280 , TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



finger too liai-d upon tliem which causes the death of the cliicken. 

 He may kill the worms by pressing his thumb and finger " pretty 

 closely" on the windpipe, but he cannot remove them. 



I get a stiflt" hair from a horse's tail, double it, tie a knot about 

 an inch from the doubled end, and turn the short part up against 

 the long part or handle, with a fine cotlon thread wrapped a few 

 times around the hair above the knot, and tied securely; then cut 

 oflf the short part (which was tm-ned and tied) and leave about an 

 eighth of an inch, which forms a kind of hook. It is with this I 

 cui-e my chickens of the gapes. The handle should be about six 

 or seven inches long for convenience in handling. 



My mode of operating is this. I take the chicken on my knees, 

 have some one to hold it steady, (for it kicks for the dear life,) take 

 its head between the thumb and fingers of the left hand and open 

 its mouth; at the same time its windpipe will open; then insert 

 the horse-hair hook, which by whirlmg and gently drawing it out 

 with the other hand, will bring out the worms. Sometimes two 

 or three will be drawn out at once and entire, sometimes they 

 come out in pieces. They are the color of raw beef, about an inch 

 long, and as thick as a common sized pin. I have taken as many 

 as six out of a chicken at one time. 



Care must be taken to prevent the hook from going too low 

 down the windpipe, for if it touches the lungs immediate death to 

 the chicken is the consequence. I have inserted the hook in 

 some cases twenty times before I got all the worms out, and some- 

 times after a day or two has passed, if I see the chicken has 

 worms yet, I catch it again, and very soon relieve it of the gapes. 



I have never heard any reasonable cause of gajDes, but I am led 

 to think it comes from the common method of feeding, and per- 

 mitting the chickens to run in the wet grass. Ea,w corn meal, 

 softened bread and such things, being the handiest feed for them, 

 is oftner given than any other, and in almost every brood more or 

 less die. 



An esteemed fiiend and relation of mine raises a great many 

 chickens, and until she adopted a pai-ticular way of preparing their 

 food, she, like others, lost a great many of them. This spring she 

 has lost none, nor have any of them had the gapes. She feeds 

 them corn bread made simply with water and very little salt, 

 baked and fed to them cold. This is by some considered too much 

 trouble; they feed corn meal, gapes is the consequence, and if the 

 horse-liau' hook is not used death is the result. 



Had I your Westchester friend's address I would send him a 



