144 Cockle Burr Poisoning 



had hog cholera if they eat the leaves of young cockle burrs. 



Afler the plants have formed a half dozen or more leaves, the hogs 

 either do not eat them or they do not poison them. The prevention for 

 this trouble is well established. Wlien hogs have cockle burr poison- 

 ing they often lose the control of their muscles as in lock jaw, become 

 somewhat dizzy and may go blind. 



INTESTINAL WORMS OF HOGS 



The thorn headed and round "worms are the ones that most fre- 

 quently cause trouble in hogs. The former are from two to six inches 

 long and the latter are from four to ten inches long and in shape and 

 movement resemble a fish worm. The larvae or young worms are picked 

 up about the feeding places and deveop in the pigs intestines. Since it 

 usually takes about six weeks for the worms to develop they are not 

 usually considered to be the cause of trouble before the pig is six weeks 

 old. When worms become too numerous they may cause permanent 

 trouble indigestion by destroying the membrane lining the; intestinal 

 canal. 



SYMPTOMS 



It is not always as easy to be positive that hogs are worm infected 

 as some people think, especially if the pigs have been well nourished 

 from birth, enabling tliem to be kept in good condition. The symp- 

 toms usually given are a ravenous appetite, poor gains, cough, and the 

 pigs become pot bellied and may expell one or more worms from the 

 mouth. They often throw off worms with the bowel passages. My 

 observations have led me to believe that hogs that are very badly ef- 

 fected with worms eat less before than after treating them. It should 

 be remembered that lung worms may cause a cou^ as well as dust in 

 the summer or bronchitis and hemorrhagic septicemia in the winter. 

 However, a cough is a prominent symptom of intestinal worms in hogs. 



PREVENTION 



It must be remembered that the larvae or young worm is thrown out 

 of the hogs intestines with the bowel passages. In this way pastures 

 and pens become infected and the larvae is picked up with the feed. The 



