506 



COMMERCIAL POULTRY RAISING 



or squat down with outstretched wings until they die. As death 

 approaches the breathing becomes labored, and at intervals the 

 poor little creatures give utterance to a faint shrill cry, indi- 

 cating that they are seized with paroxysms of intense pain. 

 Most of these victims have the peculiar form of body described 

 as short back, which results from the distension of the abdomen. 

 The most disastrous phase of this complaint is the heavy 

 mortality. The losses vary from 50 to 80 per cent of the chicks 



{Courtesy Cornell Experiment Station) 



Fig. 312. — Well-proportioned poultry house. Front wall is of novelty 

 siding, ends and rear wall are made of matched lumber covered with patent 

 roofing, as is the roof. Note position of doors, curtain frames, windows and 

 ventilator. 



affected, and often it is impossible to raise any of them. Further- 

 more, it is questionable if it is advisable to try and raise any of 

 them, in view of the probability that they may later become what 

 is termed bacillus carriers. Because those that do not succumb 

 still carry the germs in their bodies, lodged in the ova — the un- 

 developed eggs, which are ultimately laid, perhaps, and thus 

 transmit the disease from one generation to the next. 



