112 LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING SECOND SERIES. 



soils, that is, on soils least suited to poultry. On the sanely hills and knolls of New England, 

 we have no trouble with It. It might get a foothold on some of our low, ratber swampy 

 spots, hut very little poultry is kept in such places, the " sandy, well drained " locations having 

 been favored more perhaps than their merits deserve. 



When I was a boy in Illinois we used to hear much of the gapes, and from the character 

 of much of the soil there, it is probable that many of the cases were genuine, but I never 

 happened to come in contact with them. In Colorado, with its dry sandy soil, we had no 

 k r ape worms. I am inclined to think that if a careful investigation of poultry and yards were 

 made all over the country, and a map prepared to show the areas free from the gape worm, 

 those in which it was found, but not generally as a serious pest, and those where it was very 

 troublesome, poultrymen would be surprised at the small area actually badly infested. I 

 mention this particularly because people so often, supposing they have a case of gapes, fail to- 

 prove it or find out what really is the trouble, and so allow some other serious trouble to 

 develop to a stage where it is hard to deal with, when, if they bad been more thorough in 

 the first diagnosis they might have learned juet what was wrong in time to treat the disease 

 easily and successfully. 



Intestinal Worms. 



Slmon gives a list of forty-five parasitic worms found in the intestines of fowls and in 

 the neighboring parts. Some of these are found only in one kind of fowls; others infest all 

 kinds of domestic land and water fowls. These worms he groups as tape worms, round 

 worms, flukes, and thorn headed worms, the most numerous in varieties and the most common 

 in occurrence being the tape worms and round worms. 



The general symptoms of worms in the intestines are the same. The kind of worm present 

 can only be determined by finding worms in the droppings, or by post mortem, showing 

 them fixed in the parts of the fowl. If the droppings as voided by the fowl before treat- 

 ment show no traces of worms, a vermifuge may be given, and the fowl kept where its 

 droppings are easily examined. It is not certain that no worms are present because none 

 are evacuated. Some worms are very difficult to dislodge. But a dose of the remedy to 

 endeavor to secure from the droppings confirmation of the suspicion of the presence of worm* 

 in the intestines of the fowl is the only way practicable for the poultry keeper, short of kill- 

 ing one or more fowls, and making a careful examination of the intestines. 



The inexpert examination is, of course, especially liable to error, though often it does show 

 the presence of worms. Wherever a state has its experiment station equipped for the exam- 

 ination of such animals and fowls, poultrymen in that state should communicate with the 

 director or the veterinary at the station whenever a serious trouble arises which they do not 

 understand. Write the experiment station authorities stating the case. If they find on corre- 

 spondence that there seems to be a case requiring investigation they give directions how to pro- 

 ceed. In practically all of the eastern states the experiment stations are prepared to do work 

 of this kind. 



"The symptoms which Indicate worms in the intestines," says Salmon, " are not very 

 characteristic, but are such as would be expected from ill health due to any chronic disease. 

 The birds become dull, weak, emaciated, isolate themselves, are indisposed to search for their 

 food, are stiff in their walk, their plumage loses its brilliancy and becomes rough, they have 

 diarrhea, and sometimes epileptiform attacks. In certain cases the symptoms develop rapidly, 

 and the birds die as though from an acute disease. The most certain evidence of the nuture 

 of the trouble is the discovery in the intestines of large numbers of one or more species of 

 worms * * * upon examination of birds from the flock which have died or have been 

 killed." 



For treatment Salmon recommends first hygienic preventive measures. Says he: " One of 

 the most important of these measures is to move the fowls upon fresh ground every two or 

 three years, or certainly in all cases where such parasites are frequently observed in the 

 intestines of the birds. Another practical measure which maybe adopted at the eame time 

 is to remove the excrement daily from the houses and destroy any parasites or their ejrg 

 wiiicii may be in it, by mixing with quick lime, or saturating it with a ten percent solution. 



