75 



the mercury was at 70 degrees, and then sleep in a room where 

 it fell below zero. Such extremes would affect the hardiest 

 constitution. Colds would not be nearly so common if poultry 

 keepers would open the windows in their houses every day in 

 winter when the sun shines, and keep them open from 11 

 o'clock in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. 



The symptoms of a cold are sneezing, bubbling at the nose, 

 watery eye and perhaps diarrhoea. Colds generally cure them- 

 selves without any especial treatment, but there is always a 

 possibility that colds if neglected may run into something 

 serious. Ten drops of aconite in two quarts of drinking water 

 is a simple and good remedy when administered in season. 

 For mature birds a one-grain quinine pill or one Laxative 

 Bromo Quinine Tablet, given each night for two or three 

 nights, will generally do the business. The tablet should be 

 greased, so that it will slip down easily. Here is a home-made 

 pill that is effective : Take equal parts cayenne pepper, sul- 

 phate of quinine and sulphate of iron mix together with ex- 

 tract gentian ; mould into pellets about the size of a pea, and 

 give one every 24 hours. (This is not a bad remedy for human 

 beings, doubling or trebling the dose.) Bronchitis is a bad 

 cold accompanied by coughing or rattling in the throat. The 

 treatment is the same as for a common cold. 



THE DREAD SCOURGE ROUP. 



Roup is now believed to be a bacterial disease that is, dis- 

 seminated by means of germs and not as was formerly 

 thought the result of a neglected cold. If this is so, roup can 

 only be introduced from outside ; it cannot originate within. 

 But it can be introduced in many ways : by means of a bird 

 bpught of a careless or irresponsible breeder, by means of ex- 

 crement brought on the feet, by means of germs or spores 

 floating in the air. The seeds of roup will remain for years, 

 so that it is never safe to buy an old henhouse, unless you are 

 absolutely sure the disease has never been within its walls. 

 Catarrh is often mistaken for roup, but in catarrh the peculiar 

 smell that goes with roup is not present. 



Each new case as it comes up should be isolated. Roup 

 may be discovered in two ways. A roupy bird generally sleeps 

 with her head under her wing, and by going through the pen 

 at night with a lantern one ma^ easily find her. The other way 

 in which a roupy bird may be told is by a slight moisture in the 



