Laryngotracheitis in Chicks

Abstract

DURING the hatching season of 1930 there appeared a disease among baby chicks which caused wide spread loss throughout the middle west. The symptoms of the disease were manifested chiefly as gasping for breath, the condition has been commonly designated as “gasping disease.” The attention of the authors was called to the disease early in the season of 1930 and reports became more common and widespread as the season progressed. Most of these reports concerned hatchery produced chicks, and it appeared to be a hatchery spread disease. The disease has been reported many times during the past two years. Although the authors believe that this disease is the same as that frequently seen in adult birds, they have limited discussion in this paper largely to a description of the disease as seen in chicks. In experiments, several hundred chicks have been studied, many of which were sent to us by . . .