POULTRY— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



26$. 



When the disease is brought on by a 

 diet of green or soft food, the diet must 

 be changed, and water given sparingly. 

 Five grains of powdered chalk, the same 

 quantity of rhubarb, and three of cayenne 

 pepper, may be administered ; and if the 

 relaxation is not speedily checked, a 

 grain of opium and one of powdered 

 ipecacuanha may be given ever" four or 

 six hours. 



Dr. Bennett recommends, wnen it 

 arises from undue acidity, chalk mixed 

 with meal ; but rice-flour boluses are most 

 to be depended upon." 



POULTRY, Feathers, Loss of.— This 

 disease, which is common to confined 

 fowls, is by no means to be confounded 

 with the natural process of moulting. In 

 the annual healthy moult, the fall of the 

 feathers is occasioned by the protrusion 

 of new feathers from the skin. In the 

 diseased state which we now consider, 

 where the feathers fall, no new ones come 

 to replace them, but the fowl is left bald 

 and naked. A sort of roughness appears 

 also on the skin. 



The loss of feathers and the wants of 

 poultry in confinement, are clearly shown 

 by a correspondent of the Boston Medical 

 Journal, in the following amusing sketch: 

 " A most pleasing illustration," says he, 

 " was the want of lime, and the effects of 

 its presence, which came under my notice 

 on my voyage from South America to 

 France. We had omitted to procure 

 gravel for our poultry, and in a few days 

 after we were at sea, the poultry began to 

 droop, and wound up their afflictions with 

 the pip, or, as the sailors term it, the 

 scurvy. Their feathers fell from their 

 bodies, and it was perfectly ludicrous to 

 see the numerous unfeathered tribe in the 

 most profound misery, moping away their 

 time in an utter state of nudity. Amusing 

 myself one day by fishing up gulf-weed, 

 which floated in immense fields upon the 

 surface of the ocean, I took from it num- 

 erous small crabs, about the size of a pea. 

 The poultry, with one accord, aroused 

 themselves from their torpor, and seem- 

 ingly, as if by instinct, aware of the 

 therapeutic qualities of these interesting 

 animals, partook of them with greater 

 avidity than any invalid ever swallowed 

 the ' waters of the springs.' After a few 

 hours, the excellence of the remedy was 

 apparent ; the cocks began to crow, the 



hens to strut and look saucy, and in a 

 few days all appeared in quite a holiday 

 suit of feathers, derived from the lime, 

 the constituent part of the crab-shells." 



Symptoms. — A falling off in appetite, 

 moping, and inactivity; the feathers star- 

 ing and falling off till tke naked skin 

 appears. 



Remedy. — This affection is supposed 

 by some to be constitutional rather than 

 local. External remedies, therefore, may 

 not always be sufficient. Stimulants, ap- 

 plied externally, may serve to assist the 

 operation of what medicine may be given. 

 Sulphur may be thus applied, mixed with 

 lard. Cayenne and sulphur, in the pro- 

 portion of one quarter each, mixed with 

 fresh butter, is good to be given inter- 

 nally, and will act as a powerful altera- 

 tive. The diet should be changed, and 

 cleanliness and fresh air are indispensable. 



POULTRY, Feathers, Eating; their.— 

 Eating each other's feathers is a habit 

 which fowls often contract, when confined 

 in yards, but is not, perhaps, fully under- 

 stood. " It is a morbid appetite," says a 

 writer in the Cultivator, " apparently in- 

 duced in the outset by the impatience of 

 the fowls under confinement." It is well 

 known that fowls are very fond of blood : 

 and when moulting, the new feathers are 

 what is generally called blood-shot; that 

 is, the ends of the quills, when quite 

 young, have a drop or so of blood, which 

 induces the fowls to pluck for the blood 

 contained in them ; and we knew it to be 

 kept up till some individuals of the flock, 

 who were made special victims, were al- 

 most entirely denuded of their feathers, 

 and sometimes have even had their en- 

 trails torn out. 



The best preventives are animal food, 

 such as bones (not burnt), oyster-shells, 

 charcoal, and fresh meat, with clean wa- 

 ter and clean apartments. Sometimes a 

 particular fowl shows a more inveterate 

 disposition to eat feathers than the rest 

 of the flock. It is best to kill or remove 

 such. 



In a letter read before the British As- 

 sociation, from M. Sace, of Neufchatel, 

 Switzerland, giving an account of some 

 experiments in the feeding of domestic 

 fowls, he informs us that some hens, fed 

 upon barley alone, would not lay well, 

 and that they tore of? each other's feath- 

 He then mixed with the barley some feafh- 



