PIGEON DISEASES AND REMEDIES 123 



is hard and uncertain as to results. Therefore, preventatives 

 are better than cures. 



The time to start remedies is at the first sign of a cold which 

 can be detected by wheezing or hard breathing. It is then time 

 to change the air circulation, look out for drafts, wet, damp 

 rooms or cold floors and remedy same. 



"GOING LIGHT" 



When birds are getting thin, they invariably are not receiving 

 a sufficient amount of good food, and birds that are especially 

 weak and thin can be best doctored by putting them in a place 

 by themselves, where they can get an extra amount of choice 

 grain, charcoal, grit, oyster shell, and plenty of fresh water. 



A dose of Epsom salts, used at the ratio of about one table- 

 spoonful to a gallon of water is a good remedy in case birds 

 are in a rundown condition. Epsom salts is also a good bowel 

 remedy if given not oftener than once a week. A small dose 

 will generally give the bird that will not eat an appetite, giving 

 them water with salts in, as described above. In order to get 

 birds to drink such water, however, it is generally necessary to 

 take all the water away from them in the afternoon and then 

 give them water with salts in the next morning. 



Birds often become sick or "under the weather" during the 

 moulting season. Hemp or sunflower seeds are good feather 

 producers, and a little fed along with the morning feed is a 

 good idea. I for one do not believe that there is such a disease 

 as going light. That some pigeons may get poor, run down and 

 become weak is not denied, for that is a fact, but that there is 

 a certain ailment known as "going light" is questionable. 



Pigeons are very healthy, and the percentage of deaths from 

 disease is extremely small as compared with chickens. 



If a person takes a bad cold, which runs into bronchial trouble, 

 asthma, or tuberculosis; or, for instance, has poor digestive 

 organs, we generally know the cause of the poor health and 

 call it by its proper name; whereas, if a pigeon suffers from any 

 of these troubles we say it is "going ligh.t" 



Bad or impure feed, dirty and impure water, damp lofts and 

 unsanitary conditions, will all be instrumental for a bird losing 

 its appetite, and as a result "go light." If a bird gets a sour 



