The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1921-05-06

| If the w is troubled with the gar
get or caked udder, she should have
immediate attention. Garget was for
merly thought to be due to the lambs
not taking the milk however, it is now
considered a germ disease. How the
germ finds Judgement and under what
conditions it becomes active are not
known. The fact that this trouble
often follows an abrupt change to
beavy feeding of grain to milking
ewes makes it evident that an over
taxing of the digestive organs is in
part responsible for the disease. Some
times it is also brought on by colds,
| chills, etc. due to ewes being COM
PEELED to lie on wet ground. There
is no prescribed remedy that has prov
ed an effective cure. AS soon as the
disease appears give a dose OF Epson
| salts and battle the udder with hot
( water to which n ounce of baking
soda has been added. Then dry the
udder thoroughly and apply a mix
ture of lard and turpentine, which
should be mixed to the consistency of
cream and be we'll rubbed into the
udder. Milk the eve thoroughly and
manipulate the udder several times
a day. Where the affection assumes
a virtulant type, however, nothing
seems to check its course.
After the lamb is taking all the
milk. the W should be well fed.
/ About 112 pounds of grain and 3
pounds of bright clover or alfalfa hay
with 2 or 8 pounds of roots or silage
make a full feed. This ration should
be continued until the flock is turned
out to grass, as a good milk flow is
essential to the production of strong,
vigorous lambs.
When about twelve to fourteen days
old the lambs will begin nibbling at
hay or grain. AS gains may be made
very cheaply at this time, the lambs
should be encouraged to take all the
hay and grain they will eat, besides
the daily milk from their mothers.
This may be done by means of a
creep. which is a small pen constructed
so as to admit the lambs but exclude
the older sheep. 1t may be made Of
Stats like a picket fence, spacing them
size of the ewes. The creep should
be put at a convenient place in the
barn so that it will be easy for the
lambs to enter it. Clover or alfalfa
hay should be before them at all times.
A good grain ration for young lambs
is chopped oats and wheat bran, 2
to 1.
Young lambs are sometimes trou-
bled with sore mouths. A very good
remedy is to wash the affected parts
with a 2 per cent solution of the COM
mon coal tar dip. At the some time
scabs may be found on the teats of
the ewes. If these occur, they should
receive similar treatment.
An epidemic of sore eyes may find
Judgement in the lamb flocks. The
same treatment as for sore mouths
should be given and care taken that
the solution gets we'll into the eye.
Salt.
Salt is essential to the animal sys-
tenn and sheep require a considerable
amount of it. Keep a supply where
they can reach it at all times. If they
are not sailed regularly, they are
liable to partake of too much of it a
a time and sometimes dropsical con
ditions result.
Docking and Castrating.
| Lambs, if reasonably strong, should
be locked at M week to ten days
of age. The operation is simple and
can be done with one stroke of the
knife or chisel. The bleeding will be
quite p~rofuse at first, when cut close,
but as a rule it soon stops. Some
shepherds tie the tail or use rubber
bands to stop the bleeding but where
large numbers are to be locked this
would hardly be practical. Still others
prefer the docking pinchers, heated
to redness, which will sever and scar
the arteries at the same time, thus
preventing bleeding. The pinchers
may be made by the country black
smith and should not be very sharp.
A board with a hole in it about an inch
in diameter, through which the tail
is pulled, must be used to keep from
absolutely safe and very simple, is de-
nounced by some of our best authori-
ties as beeng very cruel and unneces-
sary. After docking pine tar may
be smeared over the stumps to repel
flies.
Castration is another simple opera
ton if done while lambs are from two
weeks to four weeks old. Many shep-
herds dock and castrate at the same
time. Simply cut the end of the scrot-
UNI and pull out the testicles and all
with the fingers.
Shearing, Packing and Storing Wool.
Sheep should be sheared as soon as
the weather permits, Early in May
is usually the best time. There are
several disadvantages in shearing
early. First, sheep shed and rub off
considerable wool when allowed to
carry their fIeeces we'll into the sum
mer. Second, greater thrift of the
animal is induced by their comfort
which results in an increased growth
of wool for the next season. Third
sheep will seek shelter more readily ir
ease Of storm as the body is more ex.
posed.
1t is hest for the shepherd or farmer
to shear his own flock if possible, fol
he will then handle them more care
fully and become better acquaintet
with every sheen. He may even tax.
pains and shear so close as to destro.
every tick, provided there are onl.
a few present.
On the farm it will probably b
more convenient TO use hand shear,
for the average farm is not fitted u
with the power necessary to run clip
pers. Furthermore, the i~neEperlenc
el shearer j. apt TO cut the shee
quite bodily with the clippers. Will