Coughs and colds

Coughs and colds

Symptoms

- Coughing.
- Runny, wet nose.
- Difficult, rapid breathing.
- Yellowish discharge from nose.

Causes

- Infection, such as pneumonia.
- Internal parasites, especially lungworms.
- Changes in weather.
- Irritation to inside of throat caused by coarse feeds, such as rice bran.

Prevention

- Keep animal's pen dry and clean.

- Moisten fine feed mixtures (especially rice bran) before feeding animals.

- Provide a sheltered area for animals (see Housing, page 48).

- Regularly deworm (see Internal parasites, page 17).

- When giving a drench, apply the drench in a proper manner (see Application of herbal medicine in General information).

Treatment

- Pound and press the fresh fruit of Diospyros mollis and extract 100 ml (or 1 small Coke bottle) of juice. Mix the juice with 50 ml of honey. Drench the sick animal (1 ml or 1/4 teaspoon for each 5 kg of bodyweight) each morning for 2-3 days. Or, the mixture can be mixed with a small amount of feed and fed once a day for 2-3 days (same quantities as for the drench). This treatment will help ease coughs due to parasites. (Cambodia, Thailand. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

- 4 teaspoons Albizzia myriophylla bark. 4 teaspoons Tamarindus indica, mature fruit. 4 teaspoons Acacia rugata pods, grilled over a fire until soft. 10 g salt..

Mix the four ingredients with 3 liters of water. Boil them until only 2 liters are left. Cool and strain. Give one liter of the strained fluid to the sick animal as a drench each morning for 2-3 days. Or, mix it in the animal's feed as described above. This treatment will help remedy coughs and colds due to infections.

(Philippines, Thailand. 1, 3, 4, 5)