DISEASES OF SWINE 521 



chine-oil can and allowed to run down the sides of the hog. 

 Repeat the application in ten days. 



SCOUES 



Scours m pigs results from two causes, — improper feeding and 

 contagious infection! Often the trouble comes from overfeeding 

 on corn, or other rich food just after farrowing. Sudden 

 changes in the food or feeding sour decomposing slops, or food 

 from dirty troughs, soui swill barrels, and the like, tend to cause 

 diarrhea. 



The best treatment for scouring pigs is to feed properly the 

 sows. The food should consist largely of rather thin mash 

 made from bran, middlings, crushed oats, and the like, which 

 should be fed regularly. In ordi'nary cases, treatment consists 

 in giving the nursing sow parched corn or scalded milk in her 

 food night and morning. After the trouble has been checked, a 

 little limewater placed in the mash often proves advantageous. 



The best cure for the contagious form of scours is a physic: 

 one tablespoonful of castor oil in the form of a drench, after 

 which the pens should be cleaned and thoroughly disinfected. 



CONSTIPATION 



Constipation frequently occurs among pregnant sows and 

 other hogs when given too little exercise and too much food. 

 Brood sows troubled with constipation are likely to farrow 

 weak, puny pigs. This trouble seldom occurs when hogs are 

 fed laxative foods, such as bran, linseed-oil meal, or roots, and 

 in addition are made to take exercise. When it becomes neces- 

 sary to treat the animals, a very simple method is to mix two 

 to four ounces of raw linseed oil once daily in the food; or if 

 more active treatment seems necessary, give four ounces of 

 Epsom salts at one dose in the same way. Swine that will not 

 eat the food thus medicated should be drenched. Great care 

 should be exercised in drenching hogs or they will suffocate. 



