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, yi grain. Make into thirty pills. If occur- 

 ring in young birds after exposure to dampness or a sudden change 

 to cold weather, a quarter to a half grain quinine, according to 

 age. It is best to remove leg-weak fowls from the flock, and keep- 

 on a shady grass plot. 



CANKER OF THE MOUTH AND HEAD. The sores character- 

 istic of this disease are covered with a yellow cheesy matter 

 which, when it is removed, reveals the raw flesh. Canker wil> 

 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, scotched until slightly brown; or powdered dry chlorate of 

 potash. 



SCALY I,EG, 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 infect ing her brood. To pre- 

 vent its spread, coat perches with a coal tar product (like 

 zenoleum), and burn old nesting material and never use sitting 

 hens affected by the disease. To cure, mix % ounce flowers of 



