LEGS AND FEET 



Mrs. V. C. Melville states: "If the bird is vigorous it will outgrow 

 the trouble, but any treatment to be beneficial must be resorted to on the 

 appearance of the first symptoms. For food, give bran, wheat and oat- 

 meal; instead of water, give skim milk. Cook oatmeal, and when cool, 

 add thirty drops of diluted phosphoric acid for each bird affected, and 

 give twice daily. Be careful not to confound leg weakness with rheuma- 

 tism. In the latter disease there is always swelling of the joints. If ducks 

 are attacked by leg weakness, feed them more bulky food, bran, shipstufi", 

 etc. Give them chopped vegetables. Stop giving them corn until they are 

 strong again. Then feed in moderation. 



BROKEN SHANKS 



Hardly a season goes by in which we do not see a case or two of broken 

 bones in our yards. A chick or fowl is , caught in a wire fence or between 

 pickets, and in its endeavors to escape it snaps the bone of the shank. Or a 

 chick is run over by a team, or stepped on in the yard, and a break results. 



Treatment 



Breaks of this kind unite quickly if the parts are put together and 

 kept there. For little chicks you wiU find common toothpicks handy for 

 splints, while for other birds you can easily make splints of pine. Even 

 stiff pasteboard, slightly wet when applied, will do good service. Take 

 a bandage of cotton cloth, wide enough to cover the length' of the shank, 

 wind it around twice, then put the splints outside and finish by winding 

 the cloth round three times more. With needle and thread sew the edges 

 of the bandage that it may remain in place. The younger the bird the 

 sooner the splints can be removed. Other broken bones, such as those of 

 wings or thighs, are hard to handle and such cases are best suited for the 

 cook. 



CRAMP 



Cramp is an affliction of young chicks, somewhat as leg-weakness is 

 to half-grown birds. Cramp is caused by overheated brooders, too ma^ny 

 chicks for the size of the brooder and too little exercise. The prevention 

 as well as the cure of this discouraging condition is summed up in a few 

 words — have larger brooders or fewer chicks in each brooder; heat the 

 brooders so that the chicks will spread out on the floor of the hover, avoid- 

 ing crowding to keep warm; lastly, furnish chaff enough to make every 

 chick work to get its grain. Sand or earth will do if you cannot get chaff, 

 but a small clover cutter will soon cut you enough fine hay or straw to fill 

 half a dozen brooder pens. Exercise of itself will do very much to prevent 

 the appearance of cramp in young chicks. Cramp seems to be a weakness 

 of the muscular system from over-weight of the other parts of the body, too 

 little use of the muscles themselves and too rapid growth of the bones, 



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