CAUSE AND CURE OF SICKNESS 



165 



any worse or seem to be any better; 

 they have warm mash for morning feed 

 and wheat noon and night. — F. C. H. 



Answer— I am afraid that your chick- 

 ens are too crowded in their roosting 

 quarters and that they get too warm at 

 night and come out into the cool morn- 

 ing air and in this way take cold. Or 

 the open end may be towards the night 

 breeze. They evidently have, for some 

 cause, slight colds. Bluestone, or ger- 

 mazone in the water is an excellent cure 

 and by adding chopped onions and a lit- 

 tle red pepper to the mash, should cure 

 them. One teaspoonful of red pepper 

 for every twelve hens is the dose. Rub 

 the head well with kileroup. See roup 

 cures in this book. 



Cough and Sneeze — Will you please 

 tell me what is the matter with my 

 birds? I have several that cough or 

 sneeze, I do not know which. They 

 will shake their heads and "holler." 

 One can hear them quite a distance. Will 

 you please tell me the disease and rem- 

 edy? — B. J., Tucson, Ariz. 



Answer — Your fowls have bronchitis 

 and perhaps some influenza. Give them 

 bread and milk for supper, and a quinine 

 pill and half a teaspoonful of red pepper 

 mixed with butter. And see that they 

 do not sleep in a draught or in a house 

 where the rain comes in on them. Also 

 give them each five drops of eucalyptus 

 oil on a bit of bread or in half a tea- 

 spoonful of honey. 



Comb Discolored — I have a White 

 Leghorn cock two years old; he has al- 

 ways been healthy, but for the last two 

 months I notice that his comb and wat- 

 tles turned a deep purple and would 

 remain so for days, then they would 

 change to a natural color again, but only 

 for a day or so, and then turn purple 

 again. He seems to be healthy and vig- 

 orous in every way. Now, can you tell 

 me what can be the matter with him 

 and what I can do for him, or if it 

 would be wise to use him any further 

 for breeding purposes? — Mrs. L. S. 



Answer — The comb tells quite a little 

 story of what is going on in the organs 

 of the whole body. Any change in the 

 appearance of the comb is indicative of 

 a disturbance in some other part of the 

 bird. 



The dark colored comb is an indica- 

 tion of a disordered liver and indiges- 



tion. The dark comb is one of the first 

 symptoms noticed in congestion of the 

 liver and most cases of this come from 

 an overfeeding of a ration too rich in 

 starch elements, such as too much po- 

 tatoes or bread in the table scraps, and 

 insufficient exercise. I do not know how 

 you are feeding your fowls, but I would 

 recommend you to put a little Epsom 

 salts into the drinking water, or you can 

 give him alone a small half teaspoonful 

 in a tablespoonful of water, and put in 

 the drinking water of the whole flock 

 ten drops of tincture of nux vomica to 

 a pint of water. Feed plenty of green 

 food and more meat than you are now 

 giving; keep this up for a week and 

 then turn the birds out on a grass range 

 if possible, otherwise give to the birds 

 as scratching material the waste from 

 an alfalfa hay mow and allow them only 

 a little grain, wheat, and make them 

 scratch hard for that. It would not be 

 advisable to use the male bird for breed- 

 ing. Breed only from the most vigor- 

 ous stock you have. 



Why Combs Are White — We have 

 two Buff Orpington hens that are sick. 

 They mope around and do not eat. Their 

 heads and gills are almost white, and 

 sometimes one is almost blue. They 

 look as though they have lice, but they 

 have not. Can you give me some ad- 

 vice as to how to treat them? Thanking 

 you in advance, I am, respectfully, 

 A. G. O. 



Answer — The comb tells quite a little 

 story as to what is going on in the 

 organs of the whole body. The normal 

 condition of the comb presents a healthy 

 look that the poultrymen call the "stan- 

 dard red." Any deviation from this red 

 is an indication of changed action in 

 the workings of the organ, or to a 

 change in the vitality of the whole bird. 

 The light colored comb shows an anemic 

 state of the bird and is a sign of under- 

 feeding, lice, poor ventilation, and ab- 

 sence of green vegetable food, impure 

 water and uncleanly surroundings. 



As you say nothing of the feeding 

 and treatment of the birds, I am unable 

 to say which of these conditions fits 

 your case. I think probably they are 

 infested with lice or their houses with 

 mites, and the only remedy is the ex- 

 termination of these. 



Catarrh — Can you please tell me 

 what the trouble is when chickens cough 



