999 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 



QUESTION What is the trouble with a fowl when its comb turns 

 very dark for a day or two and then assumes its normal color again ? 



ANSWER Indigestion or other ailment which causes a sluggish 

 movement of the blood. 



QUESTION Does it pay to doctor sick fowls? 

 ANSWER Not unless the bird is an extremely valuable one and 

 the keeper has the time and inclination to treat it. 



QUESTION What causes the skin of chicks to puff up in places 

 and fill with air, and how should the trouble be treated? 



ANSWER The exact cause has never been discovered, or at 

 least a satisfactory explanation has never been given. Air accu- 

 mulates under the skin and at times will produce a "wind tumor" 

 the size of a small walnut. The remedy is to prick the skin with 

 a pin and allow the air to escape. If it again accumulates, cut out 

 a small diamond-shaped piece of the skin with a pair of sharp scis- 

 sors and annoint it with vaseline. 



QUESTION What causes diarrhoea in young chicks? The dis- 

 charge is thin and white, the down on the posterior portion of the 

 body becomes matted and the vent clogged. The chick stands drawn 

 in and will occasionally waver and start convulsively in an effort 

 to evacuate the bowels. The efforts are apparently painful and are 

 sometimes accompanied by a cry. They refuse to eat and they die 

 in a short time. 



ANSWER A fatal diarrhoea such as described may be caused 

 by different things. Lice are responsible for perhaps a majority of 

 cases. Some of the other causes are the feeding of pepper and condi- 

 ments, condition powders and other improper food, wet, raw and 

 sloppy food and mashes, feeding too soon, a lack of grit, confinement 

 in close quarters where the air is foul and vitiated, eating food 

 which has been thrown down in their own filth, a chill resulting 

 from exposure to cold or a too low temperature in the brooder, and in 

 improper incubation before they are hatched. The remedy is to first 

 find the cause and remove it if possible. Place the chicks in a good 

 warm brooder and feed them properly. Some good remedies for 

 checking diarrhoea are as follows : Boiled rice upon which has been 

 sprinkled a little cinnamon, lime water to drink, boiled milk, and 

 dry bran. Medicinal remedies are a half teaspoonful of tannic acid 

 in a tablespoonful of powdered charcoal and mixed with sufficient 

 soft food for about 30 chicks, dried cracker or bread crumbs upon 

 which has been sprinkled a little powdered chalk, a teaspoonful of 

 tincture of iron in a quart of drinking water, one-eighth grain of 

 powdered opium and two grains of subnitrate of bismuth every four 

 hours in the most severe cases. 



