Diseases of the Liver 89 



early spring. The conditions have then continued so long 

 that it is often difficult to counteract them. This point 

 emphasizes the necessity of keeping the flock under sanitary 

 and healthful conditions. 



Diagnosis of Liver Disease. — There are no special external 

 symptoms. Some of the symptoms which often accom- 

 pany these disturbances are : rough plumage, watery 

 diarrhea, first brownish, then yellow ; lack of appetite 

 and indisposition to move. The comb may be purplish at 

 first, becoming dark and then quite black. These, however, 

 are all merely symptoms of disease in general that might 

 apply to any one of a dozen or more ailments. The only 

 certain method of recognizing the disease is by post-mor- 

 tem examination. Every poultryman should be familiar 

 enough with the normal appearance of the more important 

 internal organs of a fowl to recognize abnormal appearances 

 (see pp. 43-46). In general, when post-mortem examina- 

 tion shows the liver larger or smaller than normal, or con- 

 gested with blood, or marbled, or spotted, we may assume 

 that the bird probably had some form of liver disease. Of 

 course, a diseased condition of the liver is often associated 

 with other diseases, especially of the alimentary canal. 

 Other organs should be examined in all cases to see if they 

 are normal. Special care should be taken to distinguish 

 tuberculosis from other diseased conditions of the liver and 

 intestines. 



Treatment. — Since it is not possible to recognize diseases 

 of the liver by external symptoms, the treatment of indi- 

 vidual birds is out of the question. If, however, post-mor- 

 tem examinations show that a number of the birds are 

 dying with liver trouble it is necessary to take some remedial 

 measures regarding the entire flock. 



The first thing that should be done is to change the diet. 

 Less meat scrap and other nitrogenous food should be fed. 



