HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 



White comb is the result of long continued exposure to close air, little 

 or no sunshine, and total absence of all green vegetable food. This points, 

 of course, to the city cellars and shut-in town back yards. 



The cause suggests the remedy. Either give up the keeping of birds 

 under such unhygienic conditions or remove them to pastures green, with 

 sunny skies. A tonic of a little nux vomica may be helpful, but after all 

 the best remedy is good food with proper care and housing. Oil the sore 

 surfaces with an ointment made by mixing one part oleate of zinc and ten 

 parts vaseline. Do this once a day until the eruption disappears. 



ECZEMA 



1 have sometimes thought there was no difference between eczema 

 and "'white comb," and yet we seldom see the two troubles in the same 

 bird. Eczema is a disease manifesting itself in the skin, yet due to a con- 

 stitutional cause. It is caused by the over-feeding of a highly nitrogenous 

 ration, by lack of excretion, or from closely inbred birds of a rheumatic ten- 

 dency. The disease is never passed by contact from bird to bird. It is 

 not contagious. 



While eczema may appear on any part of the skin of the bird, the usual 

 seat of the disease is the wattles. I am not sure but it appears at the same 

 time on other parts of the bird, but being covered by feathers it does not 

 attract our attention. On the wattles it attracts our notice by the appear- 

 ing of fine white points. These are slightly raised and seem to have just 

 the thin skin over them. They continue to increase in size, new points 

 appearing, the contents becoming thinner and slightly lighter in color. 

 When several "points'' have united, the skin bursts, the fluid runs out, and 

 dries on the surface, forming a scurfy crust. In severe cases the discharge 

 has been noticed to irritate the skin of the shanks and toes' where it falls on 

 them. Birds with eczema present a tired appearance and a marked loss of 

 appetite. 



These cases need an improved diet. The mash should contain a good 

 proportion of cut- clover, green vegetables should be fed liberally, and there 

 should be very little meat fed in any form for weeks. Green cut bone, free 

 from meat, will be helpful in building up the bird. 



One grain pUl citrate of iron and quinine every morning and one grain of 

 calomel at night for one week wiU help clear up the constitutional condition, and 

 increase the health of the bird. 



Apply to the diseased wattles several times during the week the same 

 ointment as recommended for "white comb." 



BLACK ROT 



This is a condition of the comb resulting from imperfect circulation 

 of blood through it and is really evidence of the death of the tissue involved. 

 It is a rare occasion, when we meet black rot except in tall combed birds. 

 Nearly every case that has been examined after killing has shown some 

 disease of the liver. It is probable that the comb symptoms are secondary 

 to the real disease. 



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