i 9 4 
The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 
to be addicted to it for a few hours in warm weather. The inference is obvious ; keep cool fresh 
water always in reach, and many cases at least would be avoided. Idleness is also a great cause, 
and we have known a whole yard cured by burying corn in the ground, so as to give the birds 
occupation in scratching. It is for this reason very useful to hang up a whole cabbage by a string 
just within reach of the birds ; by its bobbing about it gives occupation and green food at the 
same time. A simple temporary remedy, which may lead to a cure, is to file or pare away the 
edges at the tip of both mandibles of the offending bird, so that the beak will not meet at the 
tip. It can still pick up corn, but a feather slips through, and with persistent ill-success, the habit 
is often abandoned. 
FLEDGING. — We have already spoken of the ordinary care of chickens during this critical 
period. Where they appear to be suffering much, and the weather is bad, great benefit will be 
derived from seasoning the food with the No. 3 mixture (page 141), and the addition of tincture 
of iron to the water. Warm milk should also be given to drink. “ Parrish’s Chemical Food ” will 
also be of marked benefit, half a tea-spoonful daily to each chicken. 
FRACTURES. — We once saw an old hen — very old she was — with a wooden leg ; but in general 
fowls are too lively in their habits to bring any great credit to the surgeon, the bones almost always 
setting more or less out of position. The only exception, perhaps, is fracture of the shank, which, 
on account of its straight and accessible character, is “ set ” without difficulty, placing the bones in 
position, and securing with a splint formed of filtering or porous brown paper, saturated with white 
of egg, which hardens as it dries. Thigh-bones and wings must be bandaged the best way possible ; 
perhaps in the case of a broken wing it is best merely to tie all the feathers tightly together, after 
putting them in position, at about an inch from the end. We would always do our best with a 
valuable hen, as she might recover sufficiently for breeding, even if spoilt for the show-pen. 
FROST-BITE. — This seldom occurs in England, but in the more severe climate of North 
America large-combed breeds especially often suffer in those appendages. The best treatment 
is vigorous friction with snow or cold water, afterwards applying glycerine. Prevention is, 
how r ever, better than cure, and in most cases can be ensured by oiling the combs and wattles with 
a sponge every morning. This treatment both protects the tissues, and entirely prevents water 
adhering and freezing on the wattles when the fowls drink. 
Gapes. — This is a disease of chickens or young fowls, and consists in the windpipe being 
infested with small reddish worms, causing the chicken to gape for breath, waste away, and finally 
die from suffocation. The worm is known as Sclerostorna syngamus ; and in a memoir upon the 
subject presented to the Linnaean Society by Dr. Cobbold, and which lies before us as we write, 
he states that it has been observed in the trachea of the turkey, fowl, pheasant, partridge, 
duck, lapwing, black stork, magpie, hooded crow, green woodpecker, starling, and swift. The 
probability however is that all birds are more or less subject to it. The worm is rather less than 
three-quarters of an inch long, of a pale reddish colour ; and the number in one chicken usually 
varies from two to a dozen. It is almost always found double ; a smaller worm being “forked” 
on about one-fourth from the upper end, like the letter Y ; which latter is the male, in this parasite 
-permanently attached to the female. Propagation is effected by eggs, which are about t 2 \- 0 th of an 
inch in diameter. 
So much is perfectly simple and well ascertained ; but the mode in which these worms enter 
