200 POULTRY DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT. 



vised of ridding an infested bird of the parasites. Wright gives 

 the following description of the method : 



"The old-fashioned cure was to strip a small quill-feather, all 

 but a small tuft at the point, and (moistening it in turpentine 

 or not) introduce it into the trachea, turn it round, and withdraw 

 it with the worms. This is effectual, but requires care to pre- 

 vent lacerating the wind-pipe or causing suffocation. In this 

 way 30 worms have been successfully extracted from one 

 chicken. A very much better method is to take two straight 

 hairs from a horse's tail, laid together, tie a knot on the end of 

 the pair, and cut off the ends close to the knot. This is passed 

 straight (i. e., without twisting) down the windpipe as far as 

 it will go without bending, then twisted between the finger and 

 thumb and drawn out. A trial or two may miss, but usually 5 

 or 6 attempts will bring up 4 or 5 worms, and the hairs inserted 

 in this way, without twisting, do not seem to hurt the chicks, and 

 are used with the greatest facility. The bringing up of even 

 from 4 to 10 worms, and the failure of more to come after a 

 blank trial or two, may usually be reckoned as a cure." 



Wire gape worm extractors may be bought from dealers in 

 poultry supplies, or one can make one for himself by taking No. 

 30 wire, forming a loop at one end just big enough to go easily 

 down the trachea, and then twisting together the ends of the 

 wire to form a long handle. Worms removed should be burned. 



Prognosis. This disease' is often fatal in young chicks from 

 one to four weeks old, especially in small weak birds. Young 

 chicks and in most adult fowls it often causes little inconven- 

 ience. These fowls, however, are constant sources of infec- 

 tion. The removal of the worms from the trachea if skilfully 

 done so that the delicate membrane is not injured usually effects 

 a cure but this individual treatment requires considerable time 

 and the value of the chicks must determine whether or not it 

 is economically profitable. 



