THE PIGGERY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1262, 7 May 1896, Page 5

THE PIGGERY.

CONVULSIONS OR FITS IN PIGS.

" Fibs " is not an expressive term, and it may mean almost any condition in which (here is loss of consciousness or power of volition, and include epilepsy, coma, or apoplexy, but in a pig it is generally taken as expressing a sudden attack in which there is loss of sensibility and convulsive movement of the limbs. If is common in young pigs, and the attacks generally take [dace when the animal comes up to the trough to feed. There are some convulsive movements of the limbs, a short period of unconsciousness, and then the pig gets up, walks unsteadily back to the sleeping pen, and lies down Needless to say such animals do not grow and thrive. What is the cause of these attacks 1 The presence of worms in the intestines, and the irritation of teething, disorders or the brain, and j poisons in the circulation are causes of I fits in pigs as well as other animal*, but the most prolific cause is indigestion, and this invariably arises from errors in diet. From indigestion to fits lis only a short step. That error in feeding or management is the primary cause is shown by several of the pigs in a litter exhibiting similar symptoms, and we have three or four kicking and squealing at once, The trouble arises either from too great a quantity of food being given or to its being of an improper character—material with which the weak undeveloped stomach cinuot deal. It is common where pigs tire removed from the sow without having been taught to cat, and are then put upon food which an old hog could no more than deal successfully. I This is not weaning, but tearing away. j It may seem no concern of the bleeder i who sells his pigs at two months old, ' or thereabouts, to some jobber, or one I here and there to a neighbour, but it is j if a good reputation is to be established, j and it is doubly the concern of the man I who rears and fattens those of his own breeding, figs should be taught to eat while Still under the sow, and so rendered gradually independent of her milk while their stomachs are habitu- | ated to deal with solid food.

Further, after weaning, the food should be judiciously selected with a view to its easy digestion, and the youngsters should not be overdone with it, as though they had to be (it to kill on a certain day, By till means keep them thriving and in a state of progress, but remember " the more haste, the less speed " in many cases. It is so if the animals are thrown back by digestive disorder .and attacks of convulsions. In these cases constipation is invariably present, and is sometimes a cause. The treatment to be adopted is to first give a purgative dose of Epsom sails, Glauber's tails, aloes, jalap, or oil, or two or more in combination, and to assist its action with copious enemata of warm soapy water, oil and water, or solution of Epsom sabs. In (he presence of an attack throw cold water on the head, an 1 give a warm injection. The diet should be easy of digestion, and should consist of milk, garden refuse, and a little bran.

("Joed feeding, ftesh air, abundant exercise, and sanitary lodgings are the best correctors of dyspepsia, and all these should be attended to.— Field, Farm and Fireside.