POULTRY DISEASES AND THEIR REMEDIES 127 



110 degrees, and the most humane thing to be done is to kill and bury 

 the bird at once, as a cure is impossible. 



Dropsy. This is more an indication of other diseases than a dis- 

 ease of itself. Anemic fowls or those in dirty quarters sometimes 

 develop dropsy. There is a watery gathering between the tissues. 

 The fowl has a fatty, baggy appearance, but on being picked up you 

 find it poor and thin with this collection of water instead of fat. 

 Tonics, such as nux vomica, a teaspoonful to a quart of water, or 

 arsenate of iron, one grain to a quart of water, will be helpful, or 

 homeopathic pellets of arsenicum. But the conditions must be im- 

 proved, cleanliness and good nourishing food will work a cure. 



Break Down. This condition and dropsy are often mistaken one 

 for the other, though quite different. Break down is a baggy condi- 

 tion of the abdomen caused by fat. Hens fed on a corn diet and al- 

 lowed to get too fat will break down. It rarely happens with pullets 

 of any breed and only hens that are inclined to lay on fat are afflicted. 

 When hens get in that condition, there is no use wasting time trying 

 to reduce the fat; it pays better to market them. 



Vent Gleet. When this condition arises there has been some ex- 

 citing cause, such as a broken egg or egg 4>ound will sometimes bring 

 on the inflammation. It usually begins with redness and a swelling 

 around the vent, followed by a white milky discharge. If the hen can 

 be caught and removed from the yard at this stage it will confine the 

 trouble to the one case. It always begins with a hen, unless a new 

 male has been brought from where the trouble existed, because it is 

 spread by copulation. 



Remove the hen, and if it has gone long enough for crusts to form 

 on the vent, the male bird too, while the rest of the hens must be care- 

 fully watched. 



Treatment. Prepare a warm bath and have a can filled with a 

 solution of boracic acid and warm water. Inject this into the vent 

 and wash well all around with a soft cloth or sponge. Anoint the vent 

 with an ointment made by mixing sugar of lead and lard together. 

 The bath and boracic acid treatment must be renewed until the birds 

 are well. Cooling food, such as grass, roots and grain, must be fed; 

 no meat or exciting food while the birds are under treatment. And 

 the operator must keep his hands from his eyes or any susceptible 

 place until they are disinfected. 



Leg Weakness. Rheumatism. Cramps and Bumble Foot. Leg 



weakness attacks birds that are inbred too much, but more often is 

 the result of acquiring more fat than the legs can carry. The first 

 thing to do is to reduce the feed, make the birds exercise more and 

 give more bone in the diet. Bow legs are also the result of a too 

 heavy body for the legs to support. These things only attack young 



