ENEMIES AND DISEASES 295 



of a new bird from an affected yard. Unless treated 

 properly, it usually ends fatally. The feathers become 

 erect, dry and fall out, leaving the skin covered with 

 dull yellowish gray crusts. The English board of agri- 

 culture in a recent leaflet recommends bathing the 

 affected parts with warm water and castile soap, then 

 applying some ointment to destroy the fungus. Nitrate 

 of soda and lard is useful. Red oxide of mercury has 

 also proved an excellent remedy. 



Feather eating is a vice caused by idleness and lack, 

 of exercise, also from want of proper food, particularly 

 animal matter. Generally one or two hens in the flock 

 are the guilty ones and if these are removed the trouble 

 stops. Give them exercise and plenty of fresh meat. 

 One who has succeeded in breaking it up, writes : Take 

 a piece of raw, fat salt pork, (a piece with a good rind, 

 so it will not come down in the dirt) and driving a nail 

 through the rind nail it to some part of the building 

 in easy reach of the hens and let them work at it all 

 they please. When this is gone if they still continue 

 to pick off the feathers, give them another piece. 



Gapes are caused by the presence of one or several 

 forked red worms in the windpipe of the chick. The 

 chicks get the gapes by eating the eggs of the worms 

 which have been discharged from other affected birds. 

 The worms can be conveyed from affected birds to 

 healthy ones through the drinking water, also in the 

 food if it has been contaminated by affected birds. The 

 ground and coops that have been at any time contam- 

 inated by affected poultry should be thoroughly disin- 

 fected at frequent intervals with a two per cent (in 

 water) solution of sulphuric acid. Whitewash all 

 coops with hot whitewash, plow up all runs frequently, 

 and keep them planted with quick growing green stuff. 

 When gapes appear the drinking water should be 

 medicated as a preventive measure. For this purpose 



