HEALTH AND DISEASE OF POULTRY 567 



viduals affected. It is not to be understood that all of the following 

 symptoms will be observed in every chick suffering from bacillary 

 white diarrhea; but almost all of them will be apparent in epidemics 

 of any considerable size. 



The earliest deaths may occur within a very short tune after 

 hatching, without any prominent symptoms, excepting perhaps, 

 weakness and lack of vitality. The characteristic whitish discharge 

 from the vent soon makes its appearance in the flock, the time de- 

 pending, without doubt, upon the virulence of the organism and the 

 mode of infection. The discharge may be slight or profuse, in color 

 white or creamy, sometimes mixed with brown. The voided matter 

 has a more or less sticky or glairy character. It may simply streak 

 the down below the vent or may cling to the down in sufficient quan- 

 tity to seal up the vent. This is the condition that poultrymen desig- 

 nate as pasting up behind. This latter condition, however, is not 

 necessarily indicative of white diarrhea. 



The chicks soon become listless and sleepy, inclined to huddle 

 together and remain under the hover much of the time. They 

 seem to lose appetite and do not eat much. Frequently when they 

 attempt to take food their action is more or less mechanical. The 

 wings begin to droop or project slightly from the body, with feath- 

 ers ruffled. In acute cases the eyes are closed and the chicks become 

 indifferent to everything that goes on about them. Many of the 

 chicks peep or chirp constantly, the sound being shrill or weak ac- 

 cording to the strength of the individual. Frequently when endeav- 

 oring to void the excreta the chicks utter a shrill twitter, apparently 

 a cry of pain. The breathing may be labored, the abdomen heaving 

 with each breath. Occasionally one may note a certain amount of 

 gasping or gaping. 



During the progress of the disease the chick may die suddenly 

 while still fairly strong. When the disease is prolonged the chicks 

 gradually waste away, becoming weaker and weaker until they are 

 scarcely able to support their own weight. In this stage they will 

 often be seen to rest against foreign objects for support, standing 

 with legs braced apart, squatting or lying utterly helpless. 



Woods accurately describes the conditions as follows : The weak- 

 ling is almost alw r ays big-bellied, the abdomen protruding to the rear 

 so that it bunches out behind, well out of line with the vent, with 

 the result that the chick looks as if the tail-piece and backbone had 

 been pushed forward and in just above the vent. With few excep- 

 tions, the deaths from typical bacillary white diarrhea occur while 

 the chicks are under one month of age. After this a few straggling 

 deaths may be expected, and if complications set in, a high mortal- 

 ity may be observed. The chicks which have had bacillary white 

 diarrhea seem to be greatly weakened in constitution, and fall an 

 easy prey to disorders which would be resisted easily by normal 

 chicks. 



Those which survive remain more or less stunted in their de- 

 velopment. Frequently they are misshapen, with long beaks and 

 crow heads and with imperfect feathering. In every way they im- 



