198 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



warm water, sweetened with molasses, to drink, 

 for the purpose of counteracting the too heat- 

 ing qualities of the stimulants. The fireside 

 always seemed to invigorate him ; yet he still 

 breathed with difficulty, and gaped, and had a rat- 

 tle in his throat. In three days, the stimulants, 

 warmth, and cleanliness, improved him so much, 

 that he began to see a little, and in a week his 

 sight was nearly perfect. A little mustard was 

 still given him in his water, and then some flour 

 of sulphur. He had also a pinch of calomel in 

 some dough. He was gradually brought so as 

 season him to the cold, and, in a month, was in 

 high health and spirits. Having moulted late, 

 he caught a cold on the first frost, and suffered 

 a relapse, having cough, gaping, ruffled feathers, 

 and aguish shaking; warm lodging, and occa- 

 sionally a lounge by the fireside, proved a speedy 

 remedy without medicine." 



Dr. Bennett, in his " Poultry Book," remarks, 

 " But for roup and all putrid affections, I con- 

 fidently prescribe the following, and consider it 

 the only true treament : Take finely pulverized, 

 fresh-burnt charcoal, and new yeast, of each three 

 parts; pulverized sulphur, two parts ; flour, one 

 part ; water, quantity sufficient ; mix well, and 

 make into boluses of the size of a hazel-nut, and 

 give one three times a day. Cleanliness is no less 

 necessary than warmth, and it will sometimes 

 be desirable to bathe the eyes and nostrils with 

 warm milk and water, or suds, as convenient." 



Mr. Giles, who is excellent authority, having 

 had more than thirty years' experience with 

 fowls, and -being the owner of an extensive col- 

 lection of fowls, says, " As soon as discovered, 

 if in warm weather, remove the infected ones 

 to some well-ventilated apartment, or yard ; if 

 in winter, to some warm place; then give a 

 dessert-spoonful of castor-oil ; wash their heads 

 with warm Castile soap-suds, and let them re- 

 main until the next morning, fasting. Scald for 

 them Indian meal, adding two and a half ounces 

 of Epsom salts for ten hens, or in proportion 

 for a less or larger number ; give it warm, and 

 repeat the dose in a day or two, if they do not 

 recover." 



CONSUMPTION. 



Notwithstanding their warm covering of 



feathers, from their peculiar structure, fowls 

 are exceedingly liable to cold and other ca- 

 tarrhal diseases, exhibiting themselves in the 

 symptoms of hoarseness, snorting, and sneez- 

 ing. It must be considered, also, that fowls are 

 originally natives of a tropical climate; and 

 though long naturalized, they still retain so 

 much of their original habit as to influence 

 them in this respect. Very wet or very dry 

 weather, or extremes of cold or of heat, are 

 equally fatal ; whereas, when the weather is 

 genial and equal, fowls always thrive best. The 

 old poultry, in the mean while, frequently bear 

 all changes of weather, without showing any 

 symptoms of roup. 



Symptoms. Consumption, which is caused 

 by the presence of scrofulous tubercles in the 

 lungs, may almost always be induced in chick- 

 ens by confining them in cold, dark, unhealthy 

 places ; we have also found tubercles in other 

 organs of the body. The symptoms of con- 

 sumption are not strongly marked in the early 

 stages; in the more advanced state there is 

 wasting, cough, and expectoration of matter. 

 They are also affected, more or less, by the cir- 

 cumstances in which they are placed, spending 

 a large portion of their existence in coops and 

 under shelter, so that they are more liable to be 

 affected by exposure. 



Treatment. It is fortunate that consumption 

 can always be prevented by wholesome, abund- 

 ant diet, and good housing, for in advanced 

 stages it is quite incurable ; when it is suspect- 

 ed to be commencing, cod-liver oil may be 

 given, mixed with barley-meal ; but as the dis- 

 ease is hereditary, a fowl so preserved would be 

 worse than useless as a stock-bird. Tempera- 

 ture is the dominant principle, to which atten- 

 tion ought to be paid. 



CROP-BOUND. 



Symptoms. The crop, or membraneous dila- 

 tation of the gullet, whose office it is to receive 

 food as it is swallowed, and to retain it until 

 sufficiently softened by maceration, is sometimes 

 so overcharged, that it is unable to expel its con- 

 tents into the stomach. From the emptiness of 

 the latter organ, the bird feels hungry, and by 

 continuing to eat, adds to the mischief, until at 



