DISEASES OF ANIMALS 



155 



extensively in the warm climates of the 

 southern states, Hawaii and elsewhere. 

 Chicken pox is due to a fungus which 

 usually attacks the head, causing small 

 eruptions near the eyes, ears or on the 

 bill. The eyes may become entirely cov- 

 ered over. All affected fowls should at 

 once be removed and the premises disin- 

 fected with whitewash, carbolic acid or 

 Bordeaux mixture. The scabs may be 

 removed by warm soapsuds and affect- 

 ed parts painted with iodine or washed 

 with nitrate of silver. According to 

 Cary chickenpox is merely one form of 

 roup. 



Leukaemia is a contagious disease 

 with a short course, usually resulting in 

 death within three days. Sick fowls 

 droop and show a roughened plumage. 

 There is high fever and paleness of the 

 comb but no diarrhea. The small in- 

 testines are inflamed and covered with a 

 purulent secretion containing the bac- 

 teria of the disease. The disease is thus 

 spread by the feces of affected birds. 

 Diseased fowls may be given a tonic of 

 sulphate of iron at the rate of 2 to 

 4 grains daily with the feed and dis- 

 infectant measures should be adopted. 



Losses in incubator chicks m ay be due 

 to overcrowding in brooders and conse- 

 quent death by suffocation. As already 

 indicated, tuberculosis is very prevalent 

 among chickens in brooders. Frequently 

 chickens fail to absorb the yolk and in 

 Rhode Island it is found that 35 per cent 

 of incubator chicks are affected with a 

 disease of the gall bladder in which a 

 green stain can be seen on the outside of 

 the body. This trouble is largely due 

 to an unbalanced ration and indicates a 

 lack of protein or animal feed in the 

 diet. Liver, flesh, refuse meat, blood 

 meal and other similar substances should 

 be used. The chickens should be fed 

 frequently and in small quantities. 



Gapes i s caused by a worm (Syngamus 

 trachealis) in the windpipe. Infested 

 chicks cough, assume a drooping pos- 

 ture and lose weight rapidly. Many in- 

 vestigators believe that gape worms live 

 in earthworms and the chickens become 

 infested by eating these worms. In 

 certain experiments along this line, 

 chickens allowed to eat earthworms were 

 attacked with gapes, while those kept 

 on a plank floor did not become infested. 

 The trouble may be treated by applying a 

 feather dipped in turpentine to the in- 

 side of the throat. Internal doses of 

 garlic or asafetida also have a beneficial 



effect. The fowls may also be made to 

 breathe lime dust to induce violent 

 coughing. 



Lice, mites and ticks— Chickens be- 

 come infested with a considerable num- 

 ber of parasitic insects and mites. The 

 most common species are chicken flea, 

 chicken tick and various species of lice. 

 When present in large numbers these 

 pests cause much worry and loss of 

 weight to the fowls. These pests may 

 best be controlled by constructing roosts 

 so that the parasites cannot crawl upon 

 the fowls, and by spraying the chicken 

 houses thoroughly with kerosene or kero- 

 sene emulsion every 10 days or two 

 weeks. 



Scaly legs i s due to a mite known as 

 Sarcoptes mutans, which burrows un- 

 derlie skin of the legs, causing an exu- 

 dation of fluid, which becomes gummy 

 and forms scales on drying. The scales 

 may be softened with warm soapsuds, af- 

 ter which the legs may best be treated by 

 dipping in kerosene or painting with an 

 ointment containing 1 to 2 drams of 

 balsam of Peru to the ounce of vaseline. 

 Another form of the disease, commonly 

 known as depluming scabies, attacks the 

 feathers, causing them to break off near 

 the skin. Affected birds should be iso- 

 lated and rubbed with a carbolic oint- 

 ment or a similar salve. 



Favus, also known as white comb or 

 baldness, is caused by the same fungus 

 which produces ringworm in other ani- 

 mals. The trouble appears upon the comb 

 and neck in the form of circular patches. 

 The feathers fall off from the affected 

 areas and crusts form in such places. 

 These parts should be washed with warm 

 water, after which an ointment may be 

 applied, containing 1 part benzine, 20 

 parts soft soap and enough sulphur to 

 make a paste. 



, Air sac mite is a white mite barely 

 visible to the naked eye, which lives in 

 the lungs, air sacs, windpipe and body 

 cavity, and according to some investi- 

 gators may cause a cough or strangula- 

 tion and in some cases diarrhea. We 

 have found the mites, however, in 

 healthy fowls and it must therefore re- 

 main doubtful whether they are always 

 the cause of a serious disease. They 

 may be concerned in some instances in 

 carrying tuberculosis or other infectious 

 diseases. The mites probably gain en- 

 trance to the body in the food. There is 

 obviously no treatment for this trouble, 

 but fortunately this mite is not common. 



