March 1, 1909 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
£2 %he Poultry Yard. ? * 
Diseases of Fowls. 
G. BRAGSHAW, in the ‘ Agricultural 
Gazette of N.S.W.’ 
(Continued from last issue.) 
—Abcess.— 
This is the name as applied to a 
collection of pus or matter, and may form 
in any internal or external part of the 
fowl’s body; sometimes the result of an 
accident, while often the cause is not 
apparent. : 
‘A common place for abcesses is the 
breastbone of growing cockerels, and 
usually situated about half way. up the 
breastbone, and may be any size from a 
marble to, in rare instances, that of a golf 
ball. The skin on this part of the fowl is 
very transparent, «nd the matter is quite 
liquid, its dark blue colour showing 
through the skin. These abcesses, or 
boils, are most easily treated, only re- 
quiring an incision, when the watery 
matter will run out. The wound should 
then be syringed with warm water, to 
which a few drops of disinfectant have 
been added, then dried. The slight 
incision will heal up without further 
treatment. 
The cause of gathering is usually sup- 
posed to be an injury to the breast -by 
flying on to the roosts, and why cockerels 
should be more liable to the trouble than 
pullets can only be explained on the 
ground that,as a rule, the breasts of 
pullets are better covered with flesh than 
the growing cockerels, whose breastbones 
are usually prominent; and it should be 
noted that, in two instances, when [ killed 
birds with the object of discovering the 
cause, in both the bone had been injured, 
it being the seat of the trouble. 
Another common location for abcesses, 
but of another form, is on the ball of the 
foot, and known as Bumble-foot. The 
commencement of this trouble is the 
thickening of the underparts of the foot, 
which ultimately become inflamed. The 
tissue under the skin becomes affected. a 
thick matter then forming. The pressure 
of the bird’s body on the part irritates 
the trouble, which, if not treated, gradually 
works into other parts of the foot and 
legs. 
The heavy breeds are most liable to 
the ailment, Dorkings in particular. At 
the game time I have seen many instances 
of it in Leghorns and Hamburgs, while it 
is not unusual in Bantams, particularly 
the feathered-legged breeds. Bumble-foot 
although at first a simple looking ailment, 
is really not so; for although slow in 
developinent, if not treated, usually 
accounts for the death of the subject. It 
is believed to be the result of a bruise from 
continually being kept on hard or stony 
ground; while many think it is caused by 
the fowl’s flying from a high perch on to 
the hard ground. In connection with the 
latter, I have had experience of keeping 
Brahmas which were’ never allowed to 
perch, and cases of Bumble-foot were in 
the flock, 
The remedial measures are, to pare the 
hard surface of the swelling and poultice 
frequently. If pus has formed, then two 
good clean cuts should be made across the 
wound in the form of a ><, and the 
matter squeezed out, Frequently this is 
of a cheesy nature, andj will have to be 
scraped out with a penknife. The wound 
31 
a ES 
Should then be washed out with carbolised 
water, or diluted Condy’s Fluid; the foot 
to be bandaged up with a clean wet cloth, 
and not removed for, say, a fortnight, at 
the enu of which time the wound will 
likely have healed, and no further trouble 
ensue. In cases where the disease has got 
into the tissues beyond the ball of the 
foot, it is difficult to effect a cure. Male 
birds are more frequent subjects of the 
disease than hens. In relation to this, 
and the abcess on the breastbone, low 
perches are advocated, which, if not wholly 
preventive, will be partially so. 
(Lo be Continued,) 
A Poisonous Weed to Poultry. 
The Government Poultry Expert (Mr. 
D. F. Laurie) has received from Mr. L. 
Senn, poultry breeder, of Port Pirie, a 
sample of a weed growing on his pro- 
perty. Mr. Senn forwarded it for 
indentification, believing that it was 
poisonous to fowls and ducks, An ex- 
amination by the Director of the Botanic 
Gardens (Dr. Holtze) had disclosed the 
fact that the weed is Lycium homium, of 
which the fruit and leaf are undoubtedly 
poisonous to poultry. 
Old Hens. 
A common complaint amongst those. 
who keep fowls as an adjunct to the farm 
is, that the Lirds do not lay a fair number 
of eggs, It is remarkable how such 
persons stand in their own light as regards 
the management of their poultry. They 
will persist in keeping their old hens yeac 
after year, instead of keeping early hatched 
pullets. We have repeatedly noticed that 
farmers who are offered a good price for 
pullets promptly sell them all off and re- 
tain the old hens. This simply means 
that the nearly worn-out old birds stop 
laying for two or three months, or, if they 
do lay, only produce two to three eggs, 
and then start to sit. Now, supposing 
that they were to sell off these pratically 
useless hens at even 1s. each, they would 
be really saving money. For, supposing 
a man has forty old hens, costing, say 2s. 
each for corn, he is actually paying at 
the rate of 2s. a head for them, and get- 
ting no return for his outlay. Now, 
suppose, further, that these forty old 
hens are disposed of, and forty pullets 
kept. If they are anything like worth 
keeping, they will pay for their keep twice 
over, and, in the same year, will be worth 
twice as much or more than the old use- 
less hens. 
Why should the poultry-keeper act 
differently to the dairy farmer? We do 
not find them sticking pertinaciously to 
old cows. If the cow neither gives 
sufficient milk to pay for its keep, nor 
puts on flesh, what does the dairyman 
do? He just puts her in the market and 
