DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 91 



"Some of these turkeys were too sick to eat. In these 

 cases a small piece of the tablet, one-half the size of a sweet 

 pea, was dissolved and given twice a day. Nearly all of the 

 birds so treated recovered." 



From work done in this laboratory and from the foregoing 

 report and similar reports from other sources, the author 

 is led to believe that a bird may recover if properly medi- 

 cated, even after some .degree of damage is done to the liver 

 by the disease. 



Diarrhea— Enteritis — Dysentery 



The most devastating form of diarrhea in 

 poultry is an infectious disease due to a bacterium 

 and to a protozoon, and commonly called "white 

 diarrhea. " It affects chiefly chicks less than three 

 weeks old and will be discussed under a special 

 head. Under'this head I shall discuss those bowel 

 ailments not due to any one specific germ. 



A condition of mild diarrhea is chronic in many 

 fowls throughout life. In these cases there are no 

 symptoms of the disease other than the softness 

 or fluid condition of the feces. Though this con- 

 dition is probably due to a mild form of indi- 

 gestion and the birds may not thrive or fatten or 

 lay as well as those not so affected, the condition is 

 not serious and ordinarily the poultryman pays 

 no attention to it. 



It is when the soft, pasty or liquid excrement has 

 an offensive odor, and adheres to the feathers 

 about the vent, staining them yellowish, greenish 

 or brownish, that the matter becomes serious and 

 interferes with the health of the bird. Young 

 stock are much more susceptible to diarrhea from 

 unfavorable conditions, of which the commonest 

 are improper food and exposure to cold, than are 

 adult birds. 



When this reaction to external influences (cold) 

 or when the irritation from indigestible matter 

 within the intestine becomes sever enough to set 



