FARMING IN THE KING COUNTRY

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 167, 16 July 1924, Page 11

FARMING IN THE KING COUNTRY

CARE OF BREEDING EWES. PRECAUTIONS ESSENTIAL. (By ANCHORITE.) The month of August being generally recognised in this Dominion as the flush period of the lambing season, extra care must now be employed in the treatment of the pregnant ewes, in order to promote them to a perfectly healthy condition during lambing time. When pregnant ewes arc being fed on turnips, judgment is required in the methods ot thus feeding them, and in timing the periods when they should be on or off the crop, in order to prevent heavy losses at lambing. It is a good practice to provide a run-off for all animals being fed on turnips, and especially is this desirable in the case of the pregnant ewe. Turnips alone provide a cold and watery food, and if a run-oif cannot be provided, then hay, straw, ensilage, or similar fodder substances are desirable, in order to obtain the higher benefits which are always the objective of the successful sheep farmer. Turnip Dangers. On no account should the In-lamb ewe be allowed to feed on the turnip crop when frost is on the ground. During the frosty nights, the sheep should not be left on the crop, as the eating of cold and frosted roots has a very injurious effect on the pregnant ewe, and is the chief cause of their aborting, or giving birth to dead lambs. This is, unfortunately, a rather common practice with inexperienced sheep-owners, as is also the bad practice of leaving the ewes continuously on the turnips right up to lambing. , They should tie removed entirely from the turnips at least a fortnight from lambing, and placed in fresh pasture paddocks, which should have been provided for them for this specific purpose, and which are termed by sheep farmers the lambing paddocks. Tn all cases where shifting the ewes is necessary, care must be exercised when driving them through gateways and similar places, where crowding is liable to occur. Only a very quiet dog should be used. Neglect at this period sorely trios the endurance of the animal, ar.d will assuredly recoil upon the flockowner himself when lambing begins next month. Abortion. Ewes will abort from various caus.es, such as eating pennyroyal, tutu, or similar plants; from too stimulating a diet; from lack of sufficient nourishment; severe chills; from being startled by dogs; eating of frosted turnips; accidents of various kinds, such as being cast, falling over heights, injuries crossing bridges and gateways, etc. If the | animal is in low condition through ill- , ness or lack of nourishment, the foetus is quite liable to die in the womb, as is also possible when the ewe is allowed access to impure water, which latter usually promotes trouble in the bowels and lungs, which in turn affect the liver, thus reducing the animal to a weak condition, at a time when she should be strongest. Abortion in ewes, however, is only common among neglected flocks. Conditions at Lambing. Some sheep-men hold\_,that the pregnant ewes are none the worse for being on the poor side at lambing, but the man of long experience knows full well that this argument does not hold good, whilst admitting that it is possible to have the animals over fat. It is certain that the ewe must be well nourished throughout the period of gestation, and unless this is provided for satisfactory, lambing averages cannot be expected. Special paddocks should have been selected from level or comparatively easy country, well sheltered from the prevailing winds, carrying abundant new pastures, and provided with clear running water easy of access. The feed and water are most important, as, during the lambing period, the ewe becomes intensely thirsty, and her appetite is then greater than when her condition is normal. The preparation of these lambing paddocks some weeks ahead is imperative on the well ordered sheep run, as it is only by this means that fresh new feed can be provided for the lambing ewes. As maternity approaches the prospective mothers should be worked carefully in the direction of the first lambing enclosure (with the aid of a quiet and sagacious sheep dog if necessary) without undue excitement or labour. When lambing has commenced, the ewes with lambs should be quietly worked out of the paddock into an adjoining one. either singly, or a few at a time. They should then be carefully watched each day, in order to ascertain whether all the lambs are being mothered or otherwise. Mothering the Lambs. If a ewe dies, its lamb, or lambs cif twins) can be placed with a foster mother. There are several ways of doing this, anyone of which, however, must be done in a thorough manner, otherwise the ewe, being keenly sensitive, will sense, and at once detect the imposition, and refuse to mother the proffered foster lamb. In such a case, the ewe should be placed in a small enclosure, and Stockholm tar, or Condy's fluid smeared around the lower part of her head and nostrils, thus spoiling her sense of smell. She will then invariably allow the strange lamb—or lambs to suckle her. After she has permitted this for a few days she will in all probability continue to do so —thus mothering the orphans. In the case of a ewe losing one, or both, of her lambs, one can always supply her with a foster lamb at lambing (time, or even two' separate lambs, providing that she apparently has sufficient milk to do the lambs well. In this instance, the mother should be placed in a small paddock handy to the homestead, her dead lambs should then be skinned and the skins placed around the lamb, or lambs, you require to be mothered. These "prepared" lambs are then placed in the enclosure with the lambless ewe, and upon her smelling the skins of her own lambs, she will invariably allow the imposition to pass unnoticed, and the hungry orphans to partake of her milk. After she has permitted this a few times; you require to spray her nostrils with Condy's fluid —or some other similar strong smelling preparation, and remove the extra skins from off the foster lambs—which completes the manoeuvre of mothering foster lambs. A careful shepherd by using the above or similar methods, will save many lambs that would otherwise perish in the absence of artificial assistance at this trying period in the life of the pheejK " '■ \