Jl^VE 1, 1903.] SuppJemenL to the. " Trojdcal AgricuUaist.^^ 
is generally easily caved by pouring small quanti- 
ties of warm water down the bird's throat, at the 
same time work wiih the hand tlie moisture 
among the grain. Affected birds should, of course, 
be couped up and given no feed until the crop 
lias emptied itself. Should the crop fail to 
empty by this means, an operatio!i is necessary, 
by cutting the crop open at the upper end and 
removing every particle of food. A surgou's 
needle is required for this work, but the necessar 
curve can be got on any ordinary needle by 
heating red hot, and then bending as wanted. 
Crop Soft. — In this case the crop is swollen un, 
but is soft to the touch. To empty it, hold the 
bird by the legs and squeeze out as much of the 
liquid as possible, but care must be taken not to 
bold the bird long in this condition, owing to 
liability of chokiiig. Then place a small quantity 
of effervescent powder, such as EnVs F^uit S dt, 
in the bird's mouth and immediately wash it 
down with warm water ; give doses until tlie 
crop is fairly full ; coop the fowl up for a day or 
so without feed or drinking water, and a cure 
will be very soon effected. But do not let the 
bird have immediate access to feed or water in 
large quantities. 
jEffff Bound. — This complaint, generally caused 
by the bird being too fat, is noticeable by a 
fullness and constant visiting of the nest in 
attempts to pass an egg. A good deal of trouble 
and patience is required in treatment, also great 
care must be exercised to prevent the breakage 
of the egg whilst being passed out. The usual 
treatment is to soften the posterior i^orlious of 
the fowl by holding it over boiling hot water, 
arid thus thoroughly steaming for a quarter of an 
hour at a time ; also inject salad oil into tl.e vent. 
Effi/ Eatiny. — Many fowl-yards are troubled 
with this vice, and some birds are very determined 
and hard to break off the habit; but it will be 
foui\d that a mixture of kerosene and mustard 
made tip in an empty egg-shell, and kept 
continually before the offenders for a few days, 
will soon cause them to cease breaking good eggs 
for the purpose of eating their contents. 
Feather Eating- — This is a vice prevalent among 
poultry kept in small runs, over-fed, geuerally 
badly kept, aud in want of exercise. Lice on the 
plumage generally starts the habit. Fowls 
picking at the vermin, a feather or two are 
drawn out, and thus the taste is acquired. As 
a remedy, dig over the whole of the run, dust 
each bird with insect powder, particularly around 
the vent, at the same time pluck out all lice nit-i 
which are found, principally round the vent, 
damp the plumage with some unpleasant mixture 
such as Jeye's Fluid, feed rather sparingly, chiefly 
on grain, whicli should be partially buried to give 
scratching exercise. To the soft food add sulphur 
and salt; give plenty of green stuff'; cabbages 
hung up give good jumping exercise. Moulting 
cooks in well-kept yards are sometimes attacked 
by hens, the new tail feathers being the attraction. 
• In this case at once remove the cock to a pen by 
himself until the feathers are well grown. 
Frequently the heus turn their attention to the 
cocji's comb, which they pick, making a large, 
raw sore. This somel imes happens in the breeding 
season, when the cock cannot be taken out of the 
pen. The best plan is to every day smear the 
comb with carbolated vaseline. 
Leg Weakness. — This is not a disease, but a 
complaint, principally confined to cockerels of 
the long-legged breeds, such as Langshans, the 
weight of their bodies being too much for tl)eir 
long shanks. Prevention is decidedly i)etter than 
cure, therefore if breeders of lanky chickens 
would always mix a little dry bone-meal in the 
soft food there would be but little leg weakness. 
It is often the biggest "youngster" in the fiock 
that gets badly infected with the tired feeling, 
and has to squat on his hocks to feed, li: he is 
not valuable, use him for the table ; but if a good 
pure-bred bird, keep him in a roomy coop or small 
pen, well covered with sand or straw ; give good, 
sound, nourishing food, plenty of greenstuff, bone 
dust, and tonic in the drinking water. 
Houjj is the greatest scourge of the poultry yard 
in this State, and the want of knowledge how to 
treat it has led to the loss of large numbers of 
poultry, and been the means of damping tlie 
ardour of many poultry breeders. At tlie offset, 
I might say, before going into details about tlie 
disease, that it is well worthy of a good deal of 
consideration being given to the best means of 
taking all precautions to prevent the disease 
breaking out. One of the chief causes is in 
allowing diseased fowls to come into contact with 
the healthy ones, either by association with the 
flock of ■ a neiglibour's Ijirds or from stock 
purchased from a diseased yard. Contagion is 
very easily spread, and although au apparently 
heulthj' bird may be bought, yet it will carry th« 
diseased germs witli it. Therefoie the greatest 
care must be exercised in introducing strange 
birds to an already healthy yard. CiirefuUy 
examine all new arrivals, squeeze the uos^a-ils to 
see if there is any discharge, examine the throat 
aud wiudpide for any appearanca of yellow spots, 
aud if there is the sligiUest doubt about the 
health, quarantine the new arrival for a week or 
ten days. 
Roup generally starts with a slight cold, the 
symptoms of which are already described. Should 
the poultry-keeper be so indifferent or careless as 
to allow birds to remain running about with colds, 
roup is likely to develop, and wil' have got such a 
hold on the stock that the death of some, and the 
distressing symptoms shown by others, will at 
last have had the effect of drawing their owner's 
attention to tlie fact that his fowls are seriously 
ill, and that something will have to be done to 
prevent further loss or the total extinction of his 
flock. Tlie symptoms by this time will be well 
developed —s>volleu eyes, tilled with a thick cheesy 
matter, nostrils also discharging or clogged up, 
and mouth much ulcerated, loss of appetite, 
difficulty in breathing, and great weakness. Of 
cures there are hundreds, but whatever remedy is 
adopted, regular handling once or twice i» day is 
necessary, which, besides being disagreeable work, 
also requires a fair amount of skill in carrying 
out ; and even if a cure is effected it is not wise 
to use a bird that has been badly infected iu th(i 
