DISEASES AND ENEMIES. 149 



on their side. Allopathic treatment The same as for apoplexy. 

 Homeopathic Nux vomica, 3. 



LEG WEAKNESS occurs in fast-growing young birds, mostly 

 among cockerels. A fowl having this weakness will show it by 

 squatting on the ground frequently and by a tottering walk. 

 When not hereditary it usually arises from a diet that contains 

 too much fat and too little flesh and bone-making material, 

 such as bread, rice, corn and potatoes. To this should be added 

 cut green bone, oats, shorts, bran and clover, green or dry. 

 Give a tonic pill three times a day made of sulphate of iron, 

 i grain ; strychnine, i grain ; phosphate of lime, 16 grains ; 

 sulphate of quinine, % grain. Make into thirty pills. Homeo- 

 pathic Calcarea silicata, 6. If occurring in young birds after 

 exposure to dampness or a sudden change to cold weather, give 

 dulcamara, 15. 



CANKER OF THE MOUTH AND HEAD. The sores character- 

 istic of this disease are covered with a yellow, cheesy matter 

 whkh, when it is removed, reveals the raw flesh. Canker will 

 rapidly spread through a flock, as the exudation from the 

 sores is a virulent poison, and well birds are contaminated 

 through the soft feed and drinking water. Sick birds should be 

 separated from the flock and all water and feed vessels disin- 

 fected by scalding or coating with lime wash. Apply to sores 

 with a small pippet syringe or dropper the peroxide of hydro- 

 gen. When the entire surface is more or less affected, use a 

 sprayer. Where there is much of the cheesy matter formed, 

 first remove it with a large quill before using the peroxide. A 

 simple remedy is an application to the raw flesh of powdered 

 alum, scorched until slightly brown. Homeopathic Mercurius, 

 vivus or nitric acid internally, with the use of sulphurous acid 

 spray. 



SCALY LEG, caused by a microscopic insect burrowing beneath 

 the natural scales of the shank. At first the shanks appear dry, 

 and a fine scale like dandruff forms. Soon the natural scale 

 disappears and gives place to a hard, white scurf. The disease 

 passes from one fowl to another through the medium of nests 

 and perches, and the mother-hen infecting her brood. To pre- 

 vent its spread, coat perches with kerosene and burn old nesting 

 material and never use sitting hens affected by the disease. To 

 cure, mix l / 2 ounce flowers of sulphur, % ounce carbolic acid 



