174 l-on.TKV DISKASKS AND TIIIIIK TUi;aT.M K.NT. 



.sioii, ami i)ciluii)> a \xr\- liad rupture results. cndiiiL;' in the 

 course of a few clays fatally."' 



"I don't think it ])r< ifitahk' to attempt ti • tre;it such cases. 

 Some cures may he effected, hut it is not always easy to check 

 lavinu^ without staixini; the hen. ami e\eu tliat treatment may 

 not operate (|nit-kly enough to a\oiil a liad ru]>tiu"e. Kvery egg 

 passed while the vent .and adjacent parts of the passage are not 

 in normal condition is a possihle cause of fatal trouhle." 



"The hest way to treat this troul)le is to prevent it hy selecting 

 medium sized eggs for hatching. Select hreeders of good size; 

 select good hut not excessively large eggs from these ; use males 

 from stock of the same characteristics, and avoid the use of 

 males (and of hens too) that are narrow hodied." 



Canciycnc of Oi'idiict. 



This may result from severe and complicated ohstruction. 

 What is meant hy "gangrene" is that the walls of the oviduct 

 die, and putrefy. This causes general hlood poisoning from 

 which the hird dies. Gangrene of the oviduct most frequently 

 follows severe cases of complicated obstruction where there is 

 a mass of fibrous exudate deposited in the oviduct. There is 

 ncjt the slightest hope of successfully treating such cases. 



Breaking of Bgg in Oviduct. 



It sometimes ha])])ens tliat an Qgg in llie u])i)er jxn-tion of the 

 oviduct, before it has ac(|uired any shell, is by accident broken. 

 There is a belief common amongst poultrymcn that this is al- 

 ways immediately fatal. There is hut little discussion of the 

 subject in the literature but our experience here indicates that 

 two sorts of results may follow the breaking of an Qgg in the 

 oviduct. These are : 



1. An inllammatory ccjndition of the oviduct is induced lead- 

 ing to copious secretion from the glands of the albumen portion 

 of the duct and tlie isthmus. Tlure is also a copious fibrous ex- 

 udate, and the final outcome is a severe ca.se of complicated ob- 

 struction of the oviduct. Death in these cases may be delayed 

 for a long time after the original accident. Tn the absence of 

 inflammation recovery may possibly occur. 



2. Death within a short time (2 to 3 hours) after the break- 

 ing of the Qgg, without visible lesion of any organ of the body. 

 The oviduct is not even inflamed. Absolutely the only things 



