216 DISEASES OF SWINE 



thrived remarkably well. He decided that he would now pen them 

 up and force feed for a few weeks preparatory to shipment to 

 market. 



The animals were, accordingly, removed from the pasture range 

 and crowded into a couple of small feed lots, where there was no 

 room for exercise and no sign of green food of any kind. He 

 immediately began feeding dry ear corn and shell corn, which was 

 prepared by soaking and boiUng in a large open kettle. At night 

 the animals huddled into a long narrow hog" house which was 

 drafty, poorly ventilated, and had practically no hght even at mid- 

 day. The animals did well for a few days, and then he began to 

 note that a few of them were not so vigorous in scrambling for food 

 as the others. In another couple of days these animals were en- 

 tirely off feed. He decided that the trouble was worms, and so 

 gave the entire herd a large dose of tobacco and copperas. This 

 set up a marked diarrhea in a number of the shoats and, as a result, 

 within a week he had several sick animals and one dead. Post- 

 mortem examination of this animal showed the usual signs of an 

 acute inflammation of the bowels. The entire lining of the 

 stomach and intestines was inflamed and reddened in appearance. 

 There were no ulcers to be found, no httle red spots in the kidneys, 

 and no hemorrhagic lesions in other parts of the body. 



Change in the feeding system was recommended, the animals 

 given a wider range, the herd separated so as to avoid overcrowding, 

 and in a few days the hogs were back in a healthy condition. 

 Cholera did not break out in this herd, but, if any hog-cholera 

 virus had been introduced from outside it would have found a most 

 inviting opportunity to clean out the entire drove. 



Another case somewhat similar was seen in the western part 

 of Illinois a few months ago. The owner, a large stock farmer, had 

 over one hundred head of hogs on full feed of corn. Suddenly 

 they began to get off feed and three were found dead in the morn- 

 ing. The animals refused food, had a marked watery, and in some 

 cases blood-stained, diarrhea, and a few had vomited. The sick 

 animals showed a general disinclination to get about, but no spe- 

 cially marked muscular weakness in the hind limbs. Temperature 

 was high, no cough, and no marked difficulty in breathing. The 

 owner was certain the animals were taking down with cholera. 



