999 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 75 



QUESTION W r hat causes leg weakness in young birds? 



ANSWER Improper heating of the brooder and too much bot- 

 tom heat will cause it. Birds that grow too fast are often tempora- 

 rily afflicted. Heavy feeding for forced growth will also pro- 

 duce it. 



QUESTION What is the cure for leg weakness? 



ANSWER The main point is to remove the cause. Feed plenty 

 of green food and such grains as rice and barley. Avoid condi- 

 ments and stimulating food. Give 10 grains of baking soda in a 

 pint of water. 



QUESTION What is the trouble with fowls when they become 

 lame from no apparent cause? 



ANSWER The trouble is generally of a rheumatic nature. 

 Fowls are very susceptible to rheumatism when exposed to cold and 

 dampness, and especially when these conditions prevail in addition 

 to filthy houses and poor ventilation. Give 25 grains of Epsom salts 

 and place 35 grains of baking soda in each quart of drinking water. 

 Give 2 grains of salicylic acid twice a clay and apply carbolated vase- 

 line or some good liniment to the affected joints. 



QUESTION What is the cause, prevention and cure of gapes ? 



ANSWER The best thing to do is to adopt preventive measures, 

 by confining all the affected chicks where they cannot mingle with the 

 remainder of the flock. This disease is scattered by the fowls com- 

 ing in contact with the worms that have been coughed up by the 

 afflicted chicks and that have found lodgment in feeding and drinking 

 vessels or on the ground itself. The primary cause is often the eat- 

 ing of angle worms, although in some localities these worms do not 

 affect the chicks. The runs and houses in which the chicks have 

 been confined should be well cleaned and disinfected with a 5 per 

 cent solution of carbolic acid. For treatment of the afflicted birds 

 take a feather strip off the web to within an inch of the end, and 

 moisten it well with oil of turpentine. Hold the chick firmly in the 

 hand, force the mouth open and when the wind-pipe is open for 

 breathing insert the feather, giving it a quick turn and removing it 

 promptly. Two or three applications of this will bring the chicks 

 around all right. A good internal treatment is two or three feeds 

 of garlic mixed with soft feed in a proportion of one good-sized 

 bulb of garlic to about ten chicks. Camphor in the form of pills is 

 also a good remedy, a dose being one-half to one grain twice a day. 



QUESTION How can a lopped comb be straightened? 

 ANSWER There is no remedy for it- 



