35 



mites, etc.; use this freely. Whitewash iricay be used instead 

 of disinfectants, but it should not be allowed to stand more 

 than thirty-six hours after mixing, as it loses its disinfecting 

 powers very rapidly. Whitewash is not entirely satisfactory for 

 a small poultry house because it is very difficult to make a 

 whitewash that will not rub off freely, and the professional man 

 is continually soiling his clothes. Whitewash, if used, can be 

 spread with a brush or thinned and put on with a spray 

 pump. 



Colds and Roup. 



These two diseases are treated under the same head because 

 they are so much alike in the initial stages. At times the 

 poultryman will not know whether the hens are affected with 

 roup or merely colds. The symptoms are running at the nose, 

 coughing, sneezing, a rattle in the throat, and, after the initial 

 stage, inactivity and standing about with ruffled feathers. In 

 the latter stages of roup the head may be swollen and eye 

 bulged out; oftentimes an abscess forms below the eye. In the 

 worst stages of roup, that is, the diphtheritic type, yellow 

 patches are seen in the throat. This disease may appear any 

 time during the year, but is more prevalent in the fall and late 

 spring immediately foUow^ing the heavy laying season, which 

 evidently lowers the vitality of the birds and allows these germs 

 to get a foothold. The flock should be kept under close ob- 

 servation at all times, and all affected birds, as soon as detected, 

 placed in a coop or box until they have recovered. If they 

 grow worse the best treatment is to use an axe or hatchet and 

 burn or bury the carcass. By isolating, changing the drinking 

 water often, and keeping the utensils clean much can be done 

 to keep down this disease. Roup is probably one of the most 

 serious diseases with which poultrymen have to contend. It 

 seems almost impossible at times to eradicate it without dis- 

 posing of the entire flock, cleaning and disinfecting and starting 

 with new stock. Every year a large number of birds die of it, 

 and the egg production of others is lowered at times from 25 to 

 50 per cent; therefore any one keeping hens should not allow 

 this disease to get beyond his control. 



