Troubles of Chicks 33 



material. This is about as wide a ration as is safe for chicks that are 

 intended for breeders and layers. 



Bowel Trouble In Small Chicks 



Bowel trouble in small chicks is nearly aways some form of diar- 

 rhoea, and in nine cases out of ten it might have been prevented by 

 careful feeding and brooding. Chicks are either fed too much or the 

 food is of such a nature that it takes a long time to digest and the 

 feeder adds more fuel to the already overloaded furnace. Undigested 

 food may sometimes be found in the droppings but as a rule it is 

 not noticed. 



Chilling Is A Common Cause. — But more ofter the diarrhoea of 

 small chicks is due to a chill at some stage of the game. The brooder 

 is too hot and chicks get out, then fail to get back. Just a fev/ may 

 start with a looseness in the bowels, and in a few days it has spread 

 to the whole flock. Don't forget that in diarrhoea there are alwaye 

 germs to be reckoned with, and germs multiply. 



Sanitation Needed. — It is always best to find the source of the 

 trouble if possible, but no time should be lost after a case shows itself. 

 Simple measures are the best. Spray the brooder and brooder house 

 with the creolin solution, boil all the water that the chicks have to 

 drink and feed more dry grain. 



The chicks must be kept comfortable and if they have been over- 

 crowded, separate into smaller flocks. Both overheating and chilling 

 are fore-runners of diarrhoea and should be equally avoided. It is 

 really better to supply a variety of food and keep it before them all 

 the time, than it is to be continually giving them more of one thing 

 than they can eat. Let them balance their own ration if you have 

 failed to do it right. Keep a good supply of ground oyster shell and 

 charcoal before them as both these are needed to absorb gases. Give 

 them raw vegetables on clean boards — lettuce and any form of green 

 feed. 



Remedies. — If the water is boiled and given cold, that alone is 

 helpful, but the next best remedy is to pour a gallon of boiling 

 water over a piece of quick lime as large as an egg, stir well, then let 

 all settle and when cold give the chicks the clear lime water to drink. 

 This is also a very effective, yet a simple remedy in all cases of 

 bowel trouble for young and old. It may be given for one or two 

 weeks at a time vifithout any harmful results. The Homeopathic 

 remedy for diarrhoea in small chicks is Mercurius Viv, a dozen pellets 

 in the drinking water, say one dozen to the quart. 



