CONCERN ABOUT HYDATIDS

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29004, 19 September 1959, Page 8

CONCERN ABOUT HYDATIDS

It is a matter for gratification that on many Canterbury farms these days there is a growing concern about hydatids and the need for hygienic offal disposal. Some farmers have gone to quite a lot of trouble to achieve this. On a Mid-Canterbury farm, for instance, a fireplace for burning sheep carcases ha? been carved out of a bank. A trench cut in the bank was concreted in on the bottom and after bricks .were built up on the sides more concrete was poured behind the bricks. The entrance to the trench, which faces into the north-west, is part of a concrete drain pipe. The other section of the pipe is at the far end of the trench where there is a brick chimney. The sheep is lowered into the trench from the top on to grating and a fire is lit under the grating. Waste baler twine saturated with dieseline is used to get the fire going and then old stakes are used as fuel. A sheet of corrugated iron is placed across the top of the trench and if the fire shows any signs of faltering a punctured tin of old engine oil is allowed to drip through into it from the iron sheet. On a windy day, however, there is little left of the animal in the space of 20 minutes. Where sheep are killed for home consumption or a dead sheep is skinned, the offal is thrown through a hole in the top of a 400gallon tank into a pit 4ft or sft deep. This arrangement prevents dogs getting access to the offal and the pit may serve the purpose for two or three years.