The sheep should be marked soon after shearing, or mistakes may occur.
Every sheep-owner should be provided with a marking instrument, which
will stamp his initials, or some other distinctive mark, such as a small
circle, an oval, a triangle, or a square, at a single stroke, and with
uniformity, on the sheep. It is customary to have the mark cut out of a
plate of thin iron, with an iron handle terminating in wood; but one
made by cutting a type, or raised letter, or character, on the end of a
stick of light wood, such as pine or basswood, is found to be better. If
the pigment used be thin, and the marker be thrust into it a little too
deeply, as often happens, the surplus will not run off from the wood, as
it does from a thin sheet of iron, to daub the sides of the sheep, and
spoil the appearance of the mark; and, if the pigment be applied hot,
the former will not get heated, like the latter, and increase the danger
of burning the hide.
Various pigments are used for marking. Many boil tar until it assumes a
glazed, hard consistency when cold, and give it a brilliant, black color
by stirring in a little lampblack during the boiling. This is applied
when just cold enough not to burn the sheep's hide, and it forms a
bright, conspicuous mark all the year round. The manufacturer, however,
prefers the substitution of oil and turpentine for tar, as the latter
is cleansed out of the wool with some difficulty. It should be boiled in
an iron vessel, with high sides, to prevent it from taking fire, on a
small furnace or chafing-dish near which it is to be used. When cool
enough, forty or fifty sheep can be marked before it gets too stiff. It
is then warmed from time to time, as necessary, on the chafing-dish.
Paint, made of lampblack, to which a little spirits of turpentine is
first added, and then diluted with linseed or lard oil, is also used.
The rump is a better place to mark than the side, since it is there
about as conspicuous under any circumstances, and more so when the sheep
are huddled in a pen, or running away from one. Besides, should any wool
be injured by the mark, that on the rump is less valuable than that on
the side. Ewes are commonly distinguished from wethers by marking them
on different sides of the rump.
Many mark each sheep as it is discharged from the barn by the shearer;
but it consumes much less time to do it at a single job, after the
shearing is completed; and it is necessary to take the latter course if
a hot pigment is used.
MAGGOTS. Rams with horns growing closely to their heads are very liable
to have maggots generated under them, particularly if the skin on the
surrounding parts becomes broken by fighting; and these, unless removed,
soon destroy the animal. Boiled tar, or the marking substance first
described, is both remedy and preventive. If it is put under the horns
at the time of marking, no trouble will ever arise from this cause.
Sometimes when a sheep scours in warm weather, and clotted dung adheres
about the anus, maggots are generated under it, and the sheep perishes
miserably. As a preventive, the dung should be removed; as a remedy, the
dung and maggots should be removed--the latter by touching them with a
little turpentine--and sulphur and grease afterward applied to the
excoriated surface.
Maggot-flies sometimes deposit their eggs on the backs of the long,
open-woolled English sheep, and the maggots, during the few days before
they assume the _pupa_ state, so tease and irritate the animal, that
fever and death ensue. Tar and turpentine, or butter and sulphur,
smeared over the parts, are admirable preventives. The Merino and Saxon
are exempt from these attacks.
SHORTENING THE HORNS. A convolution of the horn of a ram sometimes so
presses in upon the side of the head or neck that it is necessary to
shave or rasp it away on the under side, to prevent ultimately fatal
effects. The point of the horn of both ram and ewe both frequently turn
in so that they will grow into the flesh, and sometimes into the eye,
unless shortened. The toe-nippers will often suffice on the thin
extremity of a horn; if not, a fine saw must be used. The marking-time
affords the best opportunity for attending to this operation.