The American Reformed Cattle Doctor: Containing the necessary information for preserving the health and curing the diseases of oxen, cows, sheep, and swine, with a great variety of original recipes, and valuable information in reference to farm and dairy managementDadd, George H.
Science
The American Reformed Cattle Doctor: Containing the necessary information for preserving the health and curing the diseases of oxen, cows, sheep, and swine, with a great variety of original recipes, and valuable information in reference to farm and dairy management
Dadd, George H.
Veterinary medicine
occasionally; let them have their meals at regular hours, in sufficient
quantity, and no more, unless they are intended for the butcher; then,
an extra allowance may be given, with a view of fattening. They should
be well littered, and the barns well ventilated; finally, keep them
clean, avoid undue exposure, and govern them in a spirit of kindness and
mercy.
THE BARN AND FEEDING BYRE.
It is well known that the more cleanly and comfortable cattle are kept,
and the better the order in which their food is presented to them, the
better they will thrive, and the more profitable they will be to the
owner. Dr. Gunthier remarks, that "constant confinement to the barn is
opposed to the nature of oxen, and becomes the source of numberless
diseases. Endeavors are made to promote the lacteal secretion in cows,
and the fattening of oxen, by means of heat: for this purpose, stables
[barns] are converted into real stoves, either by not making them
sufficiently large, or by crowding them to excess, or by preventing the
access of air from without; and all this without recollecting that the
skin, thus over-excited, must necessarily fall into a state of atony in
a short time. Besides, the moist heat and the emanations of the dung
cannot fail to exercise a destructive influence on the lungs and entire
system. To these causes if we add the absolute want of exercise and the
excess of food, we shall not be surprised at the number of diseases
resulting from these different practices, and at the extraordinary forms
which they ofttimes assume.
"Persons propose to themselves, by feeding in the barn, to augment the
mass of dung; and the beasts are left in their excrement, sometimes up
to the very knees. Seldom is there any care taken to cleanse their skin,
and still less attention is directed to the feet. What wonder, then, if
they exhibit so many forms of disease?"
The byre recommended by Mr. Lawson consists of two apartments--an inner
apartment, or byre for feeding the cattle, and an outer apartment, or
barn for containing the fodder. The byre is constructed at right angles
with the barn, as follows: "At the distance of about three feet and a
half from the side of the building, within, there are constructed, on
the ground, in a straight line, a trough, having ten partitions for
feeding ten animals. The troughs are so constructed, that there is a
small and gradual declivity from the first or innermost to the last or
outermost one; and the partitions separating them being made with a
small arch at the bottom, a bucket of water, poured in at the uppermost,
runs out at the last one through a spout in the wall; and a sweep of the
broom carries off the whole remains of the food, rendering all the
troughs quite clean and sweet. The whole food of the cattle is thus kept
perfectly clean at all times.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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