Hutchinson gazette., 1901-04-18
Indigestion.


pressed with the idea that the hog is
an omniverous animal and able to eat
anything with impunity, that they will
scarcely believe that swine suffer from
indigestion, yet such Ia the fact, In
digestion especially Of young pigs, Is
a very common complaint, and often
a serious and even fatal one, The
symptoms OF the trouble are varied,
but In pigs one OF the commonest Is
vomiting and this 10 often accompan-
led by flts, staggering or thumps,
Other symptoms are squealing and
rubbing the nose In the mud; gAneral
thrlftlessness, emaciation, constipation
or dlarrhea, skin diseases, such as
hives, nettlerash, eczema and itchi-
ness Cough Is also common symptom
OF indigestion, but In our experience Is
usually found along with the indiges-
tlOn caused by the presence Of worms
In the stomach or intostlnes II is also
uhual to find the appetite OF hogs suf-
fering from indigestion depraved or
peculiar In that they will prefer for
elgn bodies to good food, drink manure
tea rather than pure water or slop and
act strangely, sometimes hungry,
sometimes having no appetite at all.
When any OF these symptoms are seen
To AFFECT the hogs II is time to COM
nlence a search for the cause, and this
IL usually to be found In erroneous
methods OF feeding or In the food
supply. The bad effects of the sour
swill barrel have been alluded TO In
q former article The long continued
feeding of any one food such as corn,
IN q common cause Of trouble OF the
digestive organs, and the same may be
said OF feeding too much of any food
or combination Of foods. In the flrst
place II should be remembered that
the stomach OF the young pig requires
q little food often more than II does a
great amount OF food at one time, so
that when a pig Is seen TO vomit there
may be nothing wrong with the food
Itself, but the amount given is too great
and the time between feeds is too
long, The first step on noticing that
the pigs are suffering from indIges-
tlon is to cut down the amount Of food
and give 1t oftener and In II mix
something which will make 1t digest
better, A good medicine for this Is
lime water, and 1t may be very easily
made by pouring water upon fresh
lime and thereby shaking II. The wa
ter should then be diluted further and
may be mixed with advantage in the
food Of the pigs, Charcoal Is also val
uable In the same way, and for this
reason many are in the habit Of feed
Ing soft coal but there Is no doubt
that powdered wood coal mixed with
the food has a better effect. The soft
coal has one advantage In that 1t con-
tains sulphur, but this can be added
several time week II there Is tend
ency to constipation or skin disease,
II pig Is found to be constlpated,
then the bowels should be moved by
two tablespoonfuls Of castor oil or an
ounce or two Of epson salts, after
which II Is well to mix In the food
twice daily one teaspoonful Of hypo-
sulphlte of soda and half teaspoon
full Of ground ginger root For chronic
vomiting we have found nothing bet
the than nux vomlca In small doses
mixed with the food. For q pig three
grains three times daily OF the pow
dered drug will do to start with, but
II should be increased II necessary,
and II the vomiting does not cease
then add two or three drops Of car
bollc acid well mixed up in little
milk. For dlarrhea the treatment
would be a little different, The first
thing Is to clear the bowels by means
Of dose OF castor oil, then follow up
with ten grain doses of subnItrate Of
bismuth and fifteen drops Of tincture
Of opium or three grains of powdered
opium three times daily in food.
Where there is lack Of appetite the
bowels should be moved freely, then
follow with ten grains OF powdered
gentl0n root and like amount Of
dried sulphate of iron twice daily in
the food, A change Of food Is always
indicted and II roots can be obtained
they will usually give the best OF re.
suits or the food may be boiled.