DISEASES 145 
of mash or, in other words, if the scratch 
grain has been insufficient, this trouble is 
especially apt to occur. Further, if the birds 
have been given too great an amount of ani- 
mal food, or if the mash has a content of 
more than 15 to 20 per cent of meat scraps 
or fish scraps, and if at the same time milk 
has been available, these birds will be very 
likely to develop this trouble because growing 
chickens or laying hens will handle only a 
certain amount of mash or of animal food. 
As was previously mentioned in the chapter 
on Feeding, if growing chickens have access 
to all the sour milk or buttermilk they will 
drink, the amount of meat scraps should be 
cut in two. The same applies to laying 
hens. If such a disease or trouble develops 
it will be well for the poultryman to follow 
the suggestions made above in the treatment 
for Coccidiosis. 
Leg Weakness. Leg weakness in chick- 
ens usually develops within the first four or 
five weeks and, as a rule, is caused by too close 
confinement or too heavy a feed. If the 
chickens are made to go outdoors by the 
time they are ten days old, if they are fed 
