Sheep, Swine, and Poultry Part 19

[Ill.u.s.tration]

DISEASES AND THEIR REMEDIES

By reason of being generally considered a subordinate species of stock, swine do not, in many cases, share in the benefits which an improved system of agriculture and the present advanced state of veterinary science, have conferred upon other domesticated animals. Since they are by no means the most tractable of patients, it is any thing but an easy matter to compel them to swallow any thing to which their appet.i.te does not incite them; and, hence, prevention will be found better than cure.

_Cleanliness_ is the great point to be insisted upon in the management of these animals. If this, and warmth, be only attended to, ailments among them are comparatively rare.

As, however, disappointment may occasionally occur, even under the best system of management, a brief view of the princ.i.p.al complaints with which they are liable to be attacked is presented, together with the best mode of treatment to be adopted in such cases.

CATCHING THE PIG.

Swine are very difficult animals to obtain any mastery over, or to operate on, or examine. Seldom tame, or easily handled, they are at such periods most unmanageable--kicking, screaming, and even biting fiercely.

The following method of getting hold of them has been recommended: Fasten a double cord to the end of a stick, and beneath the stick let there be a running noose in the cord; tie a piece of bread to the cord, and present it to the animal; and when he opens his mouth to seize the bait, catch the upper jaw in the noose, run it tight, and the animal is fast.

Another method is, to catch one foot in a running noose suspended from some place, so as to draw the imprisoned foot off the ground; or, to envelop the head of the animal in a cloth or sack.

All coercive measures, however, should, as far as possible, be avoided; for the pig is naturally so averse to being handled that in his struggles he will often do himself far more mischief than the disease which is to be investigated or remedied would effect.

BLEEDING.

The common mode of drawing blood from the pig is by cutting off portions of the ears or tail; this should only be resorted to when local and instant blood-letting is requisite. The jugular veins of swine lie too deep, and are too much imbedded in fat to admit of their being raised by any ligature about the neck; it is, therefore, useless to attempt to puncture them, as it would only be striking at random.

Those veins, however, which run over the interior surface of the ear, and especially toward its outer edge, may be opened without much difficulty; if the ear is turned back on the poll, one or more of them may easily be made sufficiently prominent to admit of its being punctured by pressing the fingers on the base of the ear, near to the conch. When the necessary quant.i.ty of blood has been obtained, the finger may be raised, and it will cease to flow.

The palate veins, running on either side of the roof of the mouth, are also easily opened by making two incisions, one on each side of the palate, about half way between the centre of the roof of the mouth and the teeth. The flow of blood may be readily stopped by means of a pledget of tow and a string, as in bleeding the horse.

The brachial vein of the fore-leg--commonly called the plate-vein--running along the inner side under the skin affords a good opportunity. The best place for puncturing it is about an inch above the knee, and scarcely half an inch backward from the radius, or the bone of the fore-arm. No danger need to be apprehended from cutting two or three times, if sufficient blood cannot be obtained at once. This vein will become easily discernible if a ligature is tied firmly around the leg, just below the shoulder.

This operation should always be performed with the lancet, if possible.

In cases of urgent haste, where no lancet is at hand, a small penknife may be used; but the fleam is a dangerous and objectionable instrument.

DRENCHING.

Whenever it is possible, the medicine to be administered should be mingled with a portion of food, and the animal thus cheated or coaxed into taking it; since many instances are on record, in which the pig has ruptured some vessel in his struggles, and died on the spot, or so injured himself as to bring on inflammation and subsequent death.

Where this cannot be done, the following is the best method: Let a man get the head of the animal firmly between his knees--without, however, pinching it--while another secures the hinder parts. Then let the first take hold of the head from below, raise it a little, and incline it slightly toward the right, at the same time separating the lips on the left side so as to form a hole into which the fluid may be gradually poured--no more being introduced into the mouth at a time than can be swallowed at once. Should the animal snort or choke, the head must be released for a few moments, or he will be in danger of being strangled.

CATARRH.

This ailment--an inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nose, etc.--is, if taken in time, easily cured by opening medicines, followed up by warm bran-wash--a warm, dry sty--and abstinence from rich grains, or stimulating, farinaceous diet. The cause, in most cases, is exposure to drafts of air, which should be guarded against.

CHOLERA.

For what is presented concerning this disease, the author is indebted to his friend, G. W. Bowler, V. S., of Cincinnati, Ohio, whose familiarity with the various diseases of our domestic animals and the best modes of treating them, ent.i.tles his opinions to great weight.

The term "cholera" is employed to designate a disease which has been very fatal among swine in different parts of the United States; and for the reason, that its symptoms, as well as the indications accompanying its termination, are very nearly allied to what is manifested in the disease of that name which visits man.

Epidemic cholera has, for several years past, committed fearful ravages among the swine of, particularly, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Indeed, many farmers who, until recently, have been accustomed to raise large numbers of these animals, are, in a great measure, disinclined to invest again in such stock, on account of the severe losses--in some instances to the extent of the entire drove upon particular places.

Various remedies have, of course, been prescribed; but the most have failed in nearly every case where the disease has secured a firm foothold. Preventives are, therefore, the most that can at present be expected; and in this direction something may be done. Although some peculiar change in the atmosphere is, probably, an impelling cause of cholera, its ravages may be somewhat stayed by removing other predisposing a.s.sociate causes.

