HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 



presence of a few worms in the windpipe of a large strong, healthy chick 

 or adult bird seldom causes trouble to the bird, but it may prove a bad thing 

 to the poultryman as a source of infection to the other birds. 



How the Disease is Spread 



The female worm does not lay her eggs; there are several thousand of 

 eggs in the adult female, and when these are sufficiently developed, they 

 escape by rupture of the body of the parent. These eggs may hatch and 

 develop into perfect worms without leaving the windpipe of the aifected 

 bird, but as a rule, the adult worms and their eggs are coughed up and be- 

 come a source of infection of other birds by contaminating the food and 

 water. Frequently such infection may take place through the drinking 

 water. Well chicks may eat the worms coughed up by the sick ones, or 

 may get the eggs in food or drink, and become infected with gapes. Many 

 wild birds are liable to gapes, and their excrement dropped in the chicken 

 yard may prove a source of infection. Eggs of the gape worm have been 

 found in the droppings of infected birds. Some authorities credit the 

 common earthworm and garden slug, when found in ground occupied by 

 diseased birds, with harboring the embryos and eggs of the gape worm 

 and so keeping up infection. When eggs or embryo gape worms are eaten, 

 only a small number of embryos find their way to the windpipe and it is 

 probable that many are killed and digested or are expelled in the droppings 

 to become a fresh source of trouble. One small forked worm, if allowed 

 to go unmolested, is sufficient to infect a large flock of chicks, and ruin the 

 ground for chicken raising for a long time, unless the ground is thoroughly 

 disinfected. 



Symptoms 



The symptoms of gapes are frequent gaping, sneezing, a whistling 

 cough with discharge of mucus and worms, dumpishness, weakness and 

 drooping wings. When badly affected, the bird shakes its head frequently, 

 gapes and coughs as if suffocating, droops and is not able to keep up with 

 the rest of the flock, and stands in "dumpish" position with eyes closed, 

 wings drooped, mouth open and tongue protruding. 



Prevention 



The most desirable method of combating any disease is to adopt and 

 persist in some reliable means of prevention. There is a cause for all ail- 

 ments. Unless you remove the cause you cannot cure the disease. If the 

 cause is removable, a serious outbreak of the disease can be prevented 

 by proper hygienic and sanitary measures, which make the cause much less 

 liable to appear; or, if the measures adopted are sufficiently thorough, the 

 cause may be prevented from putting in an appearance. Gapes is caused 

 by the small red worms and their progeny. These parasitic worms must 

 be gotten rid of. 



In all sections of the country where gapes are known to be prevalent, 

 small chicks should not be grown on free range. They must be confined 



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