Show losses of aged ewes prevented system of management rather than any infection Is the cause prepared by th the united states batot D di i ot I 1 heavy losses of eged aged ewes which lamb early la in the spring under shed conditions are due chiefly to faulty nutrition and lack of sufficient exercise and can easily be prevented according to observations by dr W T huffman veterinary tu inspector of the federal bureau oi of animal hidu industry atty and dr J 8 dade inspector in charge for the idaho board of sheep commissioners these losses which in the past have been especially serious in idaho where many early lambs are raised are likely to occur in other states this year because of the movement of aged ewes into those states the ailment Is of peculiar nature not fully understood even by some come sheep men of long ions experience or by many veterinarians in recent years sheep owners in idaho have lost from to sheep some mea seasons sons tho the losses being scattered in such a manner as to prove proto conclusively that the system of management rather than any infection to is the cause moreover the mortality occurs curs almost entirely among ewes five years old or more and about 00 per cent of these are carriers carriera ot of twin lambs the remainder carrying well developed single lambs the losses of lambs added to the mortality of the ewes make a heavy drain on the resources of the average outfit danger period losses in idaho have occurred chiefly during the latter part of february beginning about the until the middle of march by which time most moat of the early lambs lambe are born the early symptoms are loss of appetite impaired vision staggering gait twitching of inu scle of head and ears eara drooling and a desire to be alone later the ewes develop paralysis and coma coina probably the be result of affected animals present a pin pitiable ble condition and even tetter the advanced stages are noted may live for several days the heaviest losses have bavi occurred in years of poor hay crops and formerly were attributed to poisoned hay bay the present knowledge of shed abed lamb 1 ing 9 losses indicates the cause to be close confinement coupled with too heavy feeding the remedy la Is exercise and the feeding of a balanced ration with an ample water supply of course all practiced tor for at least 80 30 days daya before lambing the ailment Is no respecter of breeds all being affected in about equal degree though observation shows that crossbred cross bred ewes have the greatest mor from this cause the explanation of this fact Is in the greater proportion of twin lambs which cress bred ewes produce another striking observation la Is that ewes which while in the affected condition give birth to lambs ve very ry often recover the ailment Is associated socia ted entirely with lambing early under shed conditions and with excessive supply of nutriment the longer the ewes are fed on a ration which furnishes too large an amount of nutrition the greater Is the likelihood that the lie ailment will appear on the other hand blind sleep sheep which have been 0 on range until a agort tinie time before la lambing and have had abundant exercise even though fed nothing but bay have shown no losses from this cause in a case where a band of old ewes was divided among several ranch sheep men three lots fed high and receiving little exercise suffered a 20 per cent loss one lot whose owner used the preventive measures described suffered no mortality results of 0 treatment owing to the rapidity with which the ailment attacks susceptible animals treatment la Is of doubtful value in some come cases the disease has been dlag ding nosed aed as hemorrhagic septicemia and preventive treatment applied to the rest of tho the band but as the aliment ailment had already run its course among the susceptible animals the 8 apparent arrest of mortality was a 1 misleading result the present profitable condition of the sheep industry in general has bai re in the retention of many aged broken mouthed ewes which still bring good prices many of these have been sold old to corn belt bleeders breeders bre edera eders and feeders for whose benefit the foregoing observations are largely presented |