IN AND ABOUT THE FARM.

Waipa Post, Volume II, Issue 60, 10 November 1911, Page 4

IN AND ABOUT THE FARM.

Our Pirongia correspondent reports that it is pleasing to* see that farmers are doing -their utmost to keep up the best strains in their dairyherds. Mr H. O. Death has received two fine shorthorn bulls from Mr G. E. Turner, the well known Eltham (Taranaki) breeder. The sire of these bulls, Lord Summerton, has four first prizes and two championships to his credit, so it is seen' that they are well bred. They are two years old and in very, fine condition.

THEBMOftTH’S WOOL output

• OCTOBER FIGURES. Ac§Qrdtng To figures compiled by MMsrs.Dalgety and Co., Ltd., ’3293. balds of wool were exported during October, making the total for •sthd i; four months 29,064, as against 28,360 for the corresponding four months of last year. Amongsf the contributors to last month’s total are : Auckland 293, Wanganui 485, Wellington 477, and Blenheim 17. Of 519 hales offered for sale last month 494 were sold. I** 1 ** , The export of tallow last month was 299 tons, making the total for the four,months 3553, as against 4303 for tfie* corresponding four months of 1910. Wellington Contributed 116 tons towards last month’s total, Wanganui 21 tons, and Blenheim 5 tons.

MORTALITY AMONGST " . LAMBS.

f; • .THE WOOL BALL.”

Mr A, P. Wilson, of Waikopiro Dannevirke, writes in the following interesting strain: — . “ This lamb mortality does not only apply to the district named, but practically to the whole of New Zealand, or rather, it applies to lambs suckled by long-woolled ewes, and in my opinion ceases as soon as the ewe shearing is finished. “To date this season.! have found seven dead lambs between the ages of three and five weeks, and on opening -each I found that the milk was curdled, and badly so at that, but after stirring the bhiAved grass which is mixed with this undigested milk, I found in each case this season, as I have found in all similar cases in past years, a small roll or ball of wool, whiojrmrV^yj|patted mixed with" the d unless onefis e&tra?ca£eful whilst making:T|ps examination, the rolf of woolis liable to be overlooked through its being The same colour as the food in the’ stomach. THE REAL ' TROUBLE. ? v “ This ball of wool, in my opinion, is the direct cause of the death of the majority of these big lambs. Some men argue that by crutching the ewes very late, acts as a preventive, but in this I must differ, for I know of several ewe flocks crutched as late as June last, and still the ‘ big lamb mortality’ occurred. The lamb, whilst ravenously sucking its mother, must certainly take into its mouth any loose strands of wool around the teat, and in some cases this wool must be taken into the stomach as soon as the lamb starts feeding or nibbling the grass. “ There is also another way in which a lamb may take this wool into the stomach. All sheep men have noticed lambs whilst both lying down and standing, quickly turn their heads towards the spot where a sheep tick is annoying them and bite vigorously at the spot for some seconds. In the course of this wool or skin nibbling act, it is only natural that a few strands of wool get caught between the small teeth; and again when the little mutton starts to nibble the grass the wool becomes detached from its teeth, and consequently is mixed with the grass, and both find their way to the stomach, where, during the process of digestion it becomes separated from the natural foods and forms itself into a roll, which grows larger day by day, until the digestive organs are unable to perform nature’s work, hence the curdled or undigested milk, and the end of another lamb.

“The symptoms of lambs affected with wool-ball are quick, heavy breathing, as well as a tendency to being giddy or dazed and in the last stages the lamb loses the use of its legs, but will live for hours although not able to stand ; also, in most cases the little sufferer retains tts sense right up to the moment it dies, as it will begin to shuffle its legs the instant one moves or a dog happens to stir. In three-fourths of these cases the lamb is found after death ; also, as it is only a

lamb, the majority of men do not hold post mortems on such, and probably if they did, their wisdom would not have increased to any extent./ SUCCESS OF BLEEDING.

“In the past fortnight I was lucky enough to find two lambs alive, both down to -it and showing the symptoms described above; one a twin, with its mother and brother standing close by. I bled by nicking the vein below each eye ; it bled well, and to my surprise, after a little assistance, was able to stand, and eventually after some 15 minutes of staggering walked to its mother. I have seen this lamb on several occasions since and now it is nearly as fat as its mate. The other case is that of a single lamb, which I bled from one eye only, and this lamb also recovered, and is now doing well. Both these lambs had been docked and neither was too fat, this latter fact suggesting that their illness could not have been caused through too much rich food, thereby causing indigestion ; also neither was swollen or blown, suggesting clover or tutu poisoning. “Mr T. A. Harrison, an expresident of The Ashburton A. and P. Association, writing on the above subject, says the deaths of lambs are invariably attributed to balls of wool which become clotted internally; also, too much milk with the young -grass. Mr. Harrison is inclined to think that it may be the latter combination which causes an accumulation, of gas; this, he says, fills the lamb with wind, so as to eventually stop the circulation of blood and free-breathing thus causing death. . If Mr. ITarrison’s latter theory ‘re/the ' gas’ is correct, why are not lambs so affected, when found alive, ‘swollen or blown’ ? —as the fact of gas or wind accumulating inside, would most naturally cause the lamb to swell, as do the tutu and clover gases. Nevertheless, his suggestion re pulling the tongue gently outwards is well worthy of a trial. “I have successfully bled numbers of sheep suffering from eating tutu, which, as we all know, both cattle and sheep are very fond of. As lambs die on places where .there is no tutu and rich clovers I am inclined to believe that Mr. Harrison’s theory re gas forming through the lamb getting too much rich milk as well as the rich grass is wrong, but I hope that we may hear more on the subject from some of our veterinary friends.”