DISEASES OF POULTRY. 251 



may readily discover it by placing a few grains of salt in the 

 oviduct, which hurries on the process of laying, and causes 

 the hen to retire to the spot anew. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



POULTRY, like other animals, are liable to numerous diseases, 

 some of them malignant, and many of them fatal. In our cli- 

 mate, however, the number of important disorders is small, and 

 they usually yield to judicious treatment. That little attention 

 has been bestowed on this subject, may arise from the fact that, 

 in an economical point of view, the value of an individual fowl 

 is comparatively insignificant ; and, while the ailments of 

 other domesticated animals generally claim a prompt and effi- 

 cient care, the unhappy inhabitants of the poultry-yard are too 

 often relieved of their sufferings in the most summary way. 

 But there are reasons which will justify a more careful regard 

 to this matter, besides the humanity of adding to the comfort 

 of these useful creatures ; and the attempt to cure, in cases of 

 disease, will often be rewarded by rendering their flesh more 

 palatable, and the eggs more wholesome. 



Most of the diseases to which poultry are subject are the 

 result of errors in diet or management, and should have been 

 prevented, or may be removed by a change, and adoption of a 

 suitable regimen. When an individual is attacked, it ought 

 to be forthwith removed, to prevent the contamination of the 

 rest of the flock. Nature, who proves a guardian to fowls in 

 health, will nurse them in their weakness, and act as a most 

 efficient physician to the sick. We can do no more than 



