168 



MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



also affect the egg laying, will make 

 small eggs and chickens will be weakly, 

 as there will be preponderance of fat in 

 the eggs from which they are hatched. 

 A laying hen should not be anything 

 like as fat as those you describe. 



most incurable, but the treatment I have 

 indicated may help him and prolong 

 his life. 



Feather Pulling — Will you kindly 

 tell me the cause of chickens pulling 

 feathers from each other and eating 

 them? We feed them wheat, cracked 

 corn, etc., also ground bone. — G. H. T. 



Answer — Various causes have been 

 assigned for this habit, the most prob- 

 able being improper rations and idle- 

 ness. In some instances it is caused by 

 mites or lice. As in some cases, the 

 habit is due to insufficient animal mat- 

 ter in the rations, or to feeding too long 

 on a single kind of grain, particularly 

 corn, one of the first measures adopted 

 should be a well-balanced ration, con- 

 taining skim milk, meat, bone, veget- 

 ables or green feed and frequently va- 

 ried. The Geneva, New York, experi- 

 ment station applied to the feathers lard 

 or vaseline in which powdered aloes had 

 been mixed. After continuing this treat- 

 ment for some time the habit disap- 

 peared, due to the disagreeable taste of 

 the aloes. The skin and feathers should 

 be carefully examined for lice and mites 

 and if these are found the remedies 

 recommended for such parasite should 

 be applied. 



Heart Trouble — I have a very fine 

 rooster, two years old. For the past 

 two months he has been troubled by 

 some difficulty in breathing. At times 

 his comb and wattles become purple for 

 two or three minutes, then the color 

 gets red again. I have looked for canker 

 but cannot find anything that seems 

 wrong. Have used vaseline but it has 

 not done any good. It seems to me more 

 like asthma or bronchitis. Wish I could 

 cure him for he is a valuable bird. — 

 Mrs. I. G. 



Answer — I am sorry to say that your 

 bird has heart trouble. This has been 

 brought on by some great excitement, 

 such as fighting, fright or being chased. 

 It may possibly be fat on the heart, 

 which weakens that useful organ. You 

 might try giving him in the drinking 

 water nux vomica and sulphur comp. 2x 

 twelve tablets to each pint of drinking 

 water. Be careful to give him plenty 

 of green food and grit, besides his or- 

 dinary food. Cases of this kind are al- 



Hemorrhage of Oviduct — I wish a 

 little information in regard to a Leg- 

 horn hen that died yesterday. She ap- 

 parently choked to death ; made a queer 

 noise. We opened her and found at the 

 bottom of her egg bag a large clot of 

 black blood. Can you tell me what it 

 was and if there is any cure for it? 



Answer — Your White Leghorn hen 

 had a hemorrhage of the oviduct ; this 

 is excited by any of the causes which 

 lead to congestion and inflammation and 

 may be counteracted by green feed and 

 the suppression of egg foods, stimulants, 

 red pepper, etc. It sometimes occurs 

 from trying to pass too large an egg. 

 There is no cure that I know of, as 

 death occurs before one finds out what 

 is the matter. 



Indigestion and Liver Complaint — 

 My hens are on a strike, and their 

 faces and combs are becoming pale or 

 yellow. What is it?— I. S. B. 



Answer — You have been overfeeding, 

 and now your fowls have indigestion. 

 Indigestion in fowls is the cause of 

 many ailments. With your birds it has 

 been brought on by lack of grit, with 

 not sufficient roughness (or filling) and 

 too little exercise. How can indigestion 

 be prevented? By dieting. Feed more 

 bulky foods, such as alfalfa, and less 

 solids. A continued grain diet of wheat, 

 corn, barley,, if few in quantities and 

 not varied by bulky foods, vegetables, 

 etc., will bring on indigestion, especially 

 when but little exercise is taken. An 

 insufficiency of clean water is also con- 

 ducive to this trouble. Clover, alfalfa, 

 any of the green stuffs or vegetables, 

 usually fed to fowls, are absolutely nec- 

 essary preservatives of health. Now, as 

 to a remedy: Your fowls' indigestion 

 has taken the phase of biliousness. Give 

 each affected hen one of Carter's Little 

 Liver Pills, and give the whole flock a 

 teaspoonful of baking soda in a quart 

 of water every day for a week. Give no 

 other water. Why do I recommend 

 soda? Because it helps to emulsify the 

 too much fat in the bowels. You might 

 give a teaspoonful of Epsom salts in 

 the water for a week, to carry off the 

 bile which is overflowing into the in- 

 testine's and being taken into the system. 

 It is not kindness to feed your fowls 