Granting that the hog is a filthy animal and fond of rooting among filth, it is by no means necessary to persist, for that reason, in surrounding him with all the nastiness possible; for even a hog, when penned up in a filthy place, in company with a large number of other hogs--particularly when that place is improperly ventilated--is not as healthy as when the animals are kept together in smaller numbers in a clean and well ventilated barn or pen. Look, for a moment, at a drove of hogs coming along the street, the animals all fat and ready for the knife. They have been driven several miles, and are scarcely able to crawl along, many of them having to be carried on drays, while others have died on the road. At last they are driven into a pen, perhaps, several inches deep with the manure and filth deposited there by hundreds of predecessors; every hole in the ground has become a puddle; and in such a place some one hundred or two hundred animals are piled together, exhausted from the drive which they have had. They lie down in the mud; and in a short time one can see the steam beginning to rise from their bodies in volumes, increasing their already prostrate condition by the consequent inhalation of the noxious gas thus thrown off from the system; the blood becomes impregnated with poison; the various functions of the body are thereby impaired; and disease will inevitably be developed in one form or another. Should the disease, known as the hog cholera, prevail in the neighborhood, the chances are very greatly in favor of their being attacked by it, and consequently peris.h.i.+ng.

The _symptoms_ of cholera are as follows: The animal appears to be instantaneously deprived of energy; loss of appet.i.te; lying down by himself; occasionally moving about slowly, as though experiencing some slight uneasiness internally; the eyes have a very dull and sunken appearance, which increases with the disease; the evacuations are almost continuous, of a dark color, having a fetid odor, and containing a large quant.i.ty of bile; the extremities are cold, and soreness is evinced when the abdomen is pressed; the pulse is quickened, and sometimes hardly perceptible, while the buccal membrane--that belonging to the cheek--presents a slight purple hue; the tongue has a furred appearance.

The evacuations continue fluid until the animal expires, which may be in twelve hours from the first attack, or the disease may run on for several days.

In a very short time after death, the abdomen becomes of a dark purple color, and upon examination, the stomach is found to contain but a little fluid; the intestines are almost entirely empty, retaining a slight quant.i.ty of the dark colored matter before mentioned; the mucous membrane of the alimentary ca.n.a.l exhibits considerable inflammation, which sometimes appears only in patches, while the other parts are filled with dark venous blood--indicating a breaking up of the capillary vessels in such places.

_Treatment._ As a preventive, the following will be found valuable: Flour of sulphur, six pounds; animal charcoal, one pound; sulphate of iron, six ounces; cinchona pulverized, one pound. Mix well together in a large mortar; afterwards give a table-spoonful to each animal, mixed with a few potato-peelings and corn meal, three times a day. Continue this for one week, keeping the animal at the same time in a clean, dry place, and not allowing too many together.

CRACKINGS.

These will sometimes appear on the skin of a hog, especially about the root of the ears and of the tail, and at the flanks. They are not at all to be confounded with mange, as they never result from any thing but exposure to extremes of temperature, while the animal is unable to avail himself of such protection as, in a state of nature, instinct would have induced him to adopt. They are peculiarly troublesome in the heat of summer, if he does not have access to water, in which to lave his parched limbs and half-scorched carca.s.s.

Anoint the cracked parts twice or three times a day with tar and lard, well melted up together.

DIARRH[OE]A.

Before attempting to stop the discharge in this disease--which, if permitted to continue unchecked, will rapidly prostrate the animal, and probably terminate fatally--ascertain the quality of food which the animal has recently had.

In a majority of instances, this will be found to be the cause. If taken in its incipient stage, a mere change to a more binding diet, as corn, flour, etc., will suffice for a cure. If acidity is present--produced, probably, by the hog's having fed upon coa.r.s.e, rank gra.s.ses in swampy places--give some chalk in the food, or powdered egg-sh.e.l.ls, with about half a drachm of powdered rhubarb; the dose, of course, should vary with the size of the animal. In the acorn season, they alone will be found sufficiently curative, where facilities for obtaining them exist. Dry lodging is indispensable; and diligence is requisite to keep it dry and clean.

FEVER.

The _symptoms_ of this disease are, redness of the eyes, dryness and heat of the nostrils, the lips, and the skin generally; appet.i.te gone, or very defective; and, generally, a very violent thirst.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HUNTING THE WILD BOAR.]

Bleed as soon as possible; after which house the animal well, taking care, at the same time, to have the sty well and thoroughly ventilated.

The bleeding will usually be followed, in an hour or two, by such a return of appet.i.te as to induce the animal to eat a sufficient quant.i.ty of food to be made the vehicle for administering external remedies. The best is bread, steeped in broth. The hog, however, sinks so rapidly when his appet.i.te is near gone, that no depletive medicines are, in general, necessary or proper; the fever will ordinarily yield to the bleeding, and the only object needs to be the support of his strength, small portions of nouris.h.i.+ng food, administered frequently.

Do not let the animal eat as much as his inclination might prompt; when he appears to be no longer ravenous, remove the mess, and do not offer it again until after a lapse of three or four hours. If the bowels are confined, castor and linseed oil, in equal quant.i.ties, should be added to the bread and broth, in the proportion of two to six ounces.

A species of fever frequently occurs as an _epizootic_, oftentimes attacking the male pigs, and generally the most vigorous and best looking, without any distinction of age, and with a force and rapidity absolutely astonis.h.i.+ng. At other times, its progress is much slower; the symptoms are less intense and alarming; and the veterinary surgeon, employed at the outset, may meet with some success.

The _causes_ are, in the majority of instances, the bad styes in which the pigs are lodged, and the noisome food which they often contain. In addition to these is the constant lying on the dung-heap, whence is exhaled a vast quant.i.ty of deleterious gas; also, the remaining far too long on the muddy or parched ground, or too protracted exposure to the rigor of the season.

When an animal is attacked with this disease, he should be separated from the others, placed in a warm situation, some stimulating ointment applied to the chest, and a decoction of sorrel administered. Frictions of vinegar should also be applied to the dorsal and lumbar region. The drinks should be emolient, slightly imbued with nitre and vinegar, and with aromatic fumigation about the belly.