Attend to the Sheep's Feet.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 149, 23 December 1896, Page 2

Attend to the Sheep's Feet.

It is an ancient adage, whose wisdom has been proved over and over again by experience, that the sheep must have a dry foot. Its foot is peculiarly formed, and its form is just such as i-> adapted for its original life as a mountain animal. The sole is cupped and has a sharp edge, the horn there being exceedingly tough. The wearing of the sole by the rough, rocky surface is precisely that which keeps the walls of the hoof from growing under, as it will when sheep are pastured on soft ground. This excess of horn thus growing under the sole offers every facility for the collection of mud, manure, sand, or gravel nnder the sole, and the effect of these is to soften and grind tbe tender sole and inflame the inner part of the foot. Then the conditions for tbe existence of foot rot, as it is called, occur, and this trouble will happen either in its mild form, or, at times, by infection, in its malignant j form, as the contagious foot rot, unless they are prevented. Thus it is that the absence of the natural conditions for the security of the foot of the sheep make it indispensable tbat the shepherd shonld frequently examine tbe feet of bis sheep, and by constant care avoid the evil results of neglect. The feet should be examined ; tbe extended toes should be clipped, and if tbe walls have turned under tbe sole, tbe loose horn should be pared away. It is well to ran the sheep through a preparation of arsenic aud pearl asb. Two pounds of each shonld be boiled in two gallons of water, aud afterwards diluted with four more gallons. Poor into a trough to the depth of one inch when cool, and drive the sbeep slowly through, keeping them off pasture for some hours afterwards. This method is practised in the best flocks, and foot rot is unknown.— British Farmer and Stock Breeder.