DISEASES OF POULTRY. . 185 
FEATHER-EATING FOWLS. 
The habit of pulling and eating feathers is also com- 
mon among fowls confined. It is impossible to cure 
the fault when once acquired, and it is best to kill the 
fowls for table use at first sight, as they quickly teach 
others to do the same. The cause is doubtless a need or 
appetite for something contained in the feathers. A 
mixture of dried flesh and bone, specially prepared for 
poultry, with a small quantity of sulphur, will act as a 
preventive. Bits of fresh lean meat, or scraps, or fine- 
powdered fresh bones, will answer. 
Another remedy is to give them a sheep’s pluck, or 
liver, to pick at, hanging it up within reach, and to 
give them wheat scattered in the earth or litter of their 
houses. This will give them food and work to occupy 
their time. 
—_1 9 —— 
THE PIP. 
Poultry are sometimes troubled with a disease known 
as ‘“‘pip.” This is inflammation of the tongue and 
mouth, with the growth of a horny scale on the point 
of the tongue, which prevents the fowls from feeding. 
Give each fowl a pinch of powdered chlorate of potash, 
dropping it into the throat and upon the tongue, and 
remove the scale with the point of a penknife. 
—+— 
GAPES. 
Gapes is the result of parasitic worms in the wind- 
pipe. The only cure is to dislodge them. This is 
sometimes successfully done by putting the chicks in a 
box, covering the top with a piece of muslin, and dust- 
