CHAPTER XVII. 



DISEASES AND ENEMIES. 



Dampness , filth and roup occupy the same quarters and are- 

 fast friends. 



A bucket of whitewash is better than a chestful of medicine.. 



Tim's Wife. 



Many of the ills that poultry flesh is heir to are 

 directly traceable to bad breeding and treatment. 

 In-and-in-breeding is practiced and the law of the 

 survival of the fittest is disregarded until the stock 

 becomes weak and a prey to disease. 



Yards and runs occupied for any considerable- 

 time become covered with excreta and a breeding 

 ground for all manner of disease germs. 



Dampness from leaky roofs or from wet earth, 

 floors, and draughts from side cracks, or from over- 

 head ventilation slay their thousands yearly. 



A one-sided diet of grain, especially corn, moldy 

 grain or meal, decayed meat or vegetables, filthy 

 water, or the lack of gritty material are fruitful, 

 sources of sickness. 



In the treatment of sick birds much depends on 

 the nursing and care. It is useless to give medicine 

 unless some honest attempt be made to remove the 

 causes that produce the disturbance. Unless removed 

 the cause will continue to operate and the treatment 

 must be repeated. 



It is an excellent plan to have a coop in some 

 secluded place to be used exclusively as a hospital. If 



