CHAPTER XIV 

 Diseases op Kidneys, Rheumatism and Limbekneck 



In routine autopsy work where all dead birds are examined 

 probably no organ except the liver is more frequently found 

 in a diseased condition than the kidneys. They are often 

 enlarged. Sometimes they contain dark points caused by 

 the rupture of small blood vessels, and in other cases they may 

 contain abscesses. Micro-organisms have been obtained 

 from some cases of diseased kidneys. Nothing is yet known 

 of the causes of these specific diseased conditions in poultry. 

 Some of the cases of under-development, especially of pullets, 

 are apparently due to enlarged kidneys. In such cases the 

 birds usually lose their appetite, become emaciated and their 

 feathers are roughened. No dependable diagnosis of dis- 

 eased kidneys can be made on the living fowl. When several 

 cases occur care should be taken to see that the flock receives 

 a balanced ration with plenty of green food, as diseased kid- 

 neys may occur from too much protein in the food. 



One of the diseased conditions of the kidneys results in an 

 inability to eliminate the urates. The uric acid content of the 

 blood is greatly increased and the urates are deposited on the 

 surface of the visceral organs, in the tissues of the urinary 

 apparatus and around the joints in the form of crystals or 

 urate of soda. 



Gout 



This diseased condition is called gout. In fowls as in 

 man it has two forms, the visceral and the articular, depend- 

 ing. upon the location of the deposits of urates. 



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