POULTRY DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT. 



Introduction. 



It is probably safe to say that considerably more t.han 50 per 

 cent of the correspondence of those engaged in poultry work in 

 the agricultural colleges and experiment stations in this country 

 relates to poultry diseases. The poultryman or farmer sees 

 that some, or perhaps all, of his birds are ill, and he straightway 

 writes to the nearest college or station to know what the dis- 

 ease is, and what to do for it. The Maine Station has for many 

 years been the recipient of a great number of such inquiries. It 

 is an unfortunate, but in the nature of the case an unavoidable 

 fact, that in many instances it is quite impossible to make any 

 really satisfactory reply to these inquiries. In the vast major- 

 ity of cases the person who writes the letter is quite untrained in 

 pathology and either describes no symptoms at all or only those 

 very general ones which are common to nearly all the ills of 

 poultry. To one who has not handled this class of correspond- 

 ence it would seem almost incredible that there should be so 

 many letters of the following type : "I have lost about a third 

 of my chickens in the last few days. They seem a little dump- 

 ish for a while and then die. What is the trouble and what 

 shall I do for it?" To diagnose and prescribe on such a basis 

 of information is impossible. Yet the hard fact remains that 

 the correspondent's chickens were ill and did die, and he needs 

 help to get out of the trouble. 



To meet this need so far as possible, and in response to a 

 definite request on the part of the organized agricultural inter- 

 ests of the State the present work has been prepared. What 

 it aims to do is to give a clear and reasonably complete 

 compilation and digest of the information now existing in the 

 literature regarding the commoner diseases of poultry, their 

 diagnosis, etiology, treatment and prognosis. It should be clear- 

 ly understood that the book is essentially a compilation. The 

 Maine Station has never conducted any special investigations 

 regarding poultry diseases, and does not propose to in the imme- 



