POULTRY. 273 



selected for the purpose, as they yield the greatest weight to the poul- 

 terer ; and if employed in hatching, cover the greatest number of eggs. 



DISEASES OF FOWLS. — Fowls and poultry in general are subject to 

 various diseases ; as, apoplexy^ diarrhoea, rheumatism, the 2yip or thrush, 

 the croup (often termed roup), the gapes, inflammation of the tail gland 

 (also called the roup, though the term is improperly applied), and other 

 diseases which are not understood. Great difficulties attend the treat- 

 ment of poultry diseases. Who attends to them ? what complaint do 

 they make ? and when they die, how few persons acquainted with the 

 symptoms before death nis^Q post-mortem examinations, and then refer 

 those symptoms to the morbid appearances which his scalpel reVeals ? 

 The following are the chief active disorders among them ; apoplexy, 

 evidenced by inflammation of the membranes of the brain, or by effu- 

 sion of blood within or upon it ; peritoneal inflammation, rapidly fatal ; 

 inflammation of the lungs, including the bronchial tubes; tracheal in- 

 flammation (ov gapes) with parasitic worms in the windpipe; inflamma- 

 tion of the mucous membrane of the intestines, evidenced by previous 

 dysentery ; and inflammation or intumescence of the rump gland, symp- 

 tomatic of a febrile condition. But what can be said as to the treat- 

 ment of poultry under disease? Very little. To speak the truth, 

 neither are their diseases well understood, nor is the treatment of them 

 generally successful, A few observations on particular complaints may, 

 however, be useful. 



Apoplexy makes its attack in most instances without the slightest pre- 

 vious warning. Could it be known tliat a bird was in danger of an 

 attack, means might perhaps be taken to insure safety. Aviary birds, 

 in the finest health apparently, will drop dead from their perch from 

 this cause. They are often over-fed ; they have not to exercise them- 

 selves in the task of seeking for food; they have an allowance in un- 

 limited measure, but have no according measure of muscular exertion ; 

 they " do not earn their bread before they eat it," as wild birds do. 

 '■^ Experientia docetP The best advice to give, as to the means oi pre- 

 vention, is to feed birds a little in proportion to the exercise which they 

 have the power to take. 



The Pip, or Thrush, may be regarded as a token of derangement of the 

 mucous membrane of the alimentary canal generally, and not as a local 

 disease ; it is symptomatic. Its cure will be effected by low diet; that 

 is (in the case of fowls), by an allowance of fresh vegetable food, mixed 

 with potatoes and a little oatmeal, granting at the same time a plentiful 

 supply of pure water. Give of castor oil a teaspoonful, or thereabouts, 

 according to age and strength. Do not scrape the tongue, nor use 

 rough modes of cleaning it, but apply a little borax, dissolved in tinc- 

 ture of myrrh and water, by means of a camel-hair pencil, two or three 

 times a day. The symptoms oi pip consist in a thickening of the mem- 

 brane lining the tongue and palate, which causes an obstruction of the 

 free inspiration, and makes the poor sufferer gasp for breath ; the plu- 

 mage becomes ruffled, the bird mopes and pines, the appetite fails, and 

 is at last utterly extinguished, the bird at length dying, worn out by 

 fever and starvation. 



Gapes (Inflammation of the Trachea) is a very fatal disease, to which all 

 12* 



