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sick bird if allowed to remain with the rest may communicate the 

 disease to the whole flock. Even where the disease is not serious, 

 the patient is much better off if by herself. The hospital should 

 be kept scrupulously clean, and should be thoroughly disinfected 

 after a bird has been confined in it affected with any serious 

 trouble. 



DISEASES OF CHICKS. 



LICE. In fhe chapter on "Chicks and Their Care," I have 

 warned the breeder to be on the lookout for lice. I repeat the 

 warning here. More chicks are sacrificed in this way than in 

 any other. Even if the chick is not literally eaten alive its vital- 

 ity is often so much reduced that it readily falls a prey to disease. 

 It is never safe to give up the warfare against lice. 



CRAMPS AND RHEUMATISM. Many persons who get out early 

 chicks have no proper facilities for handling them. Perhaps 

 there is snow on the ground and the chicks cannot get out of 

 doors, so they are left on a board floor or in a crowded brooder, 

 and in a few days their legs begin to draw up, the joints become 

 red and swollen, and the little things die. When cramps and 

 rheumatism get among the chicks transfer at once to dry and 

 roomy quarters where their feet can get on the earth, give 

 green food in variety, and rub their legs with witch hazel. 

 Sprinkle chaff about so that the chicks will have to scratch for 

 their food. Reduce the number of chicks in the brooder, if 

 crowded. Give as much baking soda as you can get on the tip of 

 the handle of a teaspoon, in a quart of water. 



LEG WEAKNESS. Where young fowls are forced forward for 

 broilers or soft roasters they are apt to develop leg weakness, the 

 nature of which is sufficiently explained by the name. The bird 

 walks unsteadily, lurching from side to side, and sometimes sits 

 when eating its food. "In all cases give cooling food, such as 

 bran, barley, rice, green food, skim milk or buttermilk and vege- 

 tables. Avoid condiments, meat and stimulating rations of all 

 kinds." 



GAPES. "Gapes are caused by small worms which attach 

 themselves to the membranes of the windpipe 'of the chick. A 

 piece of camphor about the size of a grain of wheat, daily, and 10 

 drops of camphor or turpentine to each pint of drinking water, is 

 a favorite and effective remedy." The tip of a feather dipped in 

 turpentine and run down the chick's throat will dislodge the par- 

 asite. 



