156 Diseases of Pheasants. 



Where the part attacked is covered normally with feathers, 

 they become erect, dry and friable ; lastly, the feathers fall off, 

 leaving the skin denuded and covered with crusts. The 

 disease is not as a rule a fatal one, but it brings on debility 

 and wasting and may terminate in death. 



The treatment is to wash and soften the affected parts with 

 soap and warm water, and then to remove as much of the 

 deposits as possible, dressing the raw surfaces with carbolic 

 acid and soft soap in the proportion of one to twenty once a 

 day. Various other remedies have been tried, such as a mixture 

 of six parts of glycerine and one of iodine, or sahcyhc ointment 

 (1:10) ; but the carbolic acid treatment is the one in general 

 use. All infected birds should be at once isolated and treated, 

 and all the coops and runs should be thoroughly cleaned and 

 disinfected. 



Scurfy Legs. 



Pheasants hatched under farmyard hens are not infre- 

 quently liable to what are known as scurfy legs. This objec- 

 tionable disorder depends on the presence of minute parasites 

 {Sarcoptes mutans) which live under the scales of the legs 

 and upper part of the toes, where they set up an irritation, 

 causing the formation of a white, powdery matter, that raises 

 the scales and forms rough crusts, which sometimes become 

 very large. When these crusts are broken off and examined 

 with a microscope, or even a good hand lens, they will be 

 found to be filled with the female parasites, generally distended 

 with eggs. The crust itself may be compared to the crumb 

 of dry bread ; but the parasites are to be found only in those 

 parts which are kept moist by the skin. Thej' appear to 

 cause great irritation to the bird. This disease is propagated 

 by infection. It is seen in fanciers' yards where the poultry 

 are closely confined together, and has been found affecting 

 turkeys, pheasants, partridges, and even small birds in aviaries. 

 The treatment is very simple. The legs may be soaked in 

 warm water, and the crusts removed, and the legs washed 



