220 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [Ji^f/r. 2, 1908. 



Apoplexy. 



This ailment is assix-iatecl with male hiiNJs iiioic fi-( ([ucutlv than with 

 hens. The symptoms are giddiness, aw kwaidiiess of .i^ait, the liead and 

 comb become (juite dai'k in colour; then the liird suddeidv falls down, 

 .struggles, and, if not attended to, often dies. 



Every keeper of poultiy has had experience of the disease, and althongli 

 he may not have been a witness to the symptoms mentioned, is familiar with 

 the results, it being nothing unusual to have seen his dock all on theii- 

 perches of a night, apparently healthy, and in the morning finding one dead 

 under the perch. 



Attacks are very easily prompted in birds subject to the trouble. A fright 

 will bring it on ; if hungry, rushing their food may cause an attack ; while 

 an attempt to catch the fowls in the yard is at times resjjonsible for a death 

 from apoplexy. 



Hens are sometimes found dead on the nest after laying, from the same 

 cause ; intense heat or excitement may also bring it on. High feeding is the 

 principal cause of the ailment, overfat specimens being frequent subjects, 

 while some authorities think it may be inherited from parents which have 

 been highly fed ; at any rate, fowls which are kept penned and lil'erally fed 

 are most subject to it. 



Afiother term fur the ailment being congestion ( f the brain, a small blood 

 vessel of the brain breaking, usually causing the attack. As with other 

 parts of the muscular system, the little arteries suffer from fatty degeneration, 

 which weakens the wall, and is thus unable to resist tlie j^ressure caused by 

 over-excitement which is brought to ):)ear on the brain vessels ; some of them 

 are ruptured, and serious results follow. 



Some authorities s-ay that the deaths resulting from extreme heat are not 

 apoplexy proper, for although due to pressure on the brain, there is no clot 

 of blood found as in apoplexy. 



Remedial. — When a fowl is attacked it should be treated at once, or death 

 may ensue. The first thing to do, and usualh' effective, is to bleed the bird 

 by 0|)ening the large vein found under the wing with a sharp penknife, and 

 allow say two teaspoonsful of l)lood to tlow. 



Preceding the operation cold water should be thrown over the bird's head, 

 which at times brings about a recovery, but bleeding is the most effective. 

 Pollovving this the bird should be placed in a pen by itself, given some 

 Epsom salts in its drinking water, and fed sparingly. 



At t he same time fowls prone to apoplexy are rarely profitable to their owners ; 

 even when cured of attacks they should be got i-itl of at the earliest opportunity. 



Preventive measures are in the way of correct feeding ; a diet consisting 

 largely (>f mai7,(> pi'ovoking the disease. Fowls liaving a free range, with 

 herbage at will, are rarely apopletic. 



Diarrhoea, Dysentery, &c. 



Intestinal troul)les in fowls are of many sorts and ilcgrees, from simpk- 

 diarrhcea to the almost incurable dysentery. The intrstines form a large 

 part of the alimentary canal, aiifl i-uns fi-om the in()uth of the fowl right 



