POUIvTRY DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT. 33 



the lower portion of the oesophagus may become clogged by long 

 straws, feathers or other substances. In either case the crop 

 fails to empty itself while the bird continues to eat until the 

 crop is greatly distended and packed solid. 



Impacted crop is a common disease of poultry. A large 

 number of things have been assigned as a cause for this trouble. 

 It is probable that the real cause lies in low vitality due to im- 

 proper feeding and indigestion. On this point Robinson says : 

 "We say that the dry hay the fowl may take into the crop 

 causes impaction, but the fact is that it is only in occasional 

 instances that it does cause impaction. Far oftener the fowl 

 eats dry hay or corn fodder till its crop is bulging, and is never 

 seen to be at all the worse for it. I have seen this so often, 

 that though an occasional case of impacted crop might properly 

 be attributed directly to the overloading of the crop, the occur- 

 rence of a number of such cases in a flock at about the same 

 time, would suggest that the real cause was indigestion, or weak 

 digestion. I have repeatedly given fowls, which all their lives 

 had been handled to make and keep digestive organs in first 

 class condition, all other conditions for developing cases of 

 impacted crops, but have never been able to get a case that 

 way." 



Treatment. — If a large number of crop bound birds occur in 

 a flock, it should be taken as a sign that something is wrong in 

 the management. Measures should be taken to correct errors 

 in feeding and thus give the birds a more vigorous digestion. 

 In such epidemics other evidences of indigestion are usually 

 present and the particular treatment of the flock will depend 

 largely on these other symptoms. In general the birds should 

 not be fed too much at any one time and they should be encour- 

 aged to take as much exercise as possible, and should have plenty 

 of green food. 



When a crop bound bird is found it must be treated indi- 

 vidually. Treatment in such individual cases is quite often suc- 

 cessful. The profitableness of such treatment must be decided 

 by every poultryman for himself. If the crop bound condition 

 is discovered and treated at the beginning of the trouble the 

 bird will usually recover quickly and may make a profitable 

 fowl. On the other hand if the condition has become chronic 

 the vitality of the bird is greatly lowered. In this latter case 



