The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-02
Sheep Parasites.

laklnS up the parasite problem,
 shcre Is no one thing So serious as this. There have indeed pecn times when the
 very existence of our fiocks east of the
 Missouri river was threatened. There have been times when causes seemed 1 obscure. beyond fathoming. and reme- | dies seemed useless or worse We are | much more fortunate today, for our l light of knowledge is much greater and
 our experience has shown us not only l the causes put the remedies, and, bet
 ter, the way to avoid the troubles al-
 most altogether.
 First. we must learn to look at the flock as almost surely infected already i with at least one or two species of parasites that may not yet be in suffi- cient numbers to do us much harm, but that will surely In time, If not checked | in their natural increase, almost en- | tirely destroy our lambs and damage our ewes. We must consider that | wherever these sheep are dropping
 their dung It is seeding that land with germs, that these germs after a brief life In the soil will again reappear in the flock and especially in the lambs. | and that they will work great mischief there and indeed incalculable damage This plainly bars the use of pastures of any sort from year to year without intervals of rest and absence of sheep The longer sheep run upon this old | grass the more 1t becomes infested and | the more rapidly the sheep are in turn 1 infested and the more rapidly they in- l fest the soil and thus it Is q danger | increasing in Reometrical proportion.
 But if there are intervals during which
 there are no sheep allowed upon these
 pastures the germs within them will
 die because of the absence of their hosts | and the pastures will again be healthy l ana lambs may graze upon them in
 safety The amount of time that Is
 needed to freo the land from these
 pests can not be definitely stated. I think. however. that a round year, or better sixteen months. will make the
 land safe and sound again.
 Of these destructive parasites there | are two that work the greatest harm | to our focks. One is the tiny thread worm of the fourth stomach (strongy | Jus contortus): the other the worm l that causes the nodular disease. This
 last affects principally the older ewes | and Is a genuine American parasite and | probably affected deer or some other
 ruminants before 1t gained access to
 the sheep. The stomach-worm causes
 the most havoc among the lambs. The l stomach is the most dreadful of l all parasites in its effects and in it's
 spread and prevalence And 1t Is yet
 reaching out for new victims; it has
 crossed the Missouri and wherever | there is succulent grass or thick sod in
 the pasture it will doubtless ever be a dreaded destroyer. The worst of 1t is
 that ewes that are infested will infest | the soil on which they run and their lambs will become infested while yet | sucking their mothers, even though
 there have been no sheep on the pas- ture for century. That Is, the germs
 of this parasite can live for months in . kA -AH thn tafz sheep to the soil and again re-enter the animal or the lamb within a very few days, It is this that gives it its terror. Then it is one of the very hardest of parasites to dislodge by or dinary medication. In truth, all msdi- cines proved unavailing until we had the discovery of M. Julienne of France that benzine would destroy the worms and not harm the lamb, and our own
 later experiments have proved that gasoline Is as good or better than ben zine and we have learned to give 1t In much larger doses than Julienne dared give
 One of the blessings of this gasoline treatment is one may take time by the
 forelock and when there Is danger or
 infection he may treat his entire flock and thus destroy all the germs that
 are in tGeir incipieacy. We treated all
 of our lambs last summer three times with the result that put one case of
 serious infection developed and that one was entirely cured and made strong
 by a special treatment when the in- lection was first noticed. Our custom
 is to give one teaspoonful to a suck. ing lamb. two to weaned lamb. three
 to a yearling and four to mature eve, always making an emulsion with
 milk. The sheep are lasted for twelve or fourteen hours before being treated. Treatment is usually repeated three
 times at intervals of twenty-four hours in cases of undo1bted infection, al
 though when used as a preventive it is not necessary to repeat
 Supposlng now that you have a pas
 ture that is considered free from para sites and wish to put ewes thereon with their lambs. I consider it entire
 ly practicable completely to rid these ewes of their germs of stomach worms before they are turned with their lambs to this pasture If clean sheep are put on clean pasture the result is clean flock of lambs, d delight and profit to the shepherd. Supposlng, too. that there has been lot of lambs dropped very early and that they are ready to wean about the time grass comes strong in May; 1t is a safe and sure thing to wean them and put them on this clean pasture without their moth CTS or any older sheen that might carry with them the germs of infection There is this comforting thought, what ever the degree of infection in our fiocks. the lambs are born clean and entirely free from infection of any sort Nor is there danger of infection during winter If the troughs are kept clean and especially if the lambs have creeps through which they go to eat at their own troughs, and if their mothers are tagged and thus the lamo's maternal fount Is not soiled. infection is almost impossible, 90 that we start in spring with a clean lot of youngs- ters. and If we do not keep them clean it Is our own fault
 If we have no clean fields, if every lot is infested. if in every pasture our flock has run the past year, and in ev- cry field there have been sick lambs. we need not despair. There is t1e sl- formative of sowing crops on clean land or of soilng the flock within tne barn or sheds. And this plan of keep ing the lambs within the barn in sum
 ner and feeding them as though it was winter. only feeding them freshly cut forage. Is q good one and not at all an expensive way to keep sheep. l am convinced that the most profitable re-
 N.. b. nt,.