DISEASES OF STOCK.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 318, 3 October 1908, Page 3

DISEASES OF STOCK.

INTERESTING LECTURE. MR J. A. GILRUTH AT FEATHERSTON. . At Feathorston on Tuesday night (writes our Wairarapa correspondent), Sir. J. A. Gilruth, -'M.E.'C.V.S.V" Chief Government Veterinarian, addrossed.a.lafga gathering of farmors,on "Diseases of Stock and How They May be Prevented and, Cured.". Tho lecture was arranged by ,the JTeatherston branch of the Farmers' Union; The chairman of the branch, Mr. J. G. Cox, presided.. Abortion, in Cows. Mr. .Gilruth said bur, medieval ancestors attributed abortion to a t witch casting an evil eye at the infected animal. The general cure was the burning of'the,witch; that was, if she could bo found. The practice was certainly hard upon witches. ; The disease had been prevalent in New Zealand for quite a number of years,-but no notice was taken of it by the• farmers; In fact it was only during the last fifteen'or twenty years that it 'had been .proved . that the trouble was caused by a microbe,-and was contagious. It was-a mistake to suppose that the disease could bo-transmitted,' as it; were, in any, way by sympathy. : The speaker , explained' how the microbe spread from animal to animal. When farmors noticed: or even suspected that a.'cbw. was aborting, they should isolate tho animal at once. But :in a' number of coses nothing was dono until the whole herd was infected, and then away ; the animals were sent .to the. saleyards. to further spread the disease over tho whole country: .The bull also, when, contaminated from'tho cows, was too often treated in the same ■jv'ay. ■ In the; treatment of 'affected"cattle, isolation,- the ; burning-or. deep-burying of the foetus, and- disinfection of tho contaminated soil were important matters;! After treating the cow care should be taken by the operator to . thoroughly, disinfect his'hands, and also the finger-nails, . which should be" clipped. Corrosive sublimate, was.the, best antiseptic. ■■ " There is,no need for, tho farmer to hurry over this' business)" said Mr. Gilruth. "Somehow.'a Targe number "of farmers, do hurry,, over.the work, and 'the- result is disastrous to,the cow.". After being treated, the cow should be. immediately - turned out of th 6 bail. ; Frequently one washing out was insufficient', r It should bo repealed two or three times, /until the" farmer ,was satisfied that tlfe germ, had. been killed.! . Meanwhile,'the. cow should be kept away from the herd. 1.. . ; Sterility. '"•• .'' The otner phase,of the: disease was sterility. Some Taranaki farmers had ; ascribed sterility to bad breeding. When:, the farmer, in many instances, found that his herd was sterile, away again'"the : animals' were sent to ;■the? saleyardsj-'to".further ' spread" the disease.;] The buyer thought he. was -getting a bargain 'if he purchased a,, good-looking cow for £4.... But, if. coTys' were able 1 to give a return .of £10 -or £12 in -'a'. season,', how could the buyer" expect to secure' a; sound animal for half that sum? It was .a'lopsided business fbrfarmers to buy milking cows ih ;; tho public saleyards; The cure for l this form* of disease was the "same as in abortion;, but the corrosive sublimate might be mada.twico as strong, namely,'one tabloid to one bottlo of water. . , , " You want ,to,be'careful how you use the antiseptic,'.':'said.-the''lecturer.'U-knew a' man' who' lost-four'cow's-' b'yr the treatment, but he misread my directions., He read, ten tabloids, to ■ one bottle, of water.'.' It was wise to,..disinfect thoroughly after,each. cow,, even if: there wore thirty 'pa;. forty; cows;' | -. The. bull-should never be allowed to run loose with the/herfe?: Ar,;dairy,;herd-should be washed two or .three times during/tho season, so as to be on, the. safe side. ■■

