.

This is frequently a prevalent disease among American sheep. It is sometimes spontaneous, but more often produced by contagion. In the former case, it is caused by soft, rich, or moist pastures. A dry gravelly or rocky range, will of course be an effectual preventive when owing to this cause.

The disorder is communicated by the absorbents of the foot coming in contact with the suppuration which has been left on the ground from the diseased part. Absolute safety against this contagion is secured only by a total avoidance of the walks of the infected animals, till repeated rains, or what is better, frosts, have disarmed the virus of its malignity.

Remedies are variously compounded, of blue vitriol, verdigris, tar, spirits of turpentine, alum, saltpetre, salt, lime, copperas, white-lead, antimony, alcohol, urine, vinegar, &c., all of which have proved effectual.

The hoof should first be pared and thoroughly scraped. Then apply a wash made of three parts of blue vitriol, one of verdigris pulverized finely, with scalding (not boiling) vinegar; stirring briskly till it is of the consistence of thin cream, and put it upon the affected part with a paint brush. It is a good preventive, to apply this to the sound feet of the affected animal.

Another remedy is to use spirits of turpentine after scraping; and if the disease is of long standing, add to the turpentine a strong decoction of blue vitriol dissolved in water. The foot should be examined every week, and the remedy repeated till perfect soundness is restored.

A feather dipped in muriatic or nitric acid, and applied to the parts after scraping and cleansing, is a good remedy. When put upon the soles of foot-sore sheep, it hardens the hoofs, and enables them to travel better.

Sheep are sometimes cured by keeping them on a dry surface, and driving over a barn-floor daily, which is well covered with quicklime. It may also be cured by dryness, and repeated washing with soap-suds.

The above ailment should not be confounded with a temporary soreness, or inflammation of the hoof, occasioned by the irritation from the long, rough grasses which abound in low situations, which is removed with the cause; or if it continues, apply white paint or tar, after thorough washing.

Corrosion of the Flesh by Flies or Maggots,

May be cured by first removing the vermin; then wash with Castile soap and warm soft water, after which apply white-lead with linseed oil. Tar put on the festering wound corrodes it; but this, or spirits of turpentine placed on the sound parts near it, keep off the flies by their strong effluvia.

If the wound be slight, and the weather moderate, apply a little spirits of turpentine with a strong decoction of elder bark.

Flies on Sheep

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 (Œstus 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 assafœtida, 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; ¼ oz. camphor; ¼ oz. Spanish brown, and ½ 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 ½ 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.