Common Diseases of Farm Animals Part 5

Because of the irritated condition of the stomach and intestine, the animal suffering from diarrhoea is unable to digest its feed. For this reason it is very important to withhold all feed for at least twelve hours. Water should be provided. The alimentary tract is relieved of the irritating material by giving the animal a physic of castor or linseed oil. The dose varies from one-quarter to one-half ounce for the lamb and from one to four ounces for the colt or calf. It is advisable in most cases to follow this with the following mixture: bicarbonate of soda one ounce, bis.m.u.th subnitrate one-half ounce, and salol one-quarter ounce. The dose for the colt and calf is one teaspoonful three times a day. Lambs and pigs may be given from one-fourth to one-half the above dose.

It is usually advisable to give ewes and sows a physic if their young develop a diarrhoea. Mothers that are heavy milkers may be given a physic the second or third day following birth. The ration should be reduced as well during the first week.

DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT OF POULTRY

GENERAL DISCUSSION.--The digestive tract of poultry is composed of the following organs: mouth, gullet, crop, stomach, gizzard and intestines, with the two large glands, the liver and pancreas. The digestion of the feed begins in the crop. Here the feed is held for a short time, mixed with certain fluids and softened. On reaching the stomach it becomes mixed with the digestive fluid secreted by the gastric glands. This second digestive action consists in thoroughly soaking the feed in the gastric juice, making it soft and preparing it for maceration by the heavily muscled gizzard.

Following maceration it pa.s.ses into the intestine. It is here that the digestive action is completed and absorption occurs.

Under the conditions of domestication, poultry are subject to a great variety of intestinal disorders.

DISEASES OF THE CROP.--Impaction and inflammation are the two common diseases of the crop. _Large, impacted crops_ are usually caused by the feeding of too much dry feed, fermentation of the contents of the crop and foreign bodies that obstruct the opening from the organ.

_Inflammation of the crop_ is caused by excessive use of condiments in the feed, putrid or spoiled feeds and eating caustic drugs, such as lime and rat poison.

_The symptoms_ are dulness, an indisposition to move about, drooping wings and efforts to eject gases and liquids. The crop is found greatly distended and either hard or soft, depending on the quant.i.ty of feed present and the cause of the distention. If fermentation is present the crop usually feels soft.

_The preventive treatment_ consists in practising proper methods of feeding. The _curative treatment_ of a recent case consists in manipulating the ma.s.s of feed, breaking it up and forcing it upwards toward the mouth.

If difficulty in breaking up the ma.s.s is experienced, it is advisable to administer a tablespoonful of castor oil to the bird.

If the above manipulations are unsuccessful, an operation is necessary.

This consists in making an opening through the skin and the wall of the crop and removing the contents with tweezers. The opening must be closed with sutures. The proper aseptic precautions must be observed.

In inflammation of the crop, the bird should be dieted for at least one day, and one teaspoonful of castor oil given as a laxative.

ACUTE AND CHRONIC INDIGESTION.--The recognition of special forms of indigestion in poultry is difficult. A flock of poultry that is subject to careless and indifferent care may not thrive and a number of the birds develop digestive disorders. This may be indicated by an abnormal or depraved appet.i.te and emaciated condition. Constipation or diarrhoea may occur. In the more severe cases the bird acts dull, the feathers are ruffled and it moves about very little.

_The treatment_ consists in removing the cause, and giving the flock a tonic mixture in the feed. The following mixture may be used: powdered gentian and powdered ginger, eight ounces of each, Glauber's salts four ounces, and sulfate of iron two ounces. One ounce of the above mixture may be given in ten pounds of feed.

WHITE DIARRHOEA OF YOUNG CHICKENS.--White diarrhoea is of the greatest economic importance to the poultryman. The loss of chicks from this disease is greater than the combined loss resulting from all other diseases. It is stated by some authors that not less than fifty per cent of the chickens hatched die from white diarrhoea.

Such a heavy death-rate as is attributed to this disease can not result from improper methods of handling and insanitary conditions. Before it was proven that white diarrhoea was caused by specific germs, a great deal of emphasis was placed on such causes as debilitated breeding stock, improper incubation, poorly ventilated, overcrowded brooders, too high or too low temperatures and filth. Such conditions are important predisposing factors, and may, in isolated cases, result in serious intestinal disorders.

