FADING DISEASE IN LAMBS

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27838, 10 December 1955, Page 7

FADING DISEASE IN LAMBS

SULPHUR DEFICIENCY SUSPECTED

FAIRLIE FARMER’S EXPERIMENTS

The possibility of a relationship between sulphur deficiency and Johne’s disease or general unthriftness in lambs in parts of Canterbury is raised by Mr W. B. Trotter, of “Coulmore.” Fairlie. In submitting an account of his experiences, Mr Trotter says: “I have noticed in ‘The Press’ several interesting articles on the Farm and Station page concerning sulphur deficiency and Johne’s disease. If space would permit, I request the privilege of writing my experiences in regard to the use of sulphur and perhaps to add something worth while to the interest which has been created.”

In his many interesting statements, b Mr Trotter says that since the ti autumn of 1951 he has been interested v in experiments designed to combat a 0 serious disease in lambs. ‘‘The lambs.” e he continues, “are apparently quite j, normal until they are weaned and then j fade, in spite of any drenches which a may be given. To all appearances this jfading disease is exactly what could r be expected from cobalt deficiency, and in 1951 and 1952, together with Pro- c fessor Coop, of Lincoln College, both field and drenching trials were car- s ried out with copper, cobalt and iron, < While some response was obtained. £ the results could only be described as c disappointing. i “In 1953 I had occasion to use a t sulphur trial on my own property to t try what effect on stock extra sul- ( phur would give. The topdressing used s was ljcwt superphosphate, 51b blue- ■ stone, 101 b sulphate of iron, soz co- • bait and 7jlb flower’s of sulphur. Al- ; lowing 12|lb of sulphur to be contained in the ljcwt of superphosphate, this gave a dressing of 201 b of sulphu’* an acre. “Excellent Results'* “The results were excellent. I had 16 of these ‘fade’ lambs in my posses- ; sion and I turned them out to live or die on this sulphur trial. One died the day they were put in the paddock, but the other 15 survived and, though two cast their wool, recovered and did well enough to win a first prize in April as freezing wethers. “Now, Sir, in your issue of Saturday, October 1, there appears an excellent article on sulphur by Professor Walker, of Lincoln College. This article deals with plant health from the use of sulphur, and names an area in Canterbury which is deficient in sulphur. “In your issue of October 29 appears an article on Johne’s disease, described as an insidious wasting aisease which is becoming prevalent in South Canterbury flocks. The article names the area in South Canterbury, i which is included in the sulphur deficient area as laid down in Professor Walker’s article. “This article also states that the best method of combating Johne’s disease is by vaccination, but does admit that in overseas countries where vaccination has been used extensively the disease is on the increase. “May I disagree with this, and suggest that flockowners who are having trouble with lambs after weaning in this part of Canterbury should deal with the sulphur deficiency. From what I have noted in the use of sulphur during the last three seasons, I believe that they will thus deal with Johne’s disease much more efficiently than by the use of the needle. “From what I have noted so far m my results I would say that the effect of sulphur deficiency on lambs is: In the early stages before the deficiency becomes acute, lambs refuse to thrive and stay at about the weaning weight for some months, but, when the deficiency becomes acute, they ‘grow I back into the ground’ or fade, with I very high mortality—just the same as I with Johne’s disease. | “Insufficient trials with the use of I sulphur as a topdressing have been carried out to prove this case conclusively, and, but for the fact that these other two articles have been printed, I would not have made these | results public without further trials.”