378 POULTRY BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



they have passed from one animal to another. The germs 

 may be passed in the excrement or droppings of the diseased 

 fowl even before the symptoms of the disease are manifest. 

 They may be passed in countless numbers, and if the drop- 

 pings come in contact with the food another fowl takes 

 them up and the germs, in all likelihood in a more virulent 

 form, enter the body of another and cause disease. 



Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a germ disease and is 

 probably the most destructive of all diseases of mature 

 fowls. The disease progresses slowly and may be well ad- 

 vanced before the symptoms are noticed. Avian tuberculosis 

 was first reported in this country by Professor Pernot of 

 the Oregon Agricultural College in 1900 (Bulletin 64), and 

 to him the author is indebted largely for the facts herein 

 presented in regard to this disease. The most pronounced 

 symptoms of tuberculosis are lameness and loss of flesh. 

 Tubercular fowls, however, often have the disease without 

 lameness, but lameness is often associated with the disease. 

 On the other hand, lameness does not always indicate 

 tuberculosis, as it may be due to other causes. In advanced 

 stages there is great loss of flesh or wasting. There is no 

 loss of appetite. 



Seat of Disease. As the organisms enter the body with 

 food, the disease is more commonly found in the digestive 

 tract and the liver than in any other part of the anatomy. 

 Many cases of the disease in its advanced forms fail to 

 show any lesions of the lungs. There are two common forms 

 that are easily detected; one is a fibroid growth on the 

 intestines varying in size from a pinhead to a lump as large 

 as a walnut. In cutting through these tubercles, they will 

 be found to contain a substance varying from a serous 

 fluid to a rather dry, cheesy mass according to their size 

 and age. It frequently happens that when a tubercle on 

 the intestine becomes the size of a large pea, the mucous 



