38 THE POULTRY DOCTOR. 



ailments are essentially quite different. The discharges 

 are copious, sometimes bloody, the feathers about the 

 anus befouled and the fowl out of condition, though not 

 so greatly prostrated as in cholera. " Scouring " is an- 

 other name for the trouble. All fowls are subject to 

 it. The cause is damp, cold weather; cold on the 

 stomach ; brooding in damp, cold stables ; feeding on 

 noxious berries or plants ; eating too many worms ; over- 

 feeding, also want of lime or gravel necessary to the 

 digestion of hens. Ipecac, is the chief remedy, a dozen 

 or more pellets, owing to number to be treated, in 

 water, or mixed, after being dissolved, with the food. 

 If directly traceable to bad food, remove the cause and 

 give Arsenicum. Chamomilla, also, has cured. Hens 

 sometimes have a whitish discharge which oozes out, 

 fouling their feathers ; for this, give Carbo veg. 



Among geese there is a disease known sometimes as 

 " white dysentery." The geese lose appetite, become 

 weak and breathe hurriedly ; the evacuations are very 

 soft and of a chalky color, and finally liquid. The 

 body or flesh assumes a bluish color and the bird then 

 dies. The disease runs its course in three or four days. 

 Bad food, filth, browsing in bogs and swamps, are the 

 general causes. With geese so afflicted it is best to 

 cage them up in a dry place on clean straw (keep it 



