DISEASES ly CHICKENS. 231 



the weather is damp, dust a little pounded pimento 

 into the food, in the proportion of one teaspoon- 

 ful to twenty-four chickens. For the first week 

 do not allow the hen to leave her coop, unless 

 you can put her under cover and confine her to 

 a wired-in range. Eoup generally attacks chick- 

 ens when the feathers begin to appear. It will 

 probably have owed its origin to the bad weather 

 remarked upon ; but breeders must also be care- 

 ful that over-crowding has not had a share in 

 producing the evil. Take care, therefore, not 

 to overstock your ground ; if crowded, chickens 

 cannot thrive. In wet weather it is necessary to 

 put very young chickens under cover, and it is 

 difficult to find space for all to be comfortably 

 housed, and yet sufficiently apart. If possible, 

 however, separate your coops, and on the first 

 appearance of disease remove the brood to a 

 distance, and make it your special care. Mere 

 removal to fresh ground often effects a cure. 

 Very young chickens cannot bear much hand- 

 ling, and every other means should be tried 

 before having recourse to the medicine bottle. 

 The symptoms - of roup are gasping, hoarse- 