Milk Fewer. . curedf-by filling the udder tfith'-filtered: 'air. A : proper instru-. ment should bo used. ' It was not.safe to.' use a,'bicycjl6,.p)jmp, an: instrument, which would "naturally contain germs and dirt. 'The instruments used should be well" boiled be-fore-using. Each quarter should, be'blown up well. A good dose of opening medicine should also be administered. This disease was not now nearly , bo prevalent as it was eight or ten years ago. Mammitis. \ .In answer to a question,by Mr. Cundy, Mr. Gilruth gave an interesting description of mammitis. ; The udder of a cow was composed of four different'organs. Each organ might bo likened: to the branch of a tree with its reticulatory. vessel's and cells, running' right down into the sa'c> or 'sinus, which held the milk, immediately' above the teat. Mammitis (that is, inflammation of the milk glands); wasi caused ;by . a, microbe, and was something like the,ordinary" cold'in the'hedd which attacked human'beings. • Contagion was effected ,by the. milkers'' hands or' '' by tho':' milking'' '• machines. ; The only visible symptom"',was • the muddy appearance' of the milk, ' arid * the disease Was often spreading rapidly by the medium of the milking machines before the owner knew anything about the trouble. The speaker said, that He knew one farmer ; in v Taranaki who'lost £500 in this-manner. In.order to prevent the spread of the disease, each cow should .be milked separately by the hinds to see if r she was all right. The hands Should be carefully washed after each, milking. When a cow .was found to bo diseased she should be turned out with her calf. This treatment might do: her, good, .and ;was the only treatment the speaker'so' far could recommend.: As in cases of abortion, farmers, when they found l their cows" suffering from mammitis, frequently rushed them to • the saleyards.-, .Thus, the'spread of the disease was facilitated. . . .TVhere" milking machines' were used, it was wise to "test the cows now and then by hand. The greatest care should be taken in the thorough cleansing of' the machines. How to Drench. .......... , , Lutgc .MimW of. cattle , were killed through an improper method of drenching. The. farmer was often* in » hurry, and the' liquid would go down the wrong cavity—the nostril, for instance. The nose should never bo held up higher than the level of the eye, and neither the tongue nor the nostrils should be gripped. The left hand should be inserted in tho mouth ,ovei the beast's head, and .the drench poured gently in with the right hand. The head shoula be let go directly the animal coughed, so that' she could' get her head down.. •

Inflammation of. Uterus. Inflammation 'was a cow disease which usually made its appearance about calving time, and it spreading: It was often-in evidence from about' ten days to a month after calving'.';" The cause was "the growth of a microbe within the womb.;' The'microbe apparently thrived'and produced a tocsin of poison; which was not absorbed till'it affected the brain- and- brought about paralysis and death. A good preventive was tho use of ;6r four glasses' of whisky in half'a. pint of water. medicine should " also be ; administered, andV the- cow should be washed out as in case's of abortion. .. ... ■ \ ■' '' Ante-PartumParalysls. ' Ante-partum paralysis was a sheep disease .very oommon among pregnant ewes. Mr. Gilruth'said'that he had written and spoken much on the subject, still the disease continued to increase. The disease was not contagious, and was practically the result o? ewes being in'too-good a condition prior to lambing. The trouble particularly afflicted ewes which were carrying twin lambs. It . was most common . among the mutton-producing sheep. Tho symptoms were, first, that tho sheep becamo dull and disinclined to feed. It would sequester itself from the remainder of the flock, would tnove about. only when forced, and .then only in an aimless manner. The. animal would become blind, stagger, .and .grind its teoth.' Later the wool would come out readily, and the animal would then be in such a wretched oondition .that its death might soon .follow. In proof, . of his, statement that the disease tW- caused • -practically through over-

feeding, Mr. Gilruth recounted tho following experience:— Two Carterton farmers bought a paddock, which they divided into two sections. The property had .the same water supply, and tho same flock was depastured on the two sections. The only difference was that one farmer was wealthy and fed his sheep up well prior to lambing, while the other man was in poor • circumstances, and, consequently, his ewes were not, in tho best of condition. Ho expected to lose a largo number of sheep at lambing time,but lost only one animal. His neighbour los't 20 per cent, of his flock, until the ewes were turned on some nice fresh grass, when the mortality ceased. , Prevention was a simple matter. If the owes Had wintered well and .'had been fed on , dry and artificial food, a sharp watch should bo kept , for the first symptoms of the illness. The ewos should be made to travel for their feed daily. Tho paddocks in which they would be running durm'g the last month before lambing should be kept fairly bare. If this could not be done the flock should be driven for an hour to a nice pasture of young oats or clean spring grass. Exercise aiia limitation'of' food were all that w6re ■wanted. . 1 Kidney Congestion in Lambs. The speaker said that he first discovered kidney congestion in lambs in the "Wairarapa. It occurred among strong, healthy lambs, which would usually be found dead, about; a month old,; lying in a more or less natural attitude/ Sometimes a form of giddiness was observed a few minutes prior to death, but nothing l more .definite. The cause of death was generally misunderstood. Some farmers thought that death was caused through 'the curdling of the milk ,in the stomach, others attributed'it to wool ball. 'Curdled milk; and wool balls .could be found in tho stomachs of most lambs. The wool , was swallowed by'the lamb when' sucking, but was ■ never present in such a quantity as to cause death. The cause'of ; death was acute congestion of the liver and the kidneys. The kidneys were usually., a mass of pulp. - The disease was' brought 1 about by the too rapid • formation of, blood through' an'excessive food supply. It would ■ be noticed that the 1 illness .occurred just about'the time the lamb would be"receivings big supply of milk and plenty of grass. .Preventive treatment could be found in docking early, the loss, of blood reducing the condition of the, lamb. Ewe' lambs should.be docked' early, but the tails should, be kept sufficiently long to permit of another joint being-removed later oil/ . ■ Mr. Gilruth- answered a number of questions, and;.was then . accorded a vote of , thanks on the-.motion of Mr. A. Matthews, seconded by' Mr. J; ■ Cundy. • _ '.