124 POULTRY DISEASES 



for this condition. Podophyllin in one-grain doses 

 every three days may be given with some hope 

 of relief. 



Fatty Infiltration 



This condition may be a physiological or nor- 

 mal process imtil the accumulation of fat occurs 

 in such quantities as to interfere with the func- 

 tion of the liver cells. 



The liver is one of the so-called storehouses of 

 the body for fat. In it is stored a surplus until 

 needed by the body for use (for combustion for 

 the production of heat and energy). 



Overfed hens, or those closely housed and not 

 forced to work, or fed too heavily on carbohy- 

 drates (starchy feeds) store up much of the sur- 

 plus nutrition in the liver as well as in other por- 

 tions of the abdomen, especially in the mesentery 

 and in the abdominal walls. 



In these cases, on autopsy, the liver will be f oimd 

 to be enlarged, brownish or grayish-brown in 

 color (mottled), friable (tears easily), and when 

 cut through appears *' greasy,'' much fat adhering 

 to the knife blade. In these cases rupture of the 

 liver often occurs when the hen is stepped upon 

 by a large animal, is thrown or jumps a long dis- 

 tance on hard ground or a concrete floor. Heavy 

 hens with clipped wings are prone to this injury. 



In the liver, in which excessive fat is stored up, 

 there is, after a while, an encroachment upon the 

 protoplasm to such an extent that the cells can- 

 not properly functionate and then death of the 

 bird may occur. In these cases a microscopic ex 

 amination shows the nuclei of the cells to be 

 pushed to one side, and the protoplasm atrophied 



