PO UL TR Y DISEASES A ND THEIR REMEDIES. 1121 



RECIPE FOR DOUGLASS MIXTURE. Dissolve one pound of cop- 

 peras in two gallons of soft water; then add one ounce of oil 

 of vitriol. Keep corked in a jug. Dose, one tea-spoonful to a 

 pint of drinking water. Concerning this " mixture," Ward's 

 " Poulterer's Guide " says : " This preparation, simple as it is, is 

 one of the best tonics for poultry known. It is alterative as 

 well as tonic, and possesses, besides, antiseptic properties which 

 make it a remedy as well as a tonic." 



Care. Since the utmost care and watchfulness on the part 

 of the poultry-keeper can not always prevent disease from gain- 

 ing a foothold in the poultry-yard, every one who keeps poultry 

 should know something of the diseases to which fowls and 

 chicks are most liable be able to recognize the symptoms and 

 decide what remedies to administer. A little timely knowledge 

 and a few cents' worth of medicine will often enable the poul- 

 try-keeper to save the life of a valuable fowl, and also prevent 

 the spread of disease among the rest of the flock. 



In preparing the following pages upon the treatment of 

 poultry diseases, I have aimed to give in a condensed form all 

 the information that will be of any practical use in the treat- 

 ment of sick fowls. The remedies prescribed are the best yet 

 discovered ; but the poultry-keeper should bear in mind that in 

 order to successfully combat any disease the cause which pro- 

 duced the disease must be first searched out and removed, and 

 that medicine will not often work the hoped-for cure unless the 

 fowls are treated in the very first stages of the disease. 



Lice. If lice on fowls do not actually cause disease they so 

 weaken the vitality that the fowls fall easy victims to the first 

 poultry disease that comes along; and quite frequently, when 

 fowls mope around and appear about half sick, an examination 

 will reveal the fact that lice are at the bottom of the mischief; 

 hence, whenever fowls are ill, lice should be the first thing 

 looked after, and, if found, a vigorous warfare of extermination 

 should be waged. 



For common chicken lice on adult fowls, and also for the 

 spider lice, or red mites, as they are generally called, there are 

 no better remedies than whitewash and sulphur smoke to kill 



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