FARM ANIMALS 333 



dealing with poultry on a large scale however it is 

 necessary to exercise the greatest care to prevent 

 the outbreak of poultry diseases, since when once 

 an infectious disease is started it is an exceedingly 

 tedious matter to try to save the sick birds. 



One of the most dreaded of poultry diseases 

 is fowl cholera. This makes itself known by its 

 rapid spread and by the loss of flesh and emaciation 

 of the fowls accompanied by diarrhea and other 

 digestive disturbances as well as high fever and 

 great stupidity of infected fowls. The disease 

 may be readily suspected from its rapid spread 

 among a flock of fowls. There is no practical use 

 in attempting to treat fowl cholera. The only 

 thing that can be done is to stop its spread. All 

 affected birds should be killed at once and burned 

 or buried and the premises must be thoroughly 

 disinfected with a two per cent, solution of chloride 

 of lime, whitewash, a one per cent, solution of 

 carbolic acid, a strong solution of blue vitriol, 

 or some other convenient antiseptic. Uninfected 

 fowls may be protected to some extent by the 

 removal of the affected fowls and by adding to 

 their drinking water corrosive sublimate so as to 

 make a solution of about one in two or three 

 thousand. 



Roup, or as it is sometimes known, chicken 

 diphtheria, is a highly contagious disease which 

 affects the membranes of the throat, nose and eyes 

 and may extend farther down into the lungs and 

 breathing passages. Roup may be recognized by 

 the thick yellow material which commonly forms 

 in the throat and nostrils and may also cover up the 

 eyes and render the fowls entirely blind. This 

 material sometimes accumulates in large quantities 

 under the eyelid. If fowls are untreated they may 



