Diseases of Poultry. 189 



Cramt. — Tlie most frequent sufferers from this affection are early chickens, wliich, if exposed 

 to damp during cold weather, rarely escape altogether, however hardy the breed. The first 

 symptoms may be anything not quite right in their walking ; but very soon there is an evident 

 tendency to contract the toes ; till at last, if not checked, the poor little sufferers have to walk 

 on their knuckles, or outside of the foot, in a manner painful to witness. The bird also squats 

 on its hocks. 



The great preventive is of course dryness, as chickens reared in an absolutely dry shed 

 are almost invariably free from it. The treatment is also simple. If detected at an early stage, 

 it will usually be sufificient to remove the whole brood to some place with a dry boarded floor, well 

 sanded and kept clean. No floor is so bad for a permanent lodging ; but in this case a few days' 

 change indoors will often work wonders, and when recovered the brood may be put out again 

 during dry weather. If the toes arc much contracted, however, the affected chicks should be taken 

 away from the hen, and put in a wooden cage well sanded, in a dry and warm place near the fire.' 

 Good food with a little tonic should be given— say the No. 3, page 141 — and several times daily the 

 legs and feet must be bathed in water made comfortably warm, opening and expanding the toes well 

 under the water, and working them gently backwards and forwards, afterwards drying them with 

 a warm cloth and putting the birds back in the cage. At night they should be returned to the hen 

 with the rest ; but every morning returned to the cage. Under this treatment improvement will 

 generally be rapid ; indeed we hardly ever had a case which did not yield to it unless of very long 

 standing. Cramp in adult fowls can scarcely be distinguished from rheumatism, which see. 



Mr. Hinton adds that, "opium in quarter-grain doses for a chick of three months old twice or 

 thrice daily is a great addition to the treatment of this disease. In Malays I have noticed the 

 cockerels only as subject to the complaint. When the bird is forced to walk, the feet are placed 

 very heavily on the ground, making in dry weather a very perceptible noise, which, without any other 

 symptom being present, is suspicious, and always induces me to watch the bird anxiously. If, with 

 this, the bird squats much, it should be separated at once, and the opium treatment commenced, 

 meat being also given daily, and pepper added to the food. If the disease is not attended to, the 

 bird ultimately acquires a most ungainly gait and attitude : when standing, though lower in 

 stature, the neck and the body are very upright, and as the disease progresses the tail sweeps the 

 ground, and may even come forward between the shanks of the legs.' 



Crop-bound.— If the feeding be careless, the crop may become so distended with hard grain, 

 that when szvcl/cd afterwards by the moist secretions intended to assist digestion, the outlet 

 into the stomach is hopelessly closed by the pressure. With patience, an operation is seldom 

 necessary ; but some warm water should be poured down the throat, after which the distended 

 viscus is to be gently and patiently kneaded with the hands for an hour or more if needful. 

 However hard at first, it will generally yield and become soft after a time ; and when relaxed, a 

 dessert-spoonful of castor-oil should be given, and the bird left in an empty pen. Usually there 

 will be no further difficulty, but the fowl so affected must be fed sparingly for several days, to 

 a/lozv the organ to contraet, otherwise a permanent distension may result, which indeed is sometimes 

 the case after the greatest care, but beyond being unsightly causes little injury to the bu'd. 



If such palliative means fail, an incision must be made near the top of the crop. " Let 

 the bird be laid on its back, gently remove some of the feathers from the crop, and select a spot 

 for your incision free from any large vessels, which if cut through will cause troublesome bleeding, 

 and weaken the bird. The incision in most cases should be an inch long. The handle or bowl of 

 a very small tea-spoon is convenient to remove the contents ; and the best plan is to remove every- 



