DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



197 



Symptoms. The most prominent symptoms 

 of roup are at first identical with those of se- 

 vere catarrh ; as difficult and noisy breathing, 

 a cough, a kind of rattling in the throat, begin- 

 ning with what is termed gapes. There is con- 

 siderable discharge from the nostrils of feted 

 matter, like the glanders in horses ; at first thin 

 and limpid, but soon loses its transparent char- 

 acter, becoming more or less opaque, and of a 

 very peculiar and offensive odor; froth ap- 

 pears in the inner corner of the eye ; the lids 

 swell, and in severe cases the eyeball is entirely 

 concealed ; the nostrils are closed by the dis- 

 charge drying around them, and the eyelids are 

 agglutinated together; the diseased secretion 

 accumulating within the sides of the face, fre- 

 quently swell to an extreme degree, and the 

 bird, unable to see or feed, suffers from great 

 depression, and sinks rapidly. 



As secondary symptoms, the appetite is all but 

 gone, except for drink; the crop feels hard to 

 the touch, and the feathers are staring, ruffled, 

 and without a healthy gloss. The fowl sits mop- 

 ing and wasting in corners, always apparently 

 in great pain. In this stage of the disease it is 

 supposed to be infectious ; and whether so or 

 not, it is certainly proper, for cleanliness' sake, 

 if nothing else, to separate the diseased from the 

 heal thy ones, to prevent the disorder from spread- 

 ing through the yard. 



As fowls habitually breathe through the nose, 

 the mouth being kept closed, it follows that 

 there is, even in the early stages, some difficulty 

 of breathing, and a distension of the loose skin 

 below the under-jaw may be often noticed. The 

 frothy matter appearing at the corner of the eye, 

 results from the same cause ; the air, stopped in 

 its passage through the nose, passes up the tear- 

 duct, and produces the appearance of bubbles. 



With respect to the communication of this 

 disease, our experiments prove that it is exceed- 

 ingly contagious. It is, we are inclined to think, 

 frequently communicated by fowls drinking out 

 of the same vessel, as the discharge from the 

 nostrils of the sick bird contaminates the water 

 as it drinks. 



Treatment. In general, we should say, kill a 

 roupy fowl at once, unless it is valuable, as the 

 risk of its contaminating the whole yard is 



great. At all events, let it be removed from 

 the yard at once. Combined with every remedy 

 cleanliness is indispensable, as the first, the last, 

 and the best, without which all others are vain, 

 and worse than vain, as they may be pernicious 

 by feeding, instead of starving, the disease. 



Warm, dry lodging, and nutritious food, are 

 the first essentials to recovery ; in addition, the 

 frequent removal of the dried discharge from 

 around the eyes and nose, by warm bathing the 

 nostrils with Castile soap-suds as often as neces- 

 sary, and the swollen eyes with warm milk and 

 water. In the way of internal medicine, we 

 find that nearly equal numbers recover under 

 various modes of treatment. We have tried 

 the following remedies, viz. : A pepper-corn in 

 a pill of dough the three following days, the pa- 

 tient being ranch chilled. Afterward, bathe the 

 swollen parts with camphorated spirits, or bran* 

 dy and water. 



" But facts are better than words," says Bos- 

 well, " and we have the following case from a 

 Middlesex farmer. A cock, about four or five 

 months old, apparently turned out by some one 

 to die, came astray, and was in the last stage of 

 roup. The discharge from his mouth and nos- 

 trils was very considerable, and extremely pun- 

 gent and fetid, while his eyes appeared to be af- 

 fected with inflammation, as bad as what sur- 

 geons term Egyptian ophthalmia. The roup, it 

 may be stated, was somewhat prevalent at the 

 time, and a very fine cock had perished in a 

 corner hard by, of cold and hunger, from not 

 being able to eat. The roupy cock was placed 

 by the fireside, his mouth and nostrils washed 

 with warm water and soap, which made him ex- 

 pectorate and sneeze off a quantity of the offens- 

 ive obstructing matter. His eyes were washed 

 with warm milk and water, and the head gently 

 rubbed with a dry cloth. As he could not see 

 to eat, he was put into a rabbit-hutch, with a 

 warm bed of hay to squat on. Some hours 

 afterward, his head was again washed, and as 

 there was much intermittent fever, though the 

 cold stage prevailed, a stimulant plan was adopt- 

 ed. Long pellets were formed of barley-meal, 

 flour, mustard, and grated ginger, with which he 

 was crammed several times a day, his head 

 bathed, and warmth attended to. He had milk- 



