^94 MAKING POULTRY PAY 



ie sewed up^^ and for this a small bent needle is best, 

 as by it the skin can be most easily gathered together, 

 and horsehair, not thread, used. Sew the inner skin first, 

 and then the outer one. Three stitches will be needed 

 in each skin. Tie each stitch separately. The food 

 must be limited in quantity. No water must be sup- 

 plied until the suture has completely healed up. 



Douglas mixture is the best general poultry tonic. 

 Mix one-half pound sulphate of iron, one ounce sul- 

 phuric acid and two gallons pure soft water. Let settle 

 twenty-four hours, then drain off and bottle. Add one 

 teaspoonful to each pint of drinking water for the 

 fowls. 



Egg-hound — Do not allow the hens to get overfat, 

 and they are not likely to become egg-bound. The best 

 thing to do when a hen gets in that condition is to kill 

 and eat her before she gets in such condition that she 

 is unfit for food. Dip the finger into sweet or castor 

 oil, and introduce it into the vent. Ten drops of fluid 

 extract of ergot, given the hen from a spoon, and fol- 

 lowed in half an hour by holding the bird over hot 

 water so the steam can reach the vent, will sometimes 

 relieve this condition. At all events, remove her from 

 the male bird, and feed soft food and warm water. If 

 successful in removing the egg, and the bird is worth 

 the extra trouble, keep her in dry, sunny quarters, and 

 in her drink put ten drops of tincture nux vomica to 

 one pint of water. Give this for ten days, avoiding 

 foods rich in starch, such as corn and buckwheat. 



Favus is a disease produced by a minute parasitic 

 fungus and attacks the comb, wattles and neck, causmg 

 the feathers of the latter to fall out. It is very destruc- 

 tive in poultry yards in England, and being highly 

 contagious, spreads with great rapidity. A single dis- 

 eased bird soon contaminates the whole flock and 

 several outbreaks have been traced to the introduction 



