GENERAL DISEASES 177 
various materials available, such as grass, insects and mineral sub- 
stances. 
Klee finds it very useful to supply blood in a cooked form, mixed 
with bran and curd. Under these conditions the birds do not acquire 
a taste for blood. Burned shells and green feed are also desirable 
elements in the ration. Green feed is best surrounded by a wire 
netting in such a way that the birds are compelled to reach through 
the meshes to obtain the feed. In winter time cooked beets or 
sprouted oats may be used. 
Breaking up the habit in parrots often causes difficulty. Daily 
sprinkling with water and providing variety of feed are useful. 
Klee also has observed many cases benefited by smearing the feathers 
with sepia, or unsweetened chocolate and by keeping the bird in the 
dark. It is possible to fit a broad aluminum collar on the neck of 
a parrot in such a way as to prevent the bird from reaching the 
feathers. 
According to Klee, lack of feathers is observed in pigeons from 
time to time without being due to feather pulling. In some in- 
stances the pin feathers are present in the skin but do not break 
through. Persistence of the feather shéath also occurs in pigeons, 
in which case the feathers develop while rolled up in a horny cover- 
ing. Under normal conditions this sheath is shed early in the de- 
velopment of the feather. Sometimes if the bird is kept until the 
molting period the new feathers will develop normally. 
In chickens and in any growing birds, interference with nutrition 
such as intestinal catarrh will cause retardation of the feather de- 
velopment in the molting period. Molting exerts such a drain upon 
the strength of birds that only a well nourished bird is able to molt 
normally. As a result, birds are more inclined to become diseased 
during molting than afterwards. 
REFERENCES ‘ 
1. Dickson. Botulism. A cause of limberneck in chickens. J. Am. 
Vet. Med. Ass., Vol. 8, 1917, p. 612. 
9. Hebrant et Antoine. <A propos de la goutte ou diathése urique. Ann. 
de Méd. Vét., T. 58, 1909, p. 321. 
3. Klee. Die hauptsichlichsten Geflugel-Krankheiten. Leipsig. 1905. 
