DISEASES OF STOCK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20363, 18 September 1929, Page 5

DISEASES OF STOCK.

SEASONABLE HINTS.

INFLUENCE OF FOOD.

PULPY KIDNEY DISCUSSED

BY H.B.J.

At this time of the year the sheep- ' farmer is naturally concerned with atj tentions to his newly-arrived lambs, for ! on their development largely depends the ! successful financial outcome of the year. % iipart from inclement weather, which I may cause a very serious loss if it oc- ! i curs when a large number of lambs are j j dropped, disease is likely to mako the big- j i gest inroads into profits, for through it j : not- only do lambs die in considerable { ' numbers, but even where its attack is j j survived, the health of the young ari- j rnajs is so undermined that it is ire- J q neatly impossible to fatten them for i | the butcher, or make profitable sheep oi ; j them. j In a general way tbe diseases affecting j j stock can be classified under three beau- I ! ings—parasitic diseases, deficiency dis- j ! ease. and infectious disease. The seventy j i with which any of these may attack an { ! animal is larzelv controlled bv constitu- i \ tion. " " | I We talk of inherited disease, but this i |is incorrect Diseases are not inherited, j | although deformities and malformations j i arc. What is inherited is weakness of ; 1 . ' i constitution affecting vanons organs there- j | by making animals readily susceptible to ] i disease. Deficiency Diseases. i Li their order of importance it is prob- 1 | able that " deficiency " diseases take first j | place, for in the early stages ci life greater j j demands are made on all body-buiidiug j [ substances than is the case where matur- j ity has been reached. The study of " dei ficiency " diseases has only been under- ■ I taken within recent years, and it is too j j early to definitely classify those diseases j > which are actually caused by an absence j | of minerals, but research ancl observation j ■ have made it fairly clear that bush-sick- j 1 ness, milk-fever, temporary sterility, and j : ordinary {not contagious) abortion in i i dairy cattle, and rickets, pulpy kidney, ! paralysis and anemia in lain as are largely, j ;f not wholly caused by a deficiency in i the food of minerals in demand in large j Quantities by the young, growing animal. * Although investigations now being conI ducted in Central Otago into the cause ! oi ** pulpv kidney," have led to 30 de- ! finite conclusions, it is probable that lack j of iron in the blood will be found to be Jat least a contributory factor. In experi- ! j ments conducted at the Eewett Institute ; |. on yonnc pics ■which died suddenly with ; 1 very similar symptoms to ""pulpy kidney, ' j in lambs, it was found that death was j caused by a deficiency of iron. Early Supplies oi Iron. i The young pic. and probably the lamb, i also, is born with a stock oi iron in its • body, which is presumably intended to ! supply its needs until these and other mini era! element? can be procured from food | other than its mother's milk. _ If, during j the time when the young pig is living ! exclusively on its mother's milk, it grows J so rapidly that iil exhausts this stork of j iron, anemia and other evils ensue. Death j often takes place suddenly during the dilation of the heart before other symptoms become apparent. _ ! Another parallel with " pnlpy kidney ! in'lambs is that *' the condition was most i acute in the biggest or fastest-growing ! pigs, because in them the need for iron iis greatest." It was found, however, j that if the mother was carefully fed, ! prior to farrowinc and daring the time j when she was suckling her younj;, with ' food containing available iron in sufs- - eient quantity, the younc pigs went tor- ! ward without a checK. _ >3 j A solution of the " pulpy kidney _ j problem is of sufficient importance in ) New Zealand to demand the exploration : of every avenue which micht reveal a j cure. I have kept a close watchmen two j properties of very similar land anci the "stock are equally pood and hare been 1 similarlv well managed. On one, howJ ever, the breeding ewes have been snp- ! plied throughout the year with i Eck I containing, among other ingredients, sul- ; nhate of iron, while, on the. other propcrty no mineralised licit has beet: pro- | vide'd. Benefits oi Mineral Lick.

So far. although lambing started srmultaueouslv on both farms, there have been ao deaths from pulpy kidney this season on the farm where iron was supplied to

the ewes, although serious losses were experienced in past years where iron was not supplied. On tie farm where a lick containing sulphate of iron has not been supplied, a number of deaths of fine lambs have already occurred. It may be yet too early to draw a definite conclusion as to the value of sulphate of iron as a preventive of this trouble, but it is a fact that where no iron has been Supplied it has been found ueeessarv to dock the iamus—thus checsiiig their growth and reducing tie _ de-

mand for ion—while on tie farm where a lick was supplied docking ias not yet been contemplated. It has been found that calcium and phosphorus are tie two minerals recfuired in largest amounts by all growing animals but this does not mean that where these are in ample supply there is not a defies en cv 01 the equally important sodium, potassium. mags«esiam. iron, sulphur, chlorine, and iodine. Though these may be required only sn minute quantities, it is apparent that where are totally absent or even in short supply the most serious r"suits may follow in the health oi the animal.