138 POULTRY 
should be made to keep the males away from 
the females until two weeks. before the eggs 
are to be saved for hatching. The male bird 
becomes a mechanical carrier of the infection, 
because the infection is not limited to the 
ovary of the female, but apparently passes 
down the oviduct and is present at the vent. 
Thus the male birds can spread the disease 
rapidly through a flock, if there is one in- 
fected female in the flock. 
The following symptoms may be expected 
in a flock of chicks infected with white diar- 
rhea. At time of hatching the chicks will 
appear normal and healthy. After three or 
four days certain chicks will become some- 
what dumpy and will have a tendency to 
stay around the source of heat. A whitish 
or brownish-white discharge will be found 
stuck to the down at the vent and the chicks 
will make a peculiar noise whenever they 
attempt to void droppings. 
The mortality begins usually at five days 
after hatching and increases rapidly day by 
day until the tenth to the fourteenth day, 
when it reaches its peak. From that time on 
until the chickens are three or four weeks 
