May 1, 1908 
A peculiar feature of the ailment is that 
while adult fowls are rarely affected, birds 
imported from England to any of the 
Sydney suburbs usually take it, but not 
until the season of its appearance among 
the chicks. That is, fowls arriving in say 
May, June, or July take the disease in 
the following March or April, the season 
when it is most rife; indeed it is nothing 
unusual to see the English birds covered 
with the eruptions, every other adult in 
the yard being free, the inference being 
that the latter had it during chickenshood 
and are thus immune from further attacks, 
Ill effects rarely result to adult birds, but 
many instances occur of chickens, when 
better of the disease, having during its 
course acquired roup or other ailments. 
The first noticeable symptoms are small 
pale eruptions or warts appearing about 
the eyes, head, and nostrils, gradually 
extending over the comb, and eyes, some 
specimens becoming actually blind, when 
they have to be hand fed till the eruption 
or scab ripensand falls off, while sometimes 
the case is so severe that one or both eyes 
are totally destroyed. 
Mrs Lance Rawson, the authoress of the 
“Australian Poultry Book” 1898, then 
residing in Queensland, told the writer 
that warts were the most terrible scourge 
that Queensland poultry-keepers were 
subject to. In her work she says, “I 
conclude that warts are peculiar to the 
warmer parts of the colonies, as I have 
never seen it in the colder parts. It 
comes like a scaly eruption, generally 
about the head, eyes, and nostrils, and 
by degrees the whole head is covered, the 
chickens frequently going blind, and if 
not hand fed will die of starvation. It is 
wonderfully infectious, seeming to be in 
the air. I once had three chickens affected, 
and isolated them at once, but in ten 
days I had thirty in the same state. The 
disease has baffled and disheartened many 
poultry men, 20 or 30 per cent. of the 
chickens frequently being lost.’’ 
In America, the disease, when it occurs 
is of so mild a form as not to waraent any 
college experiments, and is dealt with 
lightly in a book on poultry diseases of 
that country, as follows :—“Chicken pox 
is known by the scabby ulcers appearing 
on any part of the body, and principally 
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on the head and wings. The ulcers exude 
a liquid, and present themselves in masses 
and have no great depth. Together with 
the eruption the bird shows great thirst, 
and a rise of temperature.” 
Lewis Wright. the well known English 
authority, says;—‘ The diseaae is rare in 
England, but frequent in hot climates, 
such as the Cape, Australia, and America. 
It begins with a whity brown excrescence 
near the base of the beak, and extends 
rapidly, becoming yellowish as it does 
so. It also invades the head and neck, 
Tf the nodules are broken, they exude 
matter, The complaint is manifestly 
contagious, and isolation and disinfection 
are the first measures.” 
The first symptom is the fever, or incu- 
bation stage, and rarely observed. After 
this the rash or eruptions appear; they 
then grow and spread, change appearance 
gradually, ripen, become scabby and dry 
and ultimately fall off, but not infre- 
quently, as with children, leaving some 
ill results. We have.yet no knowledge of 
the extent of the fever stage of the disease. 
The observant poultry.man will, how- 
ever, witness a complete change in 
the droppings of the fowls, the well- 
known appearance of that from healthy 
fowls being changed-to a soft yellowish 
matter, at once indicative of ill-health. 
The eruption then follows, and, altnough 
locally termed warts, such term can only 
be applied to the later stages of the disease 
when the eruptions become dry and scabby 
These at the commencement are small, 
pink in colour and of irregu!ar size, and 
most noticeable on the comb, which in- 
crease in size ultimately running into one 
another, resulting in a large patch of 
eruptions, which in the ordinary course 
would soon dry up aud fall off. Rather 
than this, however, when the ripening 
stage is reached they become itchy, the 
fowls scratch the healing spots. the scab 
is prematurely removed leaving a raw 
patch of flesh which is further irritated 
by mosquitoes, the three or four weeks 
stage of the disease being thus frequently 
lengthened into double that time, and 
often with the loss of one or both eyes. 
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25 
It most often happens that chicken-pox 
brings other ailments, roup and diarrhcea 
frequently resulting and contributing to 
great mortality. 
_ In the whole history of poultry diseases 
in this country few have received such 
varied and contradictory treatment as has 
chicken-pox or warts. 
In almost every instance the fact. has 
been overlooked that the disease is one 
of the blood, and that these eruptions 
have to go through a stage of growth, 
terminating in the ripening of the pox, 
consequently the remedial measures, just 
as with measles and chicken-pox in human 
beings, must be those of an internal nature, 
Together with the many things on the 
market for this disease, almost every 
poultry-man has some home remedy, or 
as he is pleased to call it a cure. One 
man told ine he cured his fowls by rub- 
ing on the sores grease and ashes; another 
that gunpowder and grease was voo0d; 
another cured some Leghorns with kero- 
sene, and giving sulphur pills. The fact 
remains that several of the above admit - 
that they could not cure the very small 
chickens, while it is quite possible that 
those of larger growth which they claim 
to have cured would in the absence of any 
treatment have recovered. 
Mre. Lance Rawson, the Queensland 
authority, evidently realised this when 
she says ‘I think the disease is a blood 
disorder and the only remedy I have 
found is to mix plerty of sulphur in their 
food, and give them a good deal of boiled 
vegetables every day.” Lewis Wright 
saysthe same thing viz, “That small 
doses of sulphur should be given internally 
with tonics and green food, and the spots 
painted with a 2 per cent. of formalin. 
When the disease is first noticed an aper- 
ient should be given.” 
(To be continued). 
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