POULTRY FOR PROFIT 185 



The real white diarrhea is an infectious disease, 

 Bacterium pullorum, and usually conies from an 

 infected egg which was laid by an infected hen. 

 Prevention should therefore begin with the hatching 

 egg. Dr. Salmon says : 



"If eggs are purchased they should only be ac- 

 cepted from flocks known to be healthy, and the 

 eggs of which give rise to healthy chicks. If this 

 assurance cannot be obtained, it is better to produce 

 the eggs needed for hatching on the home farm and 

 from hens that are known to be free from infection. 



"Having obtained the eggs, they should be kept 

 until ready for incubation in a dry, moderately cool 

 place, so spread out that the air can circulate over 

 them and carry away the moisture which they 

 exhale. Before putting them into the incubator or 

 under the hen they should be wiped with a cloth wet 

 in grain alcohol of seventy to eighty per cent 

 strength to remove any germs that might be on the 

 surface of the shell. The hens used for hatching 

 should be free from all infection and the incubator 

 should be thoroughly cleaned. If there have been 

 any sick chicks in it, it should be disinfected by 

 washing with compound solution of cresol (five per 

 cent solution). The same precautions should be 

 adopted in regard to the brooder." 



White diarrhea may usually be diagnosed by the 

 characteristic white or creamy discharge from the 

 vent and by the chick's behavior. Sometimes a chick 

 that has been chilled will "paste up behind" with a 

 brownish discharge, but remains as lively as ever. 

 This is not white diarrhea. In Bulletin 68 of the 

 Connecticut Experiment Station, by Professors 

 Rettger and Stoneburn, the white diarrhea chick is 

 thus described: 



"The chicks soon become listless and sleepy, in- 



