Diseases Poultry are Liable to. 
ii9 
injuries from blows, or may be associated with scrofula and tuberculosis and persistent in-breeding. The 
symptoms generally noticed are sluggishness, comb white and pale, and an inclination to lameness, the 
evacuations at times being soft and watery, often causing the bird to befoul itself. Fowls kept in small 
yards and not supplied with green food have a distinct tendency to this disease, and stock bred from birds 
thus contaminated are prone to the same complaint. The birds affected should be removed to a quiet, warm 
place, and fed sparingly with bread soaked in milk, or boiled rice, avoiding cayenne pepper or stimulants of 
any kind. A quarter teaspoonful of Epsom salts should be given fasting each morning, and the drinking 
water slightly acidulated with nitric acid, in the proportion of lo drops of the acid to each quart of drinking 
water. 
Peritonitis. — This is an inflammation of the membrane lining the abdomen and covering the various 
organs that it contains, and is a common cause of death amongst Poultry. Violence from outside the body 
will occasionally cause the disease, but the usual cause is the rupture of the egg-passage or blood-vessels, 
and also pus in the cavity arising from an abscess. The symptoms are : The bird is feverish and hot, the 
temperature ranging from 103 to no degrees Fahr. The bird is restless, and appears to suffer intense pain ; 
the abdomen is full, hot, and very tender to the touch. As the disease progresses the bird falls on one side, 
with the legs drawn up close to the body ; the breath is hot, and the breathing rapid. Treatment is rarely 
successful, but in some instances opium given twice a day in i-grain pills, to relieve the pain, has brought 
about recovery. The food should be of an animal nature, warm meat gravy, and milk in equal 
proportions being the best. 
Pip is a symptom of some trouble with the air-passages, which compels the fowl to breathe through the 
mouth, and the air passing over the tongue causes the latter to become dry and scaly, and sometimes very 
hard at the tip. The mouth should be washed out with a weak solution of chlorinated soda, a little Epsom 
salts being mixed in the soft food, and iron tonic added to the drinking water. Pip is a forerunner of roup, 
and caused generally by exposure to damp or wet weather. The best preventive is to place 10 drops of 
tincture of aconite to each quart of the drinking water as soon as the Fowls are noticed to have caught cold, 
but on no account should the hard substance on the tongue be removed by the attendant. 
Pneumonia. — This is inflammation of the lungs, accompanied by a distressing cough by which mucous 
is coughed up. The breathing is quick and distressed. The bird must be removed to a warm house or 
coop free from draught, and fed on rice and milk only, cooked and given warm, rubbing eucalyptus oil on 
the base of the neck and between the shoulders, under the feathers. If the bird is in a very weak state, raw 
egg or brandy and egg should be given twice per day, and under the treatment will often recover. 
Prolapse. — See Profusion of the Egg-passage. 
Rheumatism. — This is noticeable by strong contraction of the feet and toes and stiffness of the joints, 
and may be caused by cramp, especially in young chickens. A little nitric acid given in the drinking water, 
and the joints and parts affected rubbed with eucalyptus oil and wrapped in flannel, will generally improve 
the condition of the birds, if the latter are placed in a warm, dry house or coop. 
Round Worm. — This worm is quite common amongst Poultry, but does little harm unless present in 
large numbers. It is found in length from half an inch to four or even five inches. It is white in colour, 
with a head similar to the point of, a pencil, the tail being blunt and round. If a few are present no 
symptoms will be noticed, but when present in large numbers, and struggling for room and food, the bird 
will soon exhibit signs of their presence, often causing stoppage of the bowels from irritation anddiarrhcea, which 
gradually weakens the bird. This worm is rarely thought of until death takes place, and an examination 
shows that they are in evidence. A worm may often be found in the droppings, but if not noticed is quickly 
eaten by other birds. To eradicate the worms, give every other morning for a week (fasting) a pill composed 
of 2 grains of santonin or enough areca-nut to cover a threepenny piece, followed an hour later with a 
quarter of a teaspoonful of Epsom salts. All droppings from infected birds should either be burnt or 
removed to a remote distance. 
