CHAPTER XXVIII 

 COMMON DISEASES 



Worms. The question of worms in pigs is one of greater 

 importance than many breeders and farmers realize. The presence 

 of worms in the stomach is not only a hindrance to thrift and 

 growth, but if neglected, becomes a very dangerous matter, as the 

 worms multiply very rapidly and are a constant drain on the vital- 

 ity of the pig. Often they become so numerous in good sized 

 shotes that they form almost a solid mass in the intestines, which 

 results in emaciation of the pig and finally death. It is a question 

 in my mind if more pigs do not die from stomach worms during 

 the fall and winter months than from cholera. 



It should be the practice of every farmer and also of every 

 breeder of pure-bred hogs to feed something throughout the life of 

 the pig as a preventive or a destroyer of worms. There are many 

 medicated salts on the market, most of them good, and these pre- 

 parations have proven, with us at least, successful in either prevent- 

 ing worms entirely or keeping the trouble down so much that we 

 have never had any difficulty with worms. Even when feeding 

 something of this kind, however, one will occasionally see the pass- 

 ing of worms from the pigs. Any worm powder that contains the 

 proper amount of Santonin is good, and where the use of medicated 

 salts is not quite sufficient, let the owner at once get a prescription 

 from a veterinarian which will clean them out. Young hogs that 

 are badly infected with stomach worms will have a very unthrifty 

 appearance; the coat will be dry and "staring"; the head rather 

 drooping as in cholera ; the back arched ; the pig coughing more or 

 less, and becoming more emaciated every day, with little appetite. 



Another species of worms that bother young hogs and pigs is 

 what is known as thread worms, which form in bunches or large 

 quantities in the throat and often about the lungs, causing a severe 

 cough and much emaciation. These can usually be readily cleaned 

 out by giving a couple of tablespoons of turpentine to each three 

 hundred pounds of live weight, in the slop every day for three 

 days, then skipping a day or two and using it again for three days. 



It must be remembered that when you are doctoring a pig for 

 worms with medicine of any kind, it should be given on an empty 

 stomach, or in other words, after the pig has been kept from feed 

 about eighteen hours, otherwise the turpentine or worm medicine 

 would have little or no effect. 



These species of worms are the only two with which I have ever 

 had any experience during our many years of breeding pigs, and 

 they never caused me any trouble whatever, as we are always on 

 the alert for worm symptoms. 



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