THE SKIN 



THREE SKIN DISEASES 



CHICKEN POX— ECZEMA— FISH-SKIN DISEASE 



DR. N. W. SANBORN 



WE SELDOM have cases of chicken pox among our adult birds, 

 but run across it in the autumn of the year in the nearly ma- 

 tured stock. Cold, damp, dark days increase the number of 

 cases and intensify the disease. While the eruption may ap- 

 pear on any part of the skin of the bird, we usually see it on the face or un- 

 derside of wings. These places are easy to get at, and from the character 

 of tlie eruption we name the trouble. The eruption may extend to the eye 

 balls, or appear directly on them, and may cause loss of sight, if not destruc- 

 tion of the eye balls. 



Chicken pox is known by the scabby ulcers appearing on any part of 

 the body. These ulcers exude a liquid that is inclined to dry on the sur- 

 face and present a scaly, dirty coating. The sores present themselves in 

 Crops, and have no great depth. Unlike white comb, they do not pre- 

 sent at first a fine white point. Along with the coming of the eruption the 

 bird shows more thirst than common, and a slight rise of temperature. 



Chicken pox does not prove fatal unless there is a marked lack of care 

 in housing and feeding. Birds kept dry and out of cold winds on simple, 

 nourishing foods, need little medicine. If chicken pox appears during a 

 long continued storm in the fall of the year and the birds are not kept from 

 exposui-e to it, there is likely to be large death rate. 



For the eruption there is nothing better than common carbolated 

 vaseline. Feed a simple mash of at least one-third clover mixed with boil- 

 ing milk. See that all damp scratching material is promptly removed and 

 dry straw supplied in its place. Avoid exposure to cold and wet. 



FISH-SKIN DISEASE 



This resembles scaly-legs in as much as it presents a dry, rough ap- 

 pearance of the covering of shanks and toes, with more or less dirt worked 

 into the spaces between the scales. There is no insect life at work in this 

 trouble, but it is due to some disturbance Of functional action of the bird. 

 It is not passed from bird to bird, but it does se'em to be inclined to appear 

 in certain strains, aa if heredity played a part in its coming. The skin of 

 shanks or toes seems to be lacking in oil, and presents a dry, scaly appear- 

 ance. There is some irritation of the surface, leading the birds to picking 

 or scratching the parts, thereby increasing the 4ifiiculty. 



Daily rubbing with an ointment (oleate of zinc, one teaspoonful, to 

 vaseline, five teaspoonfuls) will soften the dry scales, remove the itching 



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