6o4 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



inoculating healthy chickens with this attenuated 

 virus a mild disease is produced which makes 

 them immune, as vaccination does to small-pox. 

 The vaccine can be obtained, in case of need, 

 from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and out of 

 thousands of inoculations, scarcely any have 

 failed to produce immunity. For practical 

 purposes, no other treatment is of any avail 

 in a real epidemic of this disease, which so far 

 has been happily rare in England. 



Cold or Catarrh. — This is common enough 

 in winter, from the same causes as amongst 

 ourselves, though there is little doubt that even 

 these mild diseases are contagious, so that a 

 cold will "go through the house." The main 

 symptom is watery discharge from the nostrils, 

 and, perhaps, a little frothiness at the eyes. 

 There may be a little sneezing and feverishness, 

 but it will be sneezing and not coughing, and 

 there may be a little diarrhrjea. It often gets 

 well of itself if the weather improves and the 

 birds are taken care of and well fed, being kept 

 out of draught and wet. If seen very early, the 

 best treatment is about five drops essence of 

 camphor on a bolus of meal, followed by a i m. 

 tabloid of aconite every four hours for a day, 

 and one morning and evening next day. Mean- 

 while the nostrils should be squeezed out and 

 syringed gently with hazeline tincture in equal 

 parts of water. Another good early treatment 

 is a 2 grain tabloid of quinine at once, and 

 then night and morning. This treatment is 

 only of use early, however ; if the catarrh has 

 become confirmed, the nostrils and throat 

 should be cleansed with peroxide of hydrogen 

 and equal parts water several times daily, 

 and the nostrils greased with vaseline which 

 has been melted and mixed with 5 per cent 

 eucalyptus oil. Internally, 20 grains Epsom 

 salts may be given, followed up by two or three 

 drops each of eucalyptus and pure terebene on 

 a meal pill every three or four hours, or half 

 a teaspoonful of each may be poured on the 

 bird's fountain. It is also of much benefit to 

 give them a thorough fumigation at night with 

 some sulphur on a red-hot shovel, or a teaspoon- 

 ful of eucalyptus on a shovel not so hot ; it will 

 make them sneeze, but do them good. If the 

 catarrh does not yield to this treatment, that for 

 catarrhal rotip should be adopted. 



Consumption. — See " Tuberculosis." 

 Cramp.- — This complamt in young chickens 

 has been sufficiently treated of at page 97. 



Crop-bound. — This term denotes a crop so 

 gorged as to be hard and tense, in which con- 

 dition food may be unable to pass out, and 

 the bird may die if not attended to. No fowl 

 gorges itself in this way at the time, but if fed 



irregularly and carelessly, so that it eats freely 

 of grain when very hungry, the dry grain swells 

 with the moisture, and so causes the mischief 

 The first measure is to dissolve a little Epsom 

 salts (not much) in warm water, and giving the 

 bird a spoonful at intervals, very gently to 

 knead the distended crop with the fingers. It 

 may take one or two hours, but generally the 

 contents can be moved and made softer with 

 patience. If this can be effected, give then 30 

 grains of salts in water, and leave the bird in a 

 pen. No further food should be given till the 

 organ is nearly empty, and then for several 

 days only a very little biscuit-meal, with a 

 little perchloride of iron in the water, in order 

 that the crop may contract ; else the case is likely 

 to be followed by the ailment described in the 

 next paragraph. If these measures fail, however, 

 an incision must be made, choosing a place near 

 the top free from any large blood vessels, and,, 

 after plucking a few feathers, making a cut 

 about \\ inches long. Through this the con- 

 tents must be all removed with a small teaspoon, 

 and when empty it is safest to pare the nail of 

 one finger very short, oil it, and feel that the 

 outlet is open and free, as in some cases a piece 

 of bone or other hard object may be found im- 

 pacted and so have caused obstruction. The 

 edges of the wound should then be washed with 

 dilute carbolic acid, and the edges sewn to- 

 gether. This is as well done by a white silk 

 thread which has been kept in the carbolic till 

 the time has come to use it, and continuously,. 

 like one seam, taking inner and outer skin 

 together ; but most professional doctors would 

 make several separate stitches through the inner 

 skin first, and then through the outer skin in the 

 spaces between the others. The wound will 

 heal up either way. The bird should have no- 

 water for 24 hours, and be fed sparingly for a 

 few days on biscuit meal or bread and milk, 

 not too moist. There is very seldom any 

 trouble if the operation is done in good time, 

 and it should never be delayed after it is once 

 clear that the crop cannot be evacuated by the 

 first milder measures; as the contents gradually 

 begin to putrefy, and the tissues lose their 

 healthy condition, after which healing may not 

 take place. In some cases, where a contributing 

 cause of the attack has been a crop already 

 over-distended from some previous occurrence, 

 the bottom of which hangs loose and pendulous, 

 so that this portion of the food cannot pass out- 

 wards, but lies there decomposing, a modification 

 of the operation is advisable. In this case a 

 longer incision should be made, transversely 

 across the front of the crop, and lower down, 

 about at the centre ; and a considerable piece of" 



