660 DISEASES OF SWINE 



If the number of parasites in the bowel be small there may be 

 little or no disturbance resulting from their presence. A slight 

 diarrhea, perhaps a little restlessness, and an occasional disturbance 

 of appetite, that is hardly noticeable enough to attract attention. 

 When large numbers of the worms develop they produce a more 

 positive chain of signs. With hundreds of these parasites in the 

 bowel, food is unable to pass along as it should, and the pig is fre- 

 quently attacked by colicky pains, scouring, and becomes very 

 restless. In addition to this, the appetite becomes irregular, food 

 is not properly digested and absorbed, and the animal soon becomes 

 unthrifty and begins to lose in weight and strength. If they be 

 closely watched the pigs will often be seen to pass worms. 



Treatment. — In the treatment of worms in the hog the best 

 manner of administering drugs to destroy the parasites is to select 

 some remedy which can be given with the food, and allow the 

 animal to take it in this way. The dosing of hogs with a tablet or 

 liquid drench is quite unsatisfactory, as a rule, in the treatment of 

 worms, and much better results will be obtained with far less effort 

 by the method of carrying the drugs into the bowel through the 

 slop. 



For the treatment of the round-worm two of the most effective 

 agents are areca nut and santonin. Areca nut should be given in 

 a dose of about ^ to 1 gr. per pound weight of the animal. The 

 santonin is given in smaller dosage, the average being from 1 to 4 

 gr. for each hog, according to size. These two agents can be thor- 

 oughly mixed with milk or thin slop and fed in a clean trough. 

 The best plan is to have the drug put up in powders, each of which 

 contains enough of the remedy to supply 10 shoats, and mix this 

 with a bucket of milk or slop, pour it in the trough, and let 10 hogs 

 into the lot at a time. In this manner every animal gets about the 

 same amount of the drugs. If the entire herd is slopped at once, 

 the more active and aggressive animals will get a large dose of the 

 remedies, and the weaker animals, which really need it most, will 

 get little or none at all. 



Calomel is another very active agent in the treatment of intes- 

 tinal worms, and may replace the areca nut in the above treatment. 

 Where calomel is used, it should be given in dose of about 5 gr. 

 for each 100 pounds' weight. Calomel and santonin are both in- 



