6i6 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



toes with tincture of iodine. As a general rule, 

 rheumatism is an indication for less meat and 

 more green food, for the last anyhow. 



Roup, Catarrhal. — This differs from a mere 

 cold in being markedly contagious, and of course 

 introduced by contagion, though fowls crowded 

 into ill-ventilated houses contract it when others 

 do not, and in airy runs and houses the stronger 

 birds often escape when others do not. It 

 begins as catarrh or cold, and will have been 

 treated as such [q.v.) unless circumstances lead 

 to a belief from the first that the more serious 

 complaint has been introduced. The catarrh 

 resists simple treatment, soon becomes more 

 sticky, and acquires a bad smell, also increasing 

 from the eyes, which often become swollen or 

 closed, and with very obvious fever. Later the 

 discharge may become almost cheesy, and accu- 

 mulate in nostrils, eyes, and even throat, but 

 does not form a membrane in the latter as in 

 diphtheria. The disease assumes many phases 

 and forms, and in consequence there are many 

 widely difterent advertised remedies, of which it 

 may be said that every one can chronicle both 

 marked successes and dismal failures, according 

 as it happens to "hit" the special type or stage 

 for which it is adapted. The best general treat- 

 ment is, as soon as thickening and smell of the 

 discharge make the case clear, to make a mixture 

 of peroxide of hydrogen and water in equal 

 parts, with which spray (with an atomiser) or 

 syringe ©r swab the throat, nostrils, and eyes, 

 squeezing matter out first, several times a day. 

 Internally give first half a teaspoonful of Epsom 

 salts, and then the following pills : — 



Balsam copaiba 

 Liquorice in powder 

 Piperine 



I oz. 



4 drachms. 



I drachm. 



With sufficient magnesia to make a mass. 

 Make above into sixty pills, giving one morning 

 and evening. The following may be kept as an 

 alternative ; there are cases in which each is 

 best : — 



Copper sulphate 

 Cayenne 

 Hydrastin 

 Copaiba 



.. 30 grains. 



I drachm. 

 .. 30 grains. 

 .. 4 drachms. 



Add magnesia q.s., and make sixty pills, to be 

 given as before. Both these prescriptions have 

 been well tested. We need scarcely insist upon 

 the importance of isolation and of thorough 

 disinfection of houses and runs with carbolic 

 acid and unslaked lime ; and convalescents should 

 be cleansed with either the hydrogen peroxide 

 or permanganate of potash solution up to the 

 very last, transferred to a clean pen from the 

 hospital for a few days before return, and only 



turned out on a genial day. While birds can be 

 thus successfully treated, however, this is a 

 disease which, when it has been fully developed, 

 should in our opinion discard them from the 

 breeding pen. When cases apparently at first 

 of roup develop white or yellowish raised growths 

 upon the throat or inside the mouth, the disease 

 is shown to be diphtheria {q.v.). 



Scaly Leg. — -This is the well-known name 

 for an unsightly coating of whitish scurf on the 

 shanks of fowls, sometimes so thick as to form 

 masses a quarter of an inch deep. In very severe 

 cases left untreated, the joints sometimes become 

 affected, the toes may drop off, and the bird die 

 from the drain upon the system. It is most 

 common in feather-legged Asiatics, in Cochins 

 and Silkies most of all, but not confined to these 

 This disgusting disease is now known to be due 

 to an itch-mite {Sarcoptes mutans), and is there- 

 fore very contagious, being often propagated 

 from a hen to her brood, but more commonly 

 from bird to bird. For this reason perches and 

 houses where it occurs should be well treated 

 with carbolic lime-wash, as well as dressing the 

 fowls, which can be cured if taken in reasonable 

 time. While cases are still mild it is sufficient 

 to give a good scrubbing twice a week with soap 

 and water, applying every night dilute sulphur 

 ointment, or any of the special ointments sold 

 by poultry medicine vendors, or a mixture of 

 one part petroleum oil and three parts olive 01 

 colza oil. In severe cases, where the scurf is 

 very thick, it is quicker to remove the raised and 

 loosened scales under which the insects burrow 

 This can be effected by applying with a brush a 

 thick dressing of soft soap, leaving this on fot 

 a night, and then standing the bird in hot water 

 and well scrubbing, rubbing, and pulling off the 

 scales, which will generally come pretty easily, 

 after which the shanks are dried and treated as 

 before ; but a bird should never be allowed to 

 reach a state to need this. Another excellent 

 after-application for such cases, and indeed for all 

 cases, is compounded by mixing half a pint of 

 petroleum oil, a pint of water, and half a pound 

 of soft soap, and simmering together on a hot 

 stove, taking care, of course, not to ignite the 

 petroleum. When cold this is bottled, and 

 applied with a stiff brush after shaking. Twice 

 a day of this mixture for a week, and once a day 

 for another week, is usually sufficient for a cure. 

 An anointing with this before moult, or with the 

 petroleum and oil, is very useful as a preventive 

 where there is any reason to fear this disease. 



Skin Diseases. — Poultry are subject to 

 various forms of these, but not very commonly, 

 owing partly to the absence of sweat-glands 

 already referred to ; and they are not easily 



