172 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 



The hen's comb has been called her "certificate of 

 health," so unerring a signal does it display as to her 

 physical condition. An acute disease like roup does 

 not, of course, immediately change the color of the 

 comb, but a bright red comb can usually be counted 

 on as an indication of vigorous health. Sometimes a 

 pale or shrunken comb merely indicates that the hen 

 is not laying, but a hen with such a comb should 

 always be watched. A pale comb, combined with 

 diminishing weight, "going light," suggests tuber- 

 culosis and should subject the fowl to careful investi- 

 gation, followed, in most cases, by speedy elimina- 

 tion. A dark comb means liver trouble, and the case 

 should be taken in hand before further symptoms 

 develop. When warty-looking excrescences appear 

 on the comb and about the head, chicken-pox may be 

 safely diagnosed. 



As soon as the first sign of illness is observed it is 

 a good plan to give a dose of castor oil or Epsom 

 salts and put the bird on free range where it can 

 pick at something green if it wishes to eat. Some 

 poultry men give their flocks Epsom salts in the wet 

 mash once every week or so to cleanse the system 

 and prevent liver trouble. Others give it regularly 

 for a while in the spring. 



COMMON DISEASES 



The following descriptions of symptoms and sug- 

 gestions for treatment are taken mainly from "Poul- 

 try Diseases and Their Treatment," by Dr. Raymond 

 Pearl of the Maine Station, which may be had for 25 

 cents by writing to the Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion, Orono, Maine; and from Bulletin 530 of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture by Dr. Salmon, 

 which will be sent free. Every keeper of poultry 



