NO PULPY KIDNEY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21963, 6 March 1946, Page 4

NO PULPY KIDNEY

GISBORNE KILLINGS FACIAL ECZEMA SIGNS PRECAUTIONS NECESSARY Up to the present there has been no sign of pulpy kidney found among stock killed at the Kaiti freezing works, and evidently this district is so far exempt from the development of the first warnings of facial eczema outbreaks. . Recently the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Department of Agriculture combined to urge farmers to take early action .to safeguard stock from the possible effects of lush growth in the ryegrass pastures, leading .to outbreaks of eczema. It was stated that already the freezing works in various districts had reported the first indications of trouble in the broken-down condition of kidneys extracted from slaughtered stock. Gisborne was not one of the districts that reported this development. Humid Weather Hazards The week-end rain may be expected to bring on a quick flush of autumn growth if warm, humid weather succeeds .the present cold spell. Then will

be the time for farmers to watch closely for facial eczema indications, and io follow the advice of the research specialists, who recommend that stock must not be allowed to feed freely on the lush growth. On his recent visit to Gisborne, Mr. E. Bruce Lew, director of the plant research station at Palmerston North and widely-recognised as a student of facial eczema causes, recommended that when the flush of grass occurs stock should be confined to paddocks which will only afford them the scantiest ration daily, and that when allowed to graze on the fresh grass such grazing should be limited to an hour a day at the most. Semi-starvation would not set stock back as much as the facial eczema which stock-owners would risk by allowing sheep to graze uncontrolled. The short-ration regime should continue until the new growth showed clear indications pjf hardening off,