FEATHER EATING A VICE 491 



Next swab off the wound with the antiseptic solution, and 

 place the fowl in a clean, comfortable coop to rest. Food should 

 be withheld for about twenty-four hours, and then only light 

 feeds of an easily digested mash should be given at the regular 

 feeding hours. In about a week's time the bird will have recov- 

 ered sufficiently to be returned to the flock. 



Some authorities advocate making the incision at the right of 

 the neck and at the top of the crop, at the point where it is 

 quite easy to see the contents of the crop, owing to the trans- 

 parent nature of the flesh at this point. After the contents are 

 removed the cut is allowed to heal naturally, without stitches, 

 which is practicable because the opening is made in the top of 

 the crop wall. In either method the subject must be kept iso- 

 lated and on a very light diet. If permitted to join the flock too 

 soon, the other birds will be attracted by the wound, and they 

 will peck and aggravate it. 



Mortality. — Many poultrymen consider it rather futile to op- 

 erate for crop bound because the chances for recovery are dis- 

 couragingly small. This is true in a sense, yet in most cases 

 death is not the result of the operation, but because the com- 

 plaint had reached an advanced stage. It is easy to understand 

 that as soon as fermentation starts, poisons are formed, which 

 are quickly absorbed by the victim's body, and which will even- 

 tually prove fatal. Or the crop may be so enlarged and create 

 such pressure against the windpipe that breathing is made ex- 

 ceedingly difficult, and this is a great strain on the heart. As a 

 general rule, if the fowl's comb has not turned a purplish color 

 as the result of the trouble, it is well worth while trying to 

 operate. If, however, the bird is already weakened, one had 

 better use "the axe." 



Feather Pulling. — One of the most distressing, troublesome and 

 unmanageable habits of fowls is feather pulling, or feather eat- 

 ing, and it is this vice that frequently brings about a crop bound 

 condition. Sometimes the feathers are merely plucked, for no 

 apparent reason except the "joy" of plucking them, and at 

 other times they are eaten as fast as they are removed. Quite 



