186 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 



clined to huddle together and remain under the hover 

 most of the time. They seem to lose appetite and do 

 not eat much. The wings begin to droop or project 

 slightly from the body, with feathers ruffled. Many 

 of the chicks peep or chirp constantly, the sound 

 being shrill or weak, according to the strength of the 

 individual." 



Dr. Rettger says it is only during the first forty- 

 eight hours that the chick can be infected, hence the 

 greatest care should be taken during those first two 

 days. Incubators should be disinfected with the 

 greatest care between hatches. Any good disin- 

 fectant, such as creolin, Zenoleum, or a carbolic 

 solution, is sufficient. Kerosene, of course, must 

 never be used about an incubator. Brooders also 

 should be disinfected before a new brood is put in. 

 No hen should be used for hatching or brooding that 

 is not perfectly healthy and vigorous or that shows 

 any sign of diarrhea. 



Treatment. — When a chick is "pasted up," the 

 excrement should be carefully removed and the vent 

 greased with vaseline. If faulty brooding is the 

 cause, remedy this at once and you may save the 

 chick. Boiled rice with cinnamon and scalded milk 

 with a little grated nutmeg instead of the regular 

 diet are recommended, and sour milk or buttermilk 

 are the best of remedies ; but a chick with real white 

 diarrhea will not eat much, so the treatment must 

 be mainly preventive. Rettger and Stoneburn give 

 the following on preventing white diarrhea: 



"Since the disease cannot apparently be trans- 

 mitted through the food supply after the chicks have 

 reached the age of three or four days, every means 

 should be taken to prevent the spread of the infection 

 during this critical period. We suggest : 



