POULTRY FOR PROFIT 195 



Air Puff 



Air blisters often show themselves in young 

 chicks. The skin puffs out and seems like a bladder 

 of wind. It comes on the abdomen, sides and under 

 the wings and neck. Prick the blisters with a needle 

 to let out the air. Add carbonate of iron, alternated 

 with granulated charcoal, daily in the food. The diet 

 should be oatmeal principally, with plenty of sharp 

 grit within reach. 



VICES 



Fowls sometimes contract annoying habits, which, 

 while they are often due to lack of exercise or proper 

 diet, do not affect the health. These are called vices. 



Feather Eating 



Feather eating among fowls is due to a lack of 

 animal food, to body lice or other vermin, or to con- 

 finement in small quarters where there is no oppor- 

 tunity for hunting and scratching. 



See first of all that the birds are free from lice, 

 and that their houses are not infested with mites. 

 Give them more meat, either in the form of green 

 cut bone or in a well-cooked mash, with vegetables, 

 green pepper pods and a little linseed meal. A little 

 sulphur in the mash in summer is good for them. 

 Give a teacup of sulphur once a week in the mash 

 for twenty-five hens. If possible, give free range. 

 Where this is not possible dig grain into the ground 

 for them to scratch out; hang up heads of cabbage 

 or other greens for them to peck at, and give plenty 

 of good, clean scratching litter. An ointment con- 

 sisting of a teaspoon of extract of aloes to a cup of 

 lard, the two being well mixed, rubbed on the feath- 

 ers around where the bird has been plucked, will 

 usually put an end to the trouble. 



