68 



1*HE fiAMI^AM l^OWt. 



treat separately, and the first thing to do is to find and 

 remove the cause of the illness. Having done this, keep a 

 small piece of gum camphor in the drinking water and watch 

 carefully for further symptoms. Do not allow the nostrils 

 to become plugged by a crust, as they often will, because the 

 discharge will be held back and act as a poison. 



After the nostrils have been obstructed a day or two the 

 head will begin to swell and before we know it we have a 

 case of roup to deal with. The injection of camphorated oil 

 as already directed will usually keep the nostrils free and 

 open. 



ROUP. 



This is a contagious disease, and generally begins as a 

 simple cold. It is often fatal, and is much to be dreaded as 

 it will sometimes go through the whole flock before the 

 owner is aware that there is any serious trouble. It is diffi- 

 cult to say just when a cold turns into roup, but when the 

 discharge from the nostrils and eyes becomes thick and 

 sticky, and of an offensive odor, you may be sure that you 

 have a case or roup. The next symptom is swelling of the 

 head and eyes; frequently the eyelids will sitick together, 

 and if washed apart a large amount of fetid matter will 

 escape. As these symptoms increase the bird is growing 

 sicker all the time, more dumpish and has little or no 

 appetite. 



Roup may be prevented by good care and prompt treat- 

 ment of every cold, but above all by care in introducing new 

 birds into the flock. Whenever you buy a new hen keep her 

 in quarantine at least two weeks, until you are sure she is 

 in perfect health, before exposing your stock to the danger 

 of contagion. Bantams of a strong, vigorous constitution, 

 properly housed and fed, will never have roup, unless they 

 catch it from some diseased fowl carelessly introduced into 

 their house. 



Probably the most common way for the disease to be 

 transmitted from one to another, is through the drinking 

 water. Be careful to thoroughly clean and scald any drink- 

 ing vessel that has been used by any sick Bantam, before 

 using it again. It is doubtful whether the disease can be 

 carried in the air, but give the well birds the benefit of the 

 doubt and confine diseased ones in separate houses or rooms. 

 It is unwise to keep an invalid in a room with a fire, unless 

 you are prepared to keep him there until warm weather, 

 for it will never be safe to return the convalescent patient 

 to the unheated house after he has had the luxury of a fire. 



The treatment of roup is, in the main, very unsatisfac- 

 tory, although, if begun soon enough it may save a valuable 

 specimen. Keep the nostrils, eyes and throat as clean as 

 possible. Get a bottle of listerine at any drug store, and 

 put a tablespoonful into a glass of warm water. Inject into 

 the nostrils, swab the throat and wash the head and eyes 

 with it two or three times a day for the first four or five 

 days. Feed with soft cooked food and milk. 



If this treatment makes no improvement in the patient, 

 kill him and burn his carcass. This is the kindest and best 

 advice that can be given, for, although he may recover 

 after weeks of dosing and pampering, he will still be a weak 

 bird and the slightest exposure will start a discharge from 

 the nostrils, which may contain the germs of roup and be 

 sufficient to cause the disease in the flock to which he 

 belongs. 



A Bantam that has once had a genuine severe attack of 

 roup is never fit to breed from, as his offspring will be 

 sickly, puny chicks nine times out of ten. If you are un- 

 willing to take this advice, as you probably will be until 

 you have tried to cure roup yourself, the next best thing to 

 do is to continue to keep the head and nostrils as clean as 



possible. Stop the aconite and give one gfain of sulphate 

 of quinine three times a day, and all the milk and whisky 

 you can pour down, every three or four hours. By this time 

 your pet will rot eat and his strength must be kept up by 

 forcing the whisky and milk. Should your efforts prove suc- 

 cessful and the bird begins to mend, leave off the whisky 

 and quinine very gradually and put enough tincture of chlo- 

 ride of iron into the drinking water to give a decided brown 

 color; feed good cooked food and a little meat once a day. 



CANKER OR DIPHTHERITIC ROUP. 



This is a frequent accompaniment of ordinary roup, and 

 is probably a different manifestation of the same disease. 

 It is highly contagious to other fowl and possibly to man. 

 Cases are reported where children have probably contracted 

 diphtheria from fowls sick with canker, and also where 

 poultry that have access to discharges from diphtheria 

 patients have sickness with canker. The one distinguishing 

 symptom of canker is the appearance in the mouth or throat 

 of a white or yellowish white cheesy membrane. This may 

 appear during the course of ordinary roup, or may come on 

 suddenly in an apparently healthy fowl. At the first onset 

 one or more white spots, about the size of a pin head, may 

 be seen either on the roof of the mouth or under the tongue, 

 or, quite often around the opening to the windpipe. These 

 spots grow very rapidly until, oftentimes, the whole mouth 

 is filled with a membrane that is usually glistening white, 

 sometimes yellowish. When torn off it leaves a bleeding 

 surface beneath. It is of very offensive odor. If this mem- 

 brane extends into the windpipe the patient will soon die of 

 suffocation. This is a disease that cannot be mistaken, as 

 the appearance of the membrane is very characteristic. 



The remarks on the cause and prevention of roup apply 

 especially to canker and need not be repeated. The general 

 treatment is also the same, but the local treatment is differ- 

 ent. Instead of washing out nostrils and mouth attempts 

 must be made to remove the membrane. This is often done 

 by scraping with a piece of pine wood whittled to a con- 

 venient shape. After removing all that can be removed, 

 without' excessive bleeding, the parts should be powdered 

 over with alum. A better way is to apply peroxide of hydro- 

 gen in full strength directly to the membrane, which will 

 soon be eaten away with much less bleeding than in the 

 other proceeding. After using the peroxide a few minutes, 

 apply tincture of the chloride of iron in full strength. The 

 mouth can be pretty well cleaned by either method, but the 

 membrane soon returns and the process must be repealled 

 often. When the membrane is in the windpipe it has to be 

 left to nature, and almost always proves fatal. 



CHOLERA. 

 At the present day this is an extremely rare disease in 

 the United States. It is the most contagious of the diseases 

 of poultry, generally killing the whole flock when itonce gets 

 a foothold. It is always caused by contact with a previous 

 case, never originating in a yard without such contact or 

 exposure. 



The symptoms are excessive diarrhoea, first of a black 

 substance as thick as tar, later by a thin, watery fluid which 

 smells putrid. There is very rapid emaciation and prostra- 

 tion, death frequently occurring within thirty-six hours after 

 the commencement of the disease. There is no treatment; 

 kill and cremate. 



DIARRHOEA. . 



This is quite frequent, and is sometimes mistaken for 

 cholera, but cholera is so very rapid that this mistake ought 

 not to be made. Diarrhoea is usually caused by improper 

 food, impure water, by sudden changes in temperature or 

 exposure to cold and wet. Individual mild cases require no 



