FARM AND STATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1861, 22 July 1887, Page 6

FARM AND STATION.

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS. The long-continued spell of wet weather has had a very bad effect upon all ■ Foot Rot in descriptions of stock; longSheep, woolled sheep especially have

had a very trying time for many weeks, their coats having been, with the' exception of a few dry days now and then, constantly drenched with fog and rain. This is bad enough in itself, but the flocks depastured upon wet and marshy land are in a very bad way indeed from the effects of standing and lying on water-laden ground, and unless their feet have been frequently and carefully attended to, they will be so badly infected with foot rot as to be unable to crawl about to get the necessary food. The Southdowns, merinos, and first crosses from the merino are usually the worst sufferers in this respect, but any breed is liable to contract the disease if allowed to run for any length of time on swampy or wet, heavy land of any description. Foot rot is not necessarily caused by wet land alone, for one form of foot rot is the effect of fine, gritty soil or dirt getting between the hoof and the hoof horn, either through cracks in the horn or by the grit being forced upward by the pressure of the sheep's weight, between the fibres of the horn of the foot. But by far the most common and characteristic form of this disease is found to be the result of continual contact of the feet with a combination of wet land and ooarse, moist grass and herbage and dirt. In fact, it is not necessary to put sheep on, pasture to produce foot rot, for it has been proved that it can be caused by treading upon any wet spongy surface, such, for example, as wet and foul litter in a yard or pen. Sheep are naturally formed for dry hills and mountain districts, where, by ordinary exercise, the horn of the hoof is worn down as it grows, but when put upon soft, muddy ground, or even wet soil of any description the hoof becomes softened and the friction by use is > not sufficient to keep it at its natural length, and the consequence is that it bends or doubles over, cracks, and allows the wet and dirt to penetrate and work up to the quick, ' and inflammation begins. It, therefore, follows that a great deal can be done in the way of prevention by constantly cutting and trimming the overgrowing hoof, but in spite of all precautions the feet will get into a bad condition in time if the sheep are not removed to drier land.

This is » disputed point and one very hard to prove conclusively either la Foot Rot way. . Some contend that ft Infectious is contagious both by the or Noti discharge from the feet of diseased sheep and also ty the soil becoming impregnated with tlie same, which thus conveys the disease to the feet of sound sheep treading upon it. It i>. I think, unreasonable to suppose that sonno sheep contract foot rot from land that ha been presumably infected, because if that land caused the disease in sheep in the fir» instance why should "it not give it to other sound sheep simply as the result of tW presence of conditions favourable to the disease as well as because sheep with rotte? feet have pastured upon it ? At anyrate if* a very difficult matter to prove the theory 01 infection from the soil and also frora other sheep. Experiments which were carried on at the Royal Veterinary College some ye* 1 * ago, for the purpose of testing the fact oj foot rot being communicated by contact i» foot rot matter, or of presumably infect*" soil, proved that inaouiation with foot k> matter under the skin just above the bom 0 the foot, and also the application of it to"* abraded surface of the, coronet was ioltio^ by so we degree- of "inflammation wil \ gradually subsided, although the sheep, wj kept on moist ground while the expend' proceeded. Sheep which were kept * others having the -foot" rot veiybaof/^r the disease at. different periods, but botfi^ sound' jvud affiected sheep wexe keP'^L and foul Utter, sotfcatit is impossible »"»

for certain whether the sound sheep contracted it from those having the rot or from treading constantly upon the wet and dirty litter. Again, sound and diseased sheep were placed together on dry ground, and the former remained sound, while the latter recovered rapidly ; therefore, it would appear that the result of these experiments tends to prove that the disease cannot be imparted from one animal to another.

As the rot is usually caused by wet lands, the

best remedy is to drain the Remedies for land, but as it is frequently Foot Rot. caused also by treading upon

long moist grass of rich loamy soils it cannot in such cases be entirely prevented, except, perhaps, by frequently changing the flock to a drier pasture. Should any indications of lameness appear the sheep should be at once examined, and if the lameness be caused by the rot the hoof should be carefully pared, and all superfluous horn and dirt removed. Dressing the parts with arsenic, butyr of antimony, carbolic acid, bluestone, or any such caustic application is generally effectual if the sheep be removed to sounder pastures meanwhile. When the number to be dressed is large the speediest way is to cause the sheep to walk through a trough filled to a sufficient depth with some one or other of the above preparations after the feet have been pared and cleaned. If arsenic be used, lib of arsenic dissolved in sgal water is the usual solution employed. Butyr of antimony, applied to the part with a brush, is a good remedy when the number to be treated is not large.

Lambs are particularly liable to this disease during a wet spell, such as Braxy, or we have recently gone Redwater. through, and it is at this

time of the year as well as in the autumn that they are most liable to it. Young sheep are also subject to this disease when first put upon turnips, green rye, or oats, or by being kept too long upon any watery and succulent food. This disease, also sometimes called dropsy, is inflammation of the serous membranes of the stomach or chest, or of both, and speedily terminates in effusion and death. The effusion is stained with blood, hence the name "redwater." So rapid is the progress of the disease that sheep apparently quite well in the evening may be found dead in the morning, lying in the natural attitude of sleep. The disease is not always so rapid in its course, but the symptoms are very much like those of other complaints. Dulness in the movements of the sheep is a noticeable feature, the animal also shows great pain, by repeatedly getting up and lying down. This is sometimes accompanied by costiveness, and eometimes by violent purging. As the effusion continues the breathing becomes thick and laborious, and soon ceases. The chances of curing a sheep thus affected are very slight, the best thing to do is to give a change of food of a drier kind as soon as possible. In fact, if preventive measures be adepted in good time a cure will not be required. Any sensible man does not need to be told that to keep young sheep eating cold watery turnips and nothing else during wet sloppy weather, and lying on cold muddy ground is sure to reduce the sheep to a low unhealthy condition, in which state they are liable to contract some disease common to sheep under such circumstances. If the sheep are supplied with a sufficient amount of oats and chaff or hay to counteract the bad effects of too much watery diet such diseases as braxy and dysentery would cause very little loss. A liberal aupply of rock salt is also an excellent preventive of disease at this time of the year.

Agricola