20i POULTRY DISEASES 



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needless to say that all understand that the spoiling of eggs 

 is due to the multii)li('ation of bacteria in them, when the egg 

 is brought under proper teni})erature. The cold storage of 

 eggs holds them under conditions unfavorable for the rapid 

 growth of these bacteria. AVhen eggs are kept cold the bac- 

 teria within them are in a more or less dormant state and 

 hence by reason of this retardation of germ growth the eggs 

 keep longer. 



Eggs can be successfully desiccated (dried) and such i>ow- 

 dered product is on the market. The moisture in it is so re- 

 duced that germs do not grow and, like any other dried prod- 

 uct, it keeps well. This desiccated product retains the quali- 

 ties of the fresh egg for a long time. One pound represents 

 about three and one-half pounds of raw egg or an amount 

 ol)tained from thirty eggs. The egg contains considerable fat 

 and because of this the dried product gradually undergoes a 

 change at warm temperatures, much as butter does, finally 

 giving off a rancid, fishlike odor. 



It is not probable that the yolk or ovum becomes infected 

 wliile it is being formed in the ovary, unless the ovary, from 

 which it develops, be diseased. It has been shown that !)ircls 

 that have had white diarrhea while chicks and recovered, 

 grown to maturity, and commenced laying, have diseased 

 ovaries, ovaries which harbor the Bacterimn pullorum, the 

 cause, or at least one of the causes, of white diarrhea, and 

 this germ is incorporated within the yolk of the egg. Chicks 

 which hatch from such infected eggs develop white diarihea 

 soon after hatching. This is an important means o«f spread- 

 ing this disease and one before which sanitation is powerless. 



Ordinarily the internal organs, as the ovaries, kidneys, 

 spleen, etc., are sterile unless diseased, as just stated. How- 

 ever, Conradi maintains that he has found bacteria in these 

 supposedly sterile organs in seventy-two cases out of one 

 hundred sixty-two. 



The germs that have been alluded to under intestinal flora 

 of chickens can easily find their way into the cloaca and up 

 the oviduct, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The yolk or ovum when 

 fully developed in tlie ovary is delivered, in a similar man- 

 ner, as in higher animal life, into the first ])ortion of the 

 oviduct (uterus), which at its free extremity is rather fun- 

 nel shaped and is called the ostium infundibulum. This egg 

 canal which can be likened to the uterus of higher animals 

 is about eighteen to twenty inches long and is lined with 

 tubular glands which secrete the albumen, and in the pos- 

 terior portion the shell. This material is formed from foods 

 carried by the blood, which is very abundant in these walls. 



