Symptoms.—Difficulty in eating, or refusal to eat at all. Stringy secretions of saliva continually oozing from the mouth. The mouth gives off a very offensive odor.
Treatment.—In this form of sore mouth, remove the cause. Feed soft, wholesome food, such as wheat bran mashes and vegetables. In cases where it is due to the lodging of beards of wheat or barley, gag the hog’s mouth with a piece of wood and remove the beards with forceps. Keep clean, cool water before them at all times and avoid feeding dry, hard food.
SOWS EATING THEIR YOUNG.
Cause.—Insufficient lime or mineral matter fed prior to farrowing; constipation is also a fruitful cause.
Prevention.—Careful feeding for a few days prior to farrowing of slops, free from soap or washing powders; cool food, such as wheat bran mashes, with hog tonic and regulator as prescribed on the first page of this chapter. This is loosening to the bowels and also contains mineral matter and blood purifiers which are very valuable in the above mentioned condition.
SUN OR HEAT STROKE.
Cause.—Hogs that are very fat, and driven, hauled or shipped to market when the weather is warm, are frequently stricken with heat or sun-stroke. Sometimes when hogs are overcrowded and not protected from the rays of the sun, or from heat, they may become victims of heat or sun-stroke.
Symptoms.—First they stagger when walking, then they become very weak and temperature elevates three or four degrees higher than normal. Prostration or extreme depression, or sometimes involuntary spasms or contractions of muscles occur.
Treatment.—Prevention. Do not drive, haul or ship during the hottest part of the day, hogs that are not accustomed to exercise or extreme heat. Do not crowd hogs in small pens or sheds during the hot months, as their bodies give off considerable heat in addition to that of the sun. See that they are protected from the sun. When hauling or shipping hogs, wet them occasionally with water. It prevents heat stroke. In case a hog is suffering from heat or sun-stroke, place it in a cool, shady place and apply ice or cold water to the head only. Also give Saltpeter in teaspoonful doses every six hours diluted in one ounce of water. Also give Alcohol, one teaspoonful, every three hours in one ounce of water. Good recovery is often obtained from the above treatment.