FOOT-ROT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1697, 13 March 1913, Page 8

FOOT-ROT.

SYSTEMATIC DRESSING NECESSABY. Foot-rot in sheep, as every farmer knows, is a very troublesome disease, mid although it practically never-eausss death :t is the cause of a. heavy annual loss to sheep-farmers by loss of condition in tho ajTccted animals, and consequent loss of price. To cope with the disease, the farmer has to keep up a continuous warfare against it, and the most, successful man is the one who works systematically and keeps the hoofs well trimmed. With tile aid of the' foot-rot bath the actual dressing is much facilitated, but if the hoofs'are not opened nnd'cleaned to allow ■the solution to percolate to the most remote diseased portions, disease is not destroyed, although tor a time the sheep may _go sound. Subsequently, however, the disease will break out in places which will bo exceedingly-'difficult, to cut out, as it .may work out at the coronet, when a wholly new hoof will have to l,e grown.■The systematic treatment necessar-v to prevent and euro foot-rot involves periodic inspection and paring of the feet, a dressing bath, a system of marking the sheep to recognise them, and, if possible, isolation of the affected animal;. A pood farmers keeps the feet of his slieep trimmed to shape, in which case all he has to do when inspecting his flock is to clean the claws of the feet. If there is any disease it nnlst : l»V-eitlier -'dr«ssed with a mildly caustic substance, or the slieep should be run through the bath. Tho inflamed part will then dry up, though fresh irritation may renew Ihe trouble.

When foot-rot has actually set up, so as to separate part of the hoof from the foot, the disease should be followed with the knife until there is no' doubt that at the .edges all round sound hoof unites with sound foot. This can by seen by the firm growth, so that if there- is any doubt pressure with the knife, at the edges will show if there is any portion where tho hoof nnd tho foot do not firmly join. If this is faithfully done, there .can be 1 very few really bad feet. In the hurry to get through the' work, however, this js not the case always, and the result is that in course of time a thoroughly bad foot develops. Very often thorough cutting is omitted through dirt obliterating the join, and sometimes a foot is .made to bleed badly, and the farmer hastens to, finisif. Many men who handle sheep do not seem to recognise that when they cut the big artery which supplies each digit (which they generally cut somewhere near the point of the toe) this bleeding is easily stopped by pressing 011 the artery between Ihe claws. The pulse oi tho artery is easily felt, and thumpressure for a short time-will stop ordinary cases, so that paring of feet may bo gone on with, but in bad cases it is necessary to apply a simple tourniquet by placing a piece of wood between the claws and strapping it firmly, leaving it for a few hours until the wound has 'Well, covered. It is not good shepherding to make blood come, though accidents mako it unavoidable at times. To operate well on a foot it should be scraped or wiped clean. When a foot has been badly neglected for some time, so that there is iittle hoof to tread upon, ami it may bo easily broken, it is well to bind it with a piece of sacking, or to put 011 a foot-rot boot. Instead of turning such sheep out into the dirt at once, it is better to place them in a shed in which- lime has been spread, the lime having a tendency to heal and harden the foot. 1 A properly-trimmed foot is froo of disease, though sometimes the portion under the hoof breaks down, showing loose fibre's. In this germs may lurk unless the dressing, whether liquid, powder, or salve, reaches every germconsequently, as dirt has often worked into this 'nnd covered up small portions which dressings have difficulty in .reaching, it is as well to balhe these nnd clean them. It is a good plan to wash these with sulphate of copppr solution, which can be used freely without unduly cauterising and hurting the foot, and then to appiy a small quantity of whatever may be tho stronger specific which -one may fancy to harden moderately the tissues. Ton severe mixtures contort the soft part of the foot,' and when the new hoof grows a badly-f'onued font results, wilh a too hard hoof and corrugations which are very liable to chafe some other part and let disease in afresh. - A strong solution is sometimes advisable between ,lhe claws to stop inflammation and to harden the skin, but what is best for the hoof is 11'ot necessarily the best between tho hoofs, a point which is not always observed.