32 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICDLTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ July H, 1867. 



great mortality among his chickens. The same gentleman also 

 speaks of my chickens doing well in Cheshire. I can easily 

 imagine the improvement which would (I think naturally), 

 takeplace in breeding on a limestone earth, and more especially 

 with birds that liave been bred in-and-in, and not in the 

 neighbourhood of such material. I have noticed that the most 

 healthy Game chickens that I have seen this season are those 

 which have had the run of a garden, or on any soil away from 

 grass. I have several friends near me who have not had a 

 single loss from disease whose birds have been thus raised, and 

 those who have had them on grass runs I find have invariably 

 failed. — Nottinghamshire. 



We made once a small hen-house, and lighted it by plaoij^ 

 some of the roof boards, which went up and down, 10 inches 

 apart, and fastening S by 10 glass between them, slipping the 

 glass into the grooves in the boards, which were common floor- 

 ing. The panes lapped about half an inch, were fastened by 

 tacks, -and little water came through. Windows in a fowl- 

 bouse must be protected by slats or by wire. The use of 

 plaster on the sloping floor under the roosts is very well — 

 nothing can be better ; but fine, dry road dust, swept up on a 

 hot day, is as good. — (American AgricuUuriat.) 



A GOOD AND CHEAP HEN-HOUSE. 



The house is 10 feet wide and 12 feet long ; a passage-way, 

 ■1 feet wide, passes along the south side, in which are windows ; 

 this is formed by a partition, 3 feet high (see fitj. 1), which ex- 

 tends from near the door to the rear, and supports the lower 

 side of a sloping floor, which rises to the eaves on the north 

 side. Above this sloping floor the roosts are fixed, and the 

 droppings of the birds fall upon the floor, which being sprinkled 

 with plaster they roll down, or are easily scraped off. There ! 

 is a ledge at the front edge, which prevents their going to the 

 floor. Under this sloping floor the space is divided by a par- 

 tition, making a nest-room about 6 feet square, and a sitting- 

 room 6 feet by 5, which is also used for a store-room for grain, 

 eggs, &c. This sitting-room is entered by another door, and 

 lighted by a pane in the gable end. The nest-boxes shove 

 through the partition into the sitting-room, but there is no 

 access for the fowls except when sitting. At these times hens < 



Fig. 2. 



(t, a, doors. 6, 6, windows, r, nest-boxes. 



are moved, if they happen to be in boxes against the side 

 building, and made to occupy those in the partition. The 

 back endof the four-feet passage-way (see plan, firj. 2), is used 

 as a feeding floor, and here stands the water fouiitain. 



DROPSIC.VL TUMOURS IN A SPANISH HEN. 



I HAVE just lost a valuable hen with, to me, a somewhat 

 uncommon and singular disease of the ovaries. I am not quite 

 certain " dropsical tumour" is the right term; it certainly is 

 very applicable, and nearer the mark than anylhing else I can 

 think uf. I shall be extremely obliged for information from 

 any person who has met with a similar case, with the mode of 

 treatment if a cure has been etiected, and as to whether Spanish 

 fowls are more particularly subject to it than other kinds. 



About a month ago I noticed that one of my young hens 

 increased considerably in bulk from day to day. As she was just 

 recovering feather after a protracted moult, I thought it might 

 be occasioned by derangement of the system or a stoppage; so 

 I gave her a teaspoonful of castor oil, penned her in a warm 

 coop, and fed her on good soft food for a couple of days, but 

 finding she increased in size rather than diminished, I thought 

 it time to examine thoroughly. I found the whole of the 

 abdomen without feathers, the skin very dry, hot, and feverish, 

 and on the point of cracking in several places from over-tension. 

 A large lump which appeared to be considerably larger than an 

 egg could be felt just below the vent, the remainder of the 

 bird seemed to be in perfect health — the new feathers on the 

 back and wings well laid and glossy, eye bright and sparkling, 

 comb a bright red, and the general appearance of the head that 

 of a fowl in full laying condition. For three or four weeks her 

 appetite had increased, and she now ate as much as any three 

 fowls. 



After consulting with a friend we decided to open the abdomen 

 and extract whatever we might find. Applying a sponge with 

 chloroform to the nostril, she soon ceased struggling, laid her 

 head quietly on the table, and went off into a sound little nap. 

 With a sharp penknife an incision of about 2 inches longwas 

 made just above the vent, the bird being on her back, simply 

 dividing the skin ; upon inserting the finger a globular body 

 ' could be felt, about the size and shape of an egg, but ;\ielding 

 to the pressure of the finger. Piercing it with the point of the 

 knife a quantity of yellowish fluid ran out ; this being emptied, 

 a second one piresented itself and was served in the same way, 

 and two more could be distinctly felt, but as the bird was begin- 

 ning to move we decided not to do any more for the time, but, 

 sewing up the hole, she was replaced in the coop, perfectly 

 recovered herself in a few minutes, and began to eat as usual, 

 seemingly none the wor?e for the operation. 



These tumours were the full size of an egg, contained nothing 

 but a yellowish water, coming away freely when empty, round 

 like an India-rubber ball, and like it regaining their shape after 

 pressure. 



I fed the bird well for another week, but finding that she 

 increased in bulk rather than diminished, her hinder part 

 dragging as she walked or waddled, I thought killing would be 

 the most merciful action, and then dissecting to find the cause 

 of the disease. With an extra strong dose of chloroform, held 

 to the nostril imtil she ceased to breathe, this was quietly done 

 in a minute, and, when quite cold she was laid open from the 

 beginning of the breast-bone to the rump. I took out five 

 tumours the size of a Duck's egg, and then found scarcely any- 

 thing left ; everything seemed to have diminished in quantity 

 as these water-eggs increased, no disease was apparent save 

 this of the ovaries, the flesh evidently wasting away in spite of 

 the enormous appetite the bird had had. The five water-eggs 

 would have about filled a quart mug. The question is. Would 

 these eggs have passed as ordinary eggs, or would they have 

 burst inside ? If not the fowl herself must have burst, as she 

 was very nearly doing when killed. 



Operations of this and any kind are always better and more 

 easily performed when the sufferer is under the influence of 

 chloroform, or some other stnpifying vapour, otherwise it be- 

 comes an act of unnecessary cruelty. 



I would just remark, in conclusion, that the hen was hatched 



