Diarrhea is a common complaint among fowls, and in some cases takes a severe and epidemic form. The latter form may be due to various causes, and it will be best, perhaps, to deal with diarrhea under the following heads:
- 1. Mild diarrhea.
- 2. Epidemic and severe diarrhea.
- 3. Dysentery. (See page 52.)
- 4. Cholera. (See page 39.)
- 5. White diarrhea of chickens. (See page 92.)
Mild Diarrhea.
Symptoms. Looseness of bowels and staining of feathers around the anus with excreta.
Cause. Indigestion caused by food which may be too laxative; e. g., excess of bran, or, by food which may be partly decomposed or may contain an intestinal irritant. Cold may also be a cause.
Treatment. Give Epsom salts, or castor oil. (See page 9.) Change diet if food is suspected. Often no treatment is necessary, but it is not wise to neglect cases that are apparently mild diarrhea, for fear they may turn out to be an epidemic and contagious form.
Diarrhea, Severe and Epidemic
Symptoms. Excessive looseness of bowels, ruffling of feathers, depression, loss of appetite. A number of birds in the flock are attacked and death results.
Cause. There are a variety of causes. Scientific investigation has led to the discovery of specific organisms responsible for various forms of diarrhea. It would be well for poultry rearers to study the results of such work, but, for the purposes of this book, it will be sufficient to state that the causal organism may be bacterial, mycotic, or protozoan. The owner of poultry will not usually be able himself to determine what type of diarrhea the fowls are suffering from, but as a rule the treatment will have to be the same. Advice will have to be sought from an expert when dangerous epidemics are feared.
Treatment. The most energetic measures of disinfection must be undertaken. (See page 10.)