144 



MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



away from those that are sick or even 

 weakly. Keep them all free from 

 lice, dusting them occasionally with a 

 good lice powder or with tobacco 

 dust. If any have head lice, take 

 some nice warm suds, put a very few 

 drops of carbolic acid into the suds, 

 and with a tooth brush wet the 

 chick's head with it; this will kill the 

 louse and will loosen and brush away 

 the two silvery white nits which the 

 head louse lays at the roots of the 

 feathers. 



If you are following my rules fcr 

 feeding, giving plenty of clean water 

 and green food, and supplying shade 

 as well as sunshine, your fowls are 

 sure to do well. Being on a fresh 

 place, where there have never been 

 any fowls, is a very great advantage 

 to you, and I feel sure you will event- 

 ually succeed. Let me hear again 

 from you if I can help you. 



Catarrh Can you please tell me 

 what the trouble is when chickens 

 cough and their nose runs, also state 

 the best way to rid them of this 

 plague? Mrs. S. A. B. 



Answer Your chickens have taken 

 cold and may probably have lice. Try 

 to discover what is giving them their 

 severe colds. It is probably some 

 draught. Put a piece of bluestone in 

 their drinking water (the size of a 

 bean in a quart of water) and give 

 them a pill of the following: Mix two 

 tablespoons of lard, one each of mus- 

 tard, red pepper, vinegar; mix thor- 

 oughly, add sufficient flour and make a 

 stiff dough. Give a bolus of this as 

 big as the first joint of your little 

 finger every night. 



Crop-Bound I have about 100 Leg- 

 horns; been very healthy all winter; 

 laying good. Now about six weeks 

 ago I lost eleven of the heaviest ones 

 in six days. They had yellow drop- 

 pings; lived only two days and died. 

 Four others died after having a heavy 

 crop hanging down; they were ap- 

 parently healthy and laying eggs reg- 

 ularly; I cut the crops off three of 

 them and found nothing but long 

 strings of hay. Please oblige me by 

 telling me the cause and what reme- 

 dies. A. F. H. 



Answer Your hens are suffering 

 from what is called crop-bound. They 

 eat long pieces of hay, which form 



into a ball in the crop and cannot pass 

 through them. After a time this fer- 

 ments and decays and poisons the 

 chickens, or brings on inflammation of 

 the crop. When long pieces of grass 

 or hay cause this trouble, as in your 

 case, almost the only remedy is to cut 

 open the crop of the bird and wash it 

 out. Have someone hold the bird so 

 you can have both hands free to work. 

 Pluck enough feathers from the 

 breast to give bare skin half an inch 

 wide by two inches long. Then with 

 a sharp knife cut through the skin, 

 lengthwise of the bird, an opening 

 one inch long over the place of the 

 swollen crop. Cut only the skin, leav- 

 ing the crop untouched until the blood 

 of the first incision has ceased to 

 flow. Then cut through the crop a 

 little over a half inch long. Half an 

 inch may seem short, but you will be 

 surprised to see how large the open- 

 ing is after you have worked through 

 it for a while. In removing sub- 

 stances from, the crop, be careful to 

 let as little as possible slip between 

 the skin and crop; with a button-hook 

 or anything else handy, remove the 

 contents. If filled with grass or hay, 

 it is sometimes necessary to cut the 

 mass with scissors before any start 

 can be made. When the crop is ap- 

 parently empty, push your little fin- 

 ger into it, feeling to know whether 

 there is any obstruction at the outlet. 

 If you find the opening clear, the last 

 thing is to sew up the cut. With 

 needle and white silk thread, take two 

 single stitches in the cut in the crop, 

 then in the same way take three 

 stitches in the skin, tying off the silk 

 at each stitch. Be careful not to in- 

 clude the crop in the knot tied. After 

 the operation feed soft food, omit- 

 ting grain for a week. 



Sick Chicks I want your advice. 

 My little chicks seem to be pert and 

 healthy when they are first hatched 

 and all right until they are two weeks 

 old, and then they get all pasted up 

 in the back; don't eat, just drink and 

 are sleepy looking, droopy and die. I 

 have lost over a dozen that way and 

 have a lot more now that are in the 

 same condition. They have no lice 

 or mites, for I have examined them, 

 and I don't see how they take cold. 

 I have barrels for them to roost in, 

 with a screen in front to protect them 

 from cats or rats, so there is no 