_The microorganisms causing_ this disease belong to both the plant and animal kingdoms. Infection usually occurs within a day or two following hatching. Chicks two or three weeks of age seldom develop the acute form of the disease. Incubator chicks are the most susceptible to the disorder.

_The following symptoms occur_: The chicks present a droopy, sleepy appearance; the eyes are closed, and the chicks huddle together and peep much of the time; the whitish intestinal discharge is noticed adhering to the fluff near the margins of the vent, and the young bird is very weak; death may occur within the first few days. After the first two weeks the disease becomes less acute. In the highly acute form the chicks die without showing the usual train of symptoms.

It is very easy to differentiate between the infectious and the non-infectious diarrhoea. In the latter, the percentage of chicks affected is small and the disease responds to treatment more readily than does the infectious form. The death-rate in the latter form is about eighty per cent.

_The treatment_ of diarrhoea in chicks from any cause is preventive. This consists in removing the cause. No person can successfully handle poultry if he does not give the necessary attention to sanitation. Poultry houses, runs, watering fountains and feeding places must be constantly cleaned and disinfected. The degree of attention necessary depends on the surroundings, the crowded condition of the poultry houses and runs, and the presence of disease in the flock. If disease is present, we can not clean and disinfect the quarters too often. The attendant can not overlook details in handling the incubator or brooder and feeding the chicks and be uniformly successful.

If the disease is known to be present in the flock, the incubators and brooders should be thoroughly disinfected by fumigating them with formaldehyde gas. If dirty, they should first be washed with a water solution of a good disinfectant. For a period of from twenty-four to forty-eight hours after hatching, the chicks should receive no feed. Dr.

Kaupp recommends as an intestinal antiseptic, sulfocarbolate thirty grains, bichloride of mercury six grains, and citric acid three grains, dissolved in one gallon of water. This solution should be kept in front of the chicks all the time. A water solution of powdered copper sulfate (about one-half teaspoonful dissolved in one gallon of water) may be used.

QUESTIONS

1. Name the organs that form the digestive apparatus.

2. What digestive action on the feed occurs in the mouth?

3. Describe the causes and symptoms of inflammation of the mouth; describe the treatment.

4. Give the causes for depraved appet.i.te; describe the symptoms and treatment.

5. Give the capacity of the horse's stomach.

6. Name the different compartments of the ruminant's stomach.

7. Give the capacity of the stomach of ruminants.

8. Name the different stages of digestion occurring in the stomach of the hog.

9. What forms of acute indigestion involve the stomach of solipeds? Give causes and treatment.

10. Give the causes of indigestion of the stomach of ruminants.

11. Give the treatment for the different forms of indigestion of the stomach of ruminants.

12. Name the divisions of small and large intestines of solipeds and ruminants.

13. What is the capacity and length of large intestine of solipeds and ruminants?

14. What are the different forms of acute indigestion of the horses, and causes?

15. Give a general line of treatment for acute indigestion of the horse.

16. Give the causes of white diarrhoea in the young chicks; give a line of treatment.

17. Name the organs of the digestive apparatus of poultry.

18. Name the common diseases of the digestive apparatus of poultry, and give the causes.

CHAPTER V

DISEASES OF THE LIVER

GENERAL DISCUSSION.--The liver is one of the most important glands of the body, as well as the largest. Because of its physiological influence over the functions of the kidneys, intestines, and body in general and the varied functions that it possesses, it is frequently affected by functional disorders.

All of the blood that comes directly from the intestine is received by the liver. It secretes the bile, neutralizes many of the poisonous substances and end products of digestion that are taken up by the absorbing vessels of the intestine, and acts as a storehouse for the glycogen.

It can be readily understood from this brief statement of the nature of the liver functions, that any functional disorder of the liver may be far reaching in its effect. In many of the diseases that involve other organs, the liver may be primarily affected. It is difficult to diagnose functional disorders of the liver that are responsible for a diseased condition of some other body organ. A knowledge of the physiology and pathology of the liver is of the greatest importance in the diagnosis of this cla.s.s of disorders.

In the larger domestic animals, symptoms of liver diseases are more obscure than in the small animals. In certain parasitic diseases and in mixed and specific infectious diseases, the liver may show marked pathological changes.