DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 117 



Fig. 50. Cecum Showing Ulcera- 

 tion. FROM A Case of Enterohepatitis 

 (blackhead) in a Turkey. 



a, ulceration; c, blind end of cecum. 



17. Before Thanksgiving the breeders for the coming season 

 should be selected and marked. Their feeding for the winter may 

 consist of the following grain mixture fed at the rate of one quart 

 for six or seven turkeys each 

 night and morning: crackod 

 corn 3 parts, barley 2 parts, 

 wheat 2 parts, oats 1 part. 



The owner ot a tiock of 

 turkeys in wliicli a nunibei' 

 were affected with bhick- 

 head reported to the aut'nor 

 on the use of the sulpho- 

 carbolates compound, as fol- 

 lows: 



"Some of these turkeys were 

 too sick to eat. In these cases 

 a small piece of the tablet, one- 

 half the size of a sweet pea, 

 was dissolved and given twice 

 a day. Nearly all of the birds 

 so treated recovered." 



From work done in this labo- 

 ratory and from the foregoing 



report and similar reports from other sources, the author is led to 

 believe that birds may recover if properly medicated, even after 

 some degree of damage is done to the liver by the disease. 



NON-SPECIFIC DIARRHEA— ENTERITIS— DYSENTERY 



The most devastatmg' form of diarrhea in poultry is an 

 infectious disease due to a bacterium or to protozoon, and 

 commonly called ''white diarrhea." It affects chiefly chicks 

 less than three weeks old and will be discussed under a special 

 head. Under this head I shall discuss those bowel ailments 

 not due to any one specific germ. 



A condition of mild diarrhea is chronic in many fowls 

 throughout life. In these cases there are no symptoms of 

 the disease other than the softness or fluid condition of the 

 feces. Though this condition is probably due to a mild form 

 of indigestion and the birds may not thrive or fatten or lay 

 as well as those not so affected, the condition is not serious 

 and ordinarily the i")Oultryman pays no attention to it. 



It is when the soft, pasty or liipiid excrement has an of- 

 fensive odor, and adheres to the feathers about the vent, stain- 

 ing them yellowish, greenish or brownish, that the matter 

 becomes serious and interferes with the health of the bird. 

 Young stock are a great deal more susceptible to diarrhea 

 from unfavora])le conditions, of which the commonest are 

 improper food and exposure to cold, than are adult birds. 



"NYhen this reaction to external influences (cold) or when 

 the irritation from indigestible matter within the intestine be- 



