DIARRHEA IN YOUNG PIGS 563 



The pig, in order to be healthy, must have the milk of its own 

 mother. In cases where the sow dies or refuses to suckle the pigs, 

 and an effort is made to bring them up by hand on cows' milk, 

 scours very often starts up in a few days. The m.ilk of the cow is 

 all right for calves, but it does not seem to be suitable for little 

 pigs, and they soon die when forced to live upon this artificial diet. 

 The same seems to be true, to a certain extent, in the case of the 

 milk from other sows. Pigs often develop scours when forced to 

 suckle another sow. Especially is this the case if the new mother 

 has a litter of pigs a week or two older than the new addition to her 

 family. The milk changes a few days after farrowing and becomes 

 stronger each week. For this reason the milk of a sow that has 

 farrowed two or three weeks previously is not suitable for new- 

 born pigs, and they will not do well on it. 



The age at which this disease may appear varies from the 

 first day after birth up to several weeks after farrowing. In some 

 cases the disease may set in so soon after birth that it almost 

 seems as if the pig was born with scours. In those cases that come 

 on several days or even weeks after birth the condition is usually 

 due to a gastro-enteritis and chronic indigestion. In these cases 

 the onset of the diarrhea is usually preceded by several days of 

 constipation. 



In some seasons this disease is especially common, and seems 

 to exist almost as a contagious or infectious diarrhea, such as is 

 seen in foals and calves. 



Symptoms. — The most prominent symptom is the diarrhea or 

 scouring. In the very young pigs this may be noticed almost on 

 the first day after they are born. The bowel movements are 

 almost watery in character, usually of a grayish or grayish-yellow 

 color, and have a very foul, disagreeable odor. The longer the 

 disease keeps up, the more liquid the discharges become and the 

 more foul the odor. They also become quite irritating and stain 

 the tail and hind parts of the animal. 



At the beginning of the attack the appetite is often quite good, 

 and it may remain so for a day or two after the discharge starts. 

 The sick pig soon loses all desire for food, and rapidly loses flesh 

 and strength. The animal becomes very weak, stunted in appear- 

 ance, and stands around with the head down, tail drooping, and 



