1 50 Diseases. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



DISEASES. 



It is more economical to kill at once rather than attempt to cure common 

 fowls showing symptoms of any troublesome disease, and so save trouble, 

 loss of their carcases, and the risk of infection. But if the fowls are 

 favourites, or valuable, it may be desirable to use every means of cure. 



See to a sick fowl at once ; prompt attention may prevent serious illness, 

 and loss of the bird. When a fowl's plumage is seen to be bristled up and 

 disordered, and its wings hanging or dragging, it should be at once removed 

 from the others, and looked to. Pale and livid combs are as certain a sign 

 of bad health in fowls, as the paleness or lividness of the lips is in human 

 beings. Every large establishment should have a warm, properly venti- 

 lated, and well-lighted house, comfortably littered down with clean straw, 

 to be used as a hospital, and every fowl should be removed to it upon 

 showing any symptoms of illness, even if the disease is not infectious, for 

 sick fowls are often pecked at, illtreated, and disliked by their healthy- 

 companions. Bear in mind that prevention is better than cure, and that 

 proper management and housing, good feeding, pure water and greens, 

 cleanliness and exercise, will prevent all, or nearly all, these diseases. 



Apoplexy arises from over-feeding, and can seldom be treated in time to 

 be of service. The only remedy is bleeding, by opening the large vein 

 under the wing, and pouring cold water on the head for a few minutes. 

 Open the vein with a lancet, or if that is not at hand, with a sharp- 

 pointed penknife ; make the incision lengthways, not across, and press the 

 vein with your thumb between the opening and the body, when the blood 

 will flow. If the fowl should recover, feed it on soft, low food for a few 

 days, and keep it quiet. It occurs most often in laying hens, which fre- 

 quently die on the nest while ejecting the egg ; and is frequently caused by 

 too much of very stimulating food, such as hempseed, or improper diet of 

 greaves, and also by giving too much pea or bean meal. 



Hard Crop, or being Crop-Bound, is caused by too much food, espe- 

 cially of hard grain, being taken into the crop, so that it cannot be softened 

 by maceration, and is therefore unable to be passed into the stomach. 

 Although the bird has thus too large a supply of food in its crop, the 

 stomach becomes empty, and the fowl eats still more food. Sometimes a 

 fowl swallows a bone that is too large to pass into the stomach, and being 

 kept in the crop forms a kernel, around which fibrous and other hard ma- 

 terial collects. Mr. Baily says: "Pour plenty of warm water down the throat, 

 and loosen the food till it is soft. Then give a tablespoonful of castor-oil, 

 or about as much jalap as will lie on a shilling, mixed in butter ; make a 

 pill of it, and slide it into the crop. The fowl will be well in the morning. 

 If the crop still remain hard after this, an operation is the only remedy. 



