POULTRY— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



259 



POULTEY, Catarrh— Symptoms.— The 

 symptoms of catarrh in fowls are identical 

 with those so familiar in the human sub- 

 ject — namely, a watery or sticky discharge 

 from the nostrils, and a slight swelling of 

 the eyelids ; in worse cases the face is 

 swollen at the sides, and the disease has 

 the appearance, or seems to run on to 

 true roup. 



Causes. — Exposure to cold and damp- 

 ness, such as a long continuance of cold 

 wet weather, or roosting in places which 

 are open to the north or west. 



Treatment. — In simple cases, removal 

 to a dry, warm situation, and a supply of 

 food rather more nutritious and stimulat- 

 ing than usual, soon effect a cure. We 

 have found a little mashed boiled potatoes, 

 well dusted with black pepper, very ad- 

 vantageous. In severe cases, the disease 

 so closely resembles roup, that it may be 

 treated in the same manner. 



POULTRY, Gapes. — Of all diseases, real 

 or presumed, to which our domestic fowls 

 are subjected, the most frequent is the 

 gapes, sometimes called pip. It is a very 

 common and troublesome disorder, and 

 often proves fatal. All domestic birds, 

 particularly young fowls, are peculiarly 

 liable to it, and generally in the hot 

 weather of July and August. By some it 

 is considered a catarrhal disease, similar 

 to the influenza in human beings, produc- 

 ing a thickened state of the membrane 

 lining the nostrils, mouth and tongue. 



Causes. — This disease is supposed to 

 be produced from filthy, sour diet, and 

 drinking from dirty puddle water, infected 

 with putrid, decaying substances, ill-venti- 

 lated fowl-house confinement, or a spot 

 of ground tenanted year after year by 

 fowls, without attention to cleanliness, to 

 renovation of the soil, etc. At the same 

 time, let it be borne in mind that the 

 M gapes" is an epidemic disease. 



The gapes is supposed by some to be 

 caused by a sort of internal worm infest- 

 ing the wind-pipe ; but though this may 

 have, in some instances, been observed, 

 it is by no means uniformly met with in 

 all the disorders accompanied with gaping. 

 Symptoms. — The name is sufficiently 

 expressive as to the symptoms of tnis dis- 

 ease ; gaping, coughing, and sneezing, 

 dullness, and inactivity, ruffled feathers, 

 and loss of appetite. 



On the dissection of chickens dying 



with this disease, it will be found that the 

 wind-pipe contains numerous small red 

 worms about the size of a small cambric 

 needle; on the first glance they would 

 likely be mistaken for blood-vessels. It 

 is supposed that these worms continue to 

 increase in size until the wind-pipe be- 

 comes completely filled up, and the 

 chicken suffocated. The disease first 

 shows itself when the chicken is between 

 three and four months old, and not gener- 

 ally after, by causing a sneezing or snuff- 

 ing through the nostrils, and a frequent 

 scratching of itself at the roots of the bill. 

 Treatment. — The plan formerly 

 adopted, of giving remedies internally to 

 remove the worms, is not a good one, as 

 the medicine has to be absorbed, pass into 

 the blood, and act powerfully upon the 

 body of the fowl, before its purpose can 

 J be accomplished; its direct application to 

 the worms is therefore preferable, This 

 is readily secured by stripping the vane 

 from a small quill feather, except half an 

 inch from its extremity ; this should then 

 be dipped in spirits of turpentine ; and, 

 the chicken being securely held by an 

 assistant, the feather so prepared is passed 

 neatly down through the small opening of 

 the wind-pipe, which is readily seen at the 

 base of the tongue, and giving it one or 

 two turns will generally bring up and de- 

 stroy the worms. The turpentine at once 

 kills the worms, and its application excites 

 a fit of coughing, during which those that 

 were left by the feather are expelled. This 

 mode of application requires some dex- 

 terity, and at times the irritation proves 

 fatal. We therefore suggest the shutting 

 up of the chicken in a box, with some 

 shavings dipped in spirits of turpentine, 

 when the vapor arising from the extended 

 surface produces, in most cases, an equally 

 beneficial result. Creosote, used in the 

 same manner, has been found most extra- 

 ordinarily efficacious. 



Prevention. — We know a person, a 

 very large breeder of fowls, who always 

 gives his chickens, at six weeks old, wheat 

 steeped in turpentine. This is given them 

 once in the morning, when fasting, and 

 as a preventive against, instead of waiting 

 for the arrival of, the gapes. Let their 

 first food be coarse corn meal, almost dry ; 

 then give cracked corn. As soon as they 

 can swallow whole grains, let them have 

 them unbroken. All poultry-yards, o£ 



