CHAPTER XI. 



DISEASES, THEIR PREVENTION AND CURE. 



It seldom pays to doctor a fowl which has been seriously sick for 

 any length of time, for if you should be successful in curing the disease 

 it would not be safe to use the bird in your breeding pen. It is much 

 more important that the beginner in the poultry business know how 

 to prevent diseases than how to treat and cure them. In a large ma- 

 jority of cases, disease can be prevented by good care and manage- 

 ment in the exercise of ordinary common sense. Should the birds 

 become diseased, examine your method of management, your prem- 

 ises, your houses, your feed, etc., and remove the cause. Clean up 

 the premises, whitewash and disinfect the houses and yards, and 

 scald the drinking vessels. In case your birds become seriously sick, 



A diseased chicken. Once strong and vigorous, but because of neglect, is now covered 

 with lice and mites, and is nothing but a mass of feathers, skin and bone. 



unless it is a very valuable bird, the best remedy is to crack its neck 

 and burn the carcass. There is one rule which should be adopted by 

 every farmer and poultryman, and that is, never allow a bird to die 

 on your premises. Kill it and burn the carcass before it reaches that 

 stage. 



SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DISEASE. 



It is a mistake to try to keep too many chickens in one flock or 

 in a small house. It don't pay to crowd them, young or old. Damp- 

 ness and drafts must not be permitted in a poultry house. Never 

 allow your birds to eat decaying meats or diseased animals which 

 have died on the farm. Filthy drinking vessels are the cause of 

 many serious ailments in the poultry yard. They should be scalded 

 every few days. The fight must be constant against vermin, don't 

 let lice and mites get a start. Fowls which have once had a severe 

 sickness should have no place in the breeding pen, even though the 



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