CHAPTER XX 

 DIARRHEA IN POULTRY 



280. Cause of Diarrhea in Baby Chicks. Diarrhea in baby 

 chicks may be due to allowing them to become chilled, as is 

 often the case in raising chicks with a brooder. Fifteen minutes 

 of exposure to severe cold while quite young may result in fatal 

 diarrhea and the loss of many birds. When more feed is given 

 than the birds will eat quickly, it often spoils and causes 

 diarrhea. Stale milk and moldy feed are sources of trouble. 

 Unsanitary utensils are dangerous ; the water and milk con- 

 tainers must be cleaned out once a day. This is done best by 

 using a brush or even the hand to rub the walls and the bottom 

 of the container. 



281. Contagious Diarrhea of Baby Chicks. A contagious 

 diarrhea is due to a germ. This form afiects the baby chicks 

 as soon as they are hatched, and in the first week often as many 

 as 80 per cent of them contract the disease and die. 



282. How Chicks Become Infected. The baby chicks become 

 infected by eating or drinking contaminated feed and water, or 

 the hen that lays the egg may have an ovary that is diseased. 

 A hen with an ovary infected with the germ of white diarrhea 

 will lay eggs containing the germs and the baby chick will be 

 infected when hatched. 



283. How to Tell When Baby Chicks Have White Diarrhea. 

 The disease appears within tw6 or three days after hatching 

 and heavy losses occur the first week. The bird shows the fol- 

 lowing signs of the disease : drooping wings, ruffled feathers, 

 sleepy appearance, little or no appetite, abdominal yolk not 

 properly absorbed, a whitish or whitish-brown frothy discharge 

 from the bowel which adheres to the vent fluff, eyes closfed part 

 of the time, and a lack of interest in the surroundings. 



