The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-02

| through the bodies of flies unchanged or | in any way impairing their vitality. Even l such minute objects as the excrement CT l flies become a means of infecting young 1 poultry. The spread of the disease in | these various ways renders it absolutely l necessary to take the best precautions I against it.
 | During the first week of infection, the effect of white diarrhoea is most fatal | After this time the deaths are not so | frequent. The chicks with stronger | vitality may recover. But, as rule, 1 such chicks do not make satisfactory ] growth If they are females, they often | continue to harbor the disease and they l become a constant source of infection. l These birds are called 'chroncs. They ! spread the disease to chicks they may | hatch and rear, and constitute a danger
 to older fowls when replaced in the yards.
 1 SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE | There may be no prominent symptoms 1 of white diarrhoea, except weakness and 1 lack. of vitality, if death occurs within a few days after chicks are matched. When | the disease becomes pronounced the vic | tims soon become lstless, sleepy ano | sometimes droop their wings. If they
 are incubator chicks, they will huddle l together under the hover; if they are with mother hen, they want to be brooded ! most or the tune. Iney lose dppeule ! and do not eat much.
 ] In severe cases the chicks stand around with eyes closed They become indifferent
 to everything around them except that ! many will chirp constantly as if cold or | in distress. Frequently, when chicks try
 to void excrement, they will utter a shrill, 1 painful twitter, the breathing is labored, and they gasp for breath.
 | In such cases the discharge from the 1- -l@, ,1..r, s.. Nirv white or creamy, and sometimes mixed with brown. This discharge frequently l sticks to the down and may even stop up l the vent During this stage of the dis ease, the chick may die suddenly even while apparently still strong. But if the ! disease is prolonged, the victims gradual 1 ly grow thinner and weaker until they l suCcunb. With few exceptions, the death of chicks from white diarrhoea w1ii occur within month of being matched. If chicks which have had the disease sur l vive, they are so weakened that they | fall an easy prey to ailments which | would easily be resisted by chicks with
 normal health and vigor.
 ] With 8 disease so weakening and so l fatal in it's effects as white diarrhoea, 1 every precaution should be taken to pro- | tect a flock against it's ravages. It affects eggs young chicks, and mature fowls. l 1 tion unless every possible avenue of in- l lection is checked. Yards, roasting places and scratching pens should be kept as sanitary as possible as preliminary pre- ! caution. But the main efforts of the 1 poultry keeper should center around the protection of the flock as the primary | source of contagion.
 BREEDING FROM SOUND STOCK l The best protection against, White diarrhoea is to breed only, from sound l stock Violation of this principle has frequently brought financial ruin to pro-
 ducers of eggs for incubation. For the complete eradication of this disease from l poultry farms, stock which give evidence
 of weakness or the least signs of the dis ease should not be used for breeding pur- poses.
 ! The average poultry keeper may not be ! able to determine whether all his fowls
 are free from white diarrhoea or not. l Nevertheless, it is safe course to select