DISEASES OF POULTRY 



CHAPTER I 



General Considerations Regarding the Treatment of 

 Poultry Diseases 



There is general agreement on the part of authorities on 

 poultry pathology and practical poultrymen of long expe- 

 rience that, in general, "doctoring" poultry is not advisable. 

 The reasons for this attitude are primarily the following : 



1. The unit of production with poultry {i.e., the individual 

 bird) is of relatively small value, and if a man's time is worth 

 anything, it is too valuable to spend treating sick chickens 

 individually unless they are show specimens of great indi- 

 vidual value. 



2. The "cured" chicken is a menace to the owner, because 

 its identity is likely to be overlooked or forgotten, with the 

 result that it goes into the breeding pen and perpetuates 

 through its offspring the constitutional weakness which was 

 one fundamental factor in bringing about the result that it, 

 rather than some of its fellows, was ill. 



This point of view has been well stated by Wright ^ in the 

 following words : 



" In a large proportion of cases of disease, the birds ought to 

 die or be killed. Even where there is no constitutional taint, 

 the fact that they have succumbed to circumstances which 



1 Wright, L., " The New Book of Poultry." London (Cassell 

 & Company), 1905. 



B 1 



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