AILMENTS OF PIGS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 23 February 1929, Page 14

AILMENTS OF PIGS.

DIGESTIVE TROUBLES

IMPROPER FEEDING DANGERS

Stoppage of the bowels in pigs is invariably caused by eating indigestible food. The symptoms exhibited are dullness, uheasineiss, loss of appetite, a drooping tail, a. more or less distended belly, and colic, the symptoms of which, are quite different in the pig to those exhibited under similar conditions by the horse and other animals. The pig never paws the ground, and seldom knocks himself about, but invariably throws himself down fiat on Ins side, where he will lie quietly for a considerable time, only getting up to walk to another part of his pen to lie down again. Treatment for this ailment must be prompt. Get any small syringe of either glass or metal, and give a glycerine enema. This is done by injecting a few drachms of either glycerine pure, or diluted with a solution of soap and water. Glycerine is much more efficacious than soap and' water alone, and a small quantity will suffice, as evacuation of the bowels usually follows immediately. Although instant relief is experienced by the patient, it will usually be necessary to repeat the enema at intervals of two hours until natural motions result.

The administration of purgatives in large doses is fraught- with danger until one has good results from the enemas, and it.has been found safe to give the pig, if a large one, ounce doses .of Epsom salts, smaller doses being given according to the size and weight of the patient, every two hours —-that is, at the same time as the enema is given. Purgation then comes on gradually, or not at all, the bowels being evacuated in a much less drastic and natural manner. AVitli pigs which are habitually liable to constipation, and those which have suffered from indigestion, and what is known as “standing still,”, excellent results are obtained by mixing with • the food an ounce of powdered sulphur for each pig in the pen, this dose being given once or twice a week as considered necessary.