Aug. 3, 1908.]l Agricultural GtazetU of 'MM. W. 647 



Diseases of Fowls. 



[Continued from page 399.] 



G. BRAUSHAW. 



Chapteh X. 



Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Diphtheria, &c. 



Diarrhoea is a discharge of excrement in a fluid or semi-fluid state. It 

 is a very common complaint amongst fowls, and a symptom of several other 

 diseases. We find it in birds affected with consumption of the bowels and liver, 

 and is a pronounced symptom of cholera. 



In adult fowls simple diarrhoea can be easily cured, but it is a terrible 

 scourge amongst chickens reared in brooders, particularly in America, where 

 it is termed white diarrhoea. 



Unwholesome food, sour or decayed vegetable matter, extreme heat, or 

 impure water may be the cause. Feeding largely on bran may also bring on 

 an attack. Irritants of many sorts may be picked up in the fowls' wander- 

 ings, and be responsible for the disease. 



There are many and varied remedies. The affected fowls should be 

 separated from the others, and the food supply reduced, rice or oatmeal 

 boiled in milk being the best diet. A teaspoonful of olive oil should first be 

 given. This may remove the irritant, if any, and allay any internal in- 

 flammation. 



Professor Woodriffe Hill recommends a teaspoonful of castor oil, followed 

 by 5 grains rhubarb, 10 grains carbonate of soda, or 1 grain of opium. 

 Chlorodyne, 3 to 6 drops in a dessertspoonful of water, is also recommended. 



Mr. Tegetmeier, poultry editor of the EngUsh 'Field, recommends — 

 rhubarb, 5 grains ; chalk, 5 grains ; cayenne, 3 grains ; to be given as a pill at 

 night. 



Other formulas are, a teaspoonful of castor oil mixed with 6 drops of 

 laudanum. Personally, I have found nothing more effective than a tea- 

 spoonful of prepared chalk, mixed with pollard into a bolus about the size 

 of one's httle finger, and dropped down the bird's throat. 



The following article on this disease was contributed by a medical authority 

 to an EngUsh paper a few months ago : — 



Diarrhcsa may be simply an upset of the digestive system, or it may be a symptom of 

 some more serious disease. Simple diarrhoea may arise from the presence of some indiges- 

 tible matter in the intestinal canal, or it may be due to exposure to heavy rain, or to 

 draughts in the roosting-house. Amongst other causes may be enumerated the giving 

 of sour or sloppy food, allowing the fowls access to water that has become heated by the 

 sun, or that has been allowed to stand in the trough from day to day until it has become 

 soiled with excrement and ahnost putrid. The too free use of animal food, or the irregular 

 use of green food, may also be put down as common causes. When there is indigestible 

 or decaying matter in the intestinal canal it is not advisable to suddenly stop the di arrhoea ; 



