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August 2 1909 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
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<2 Phe Poultry Yard: § & 
Diseases of Fowls. 
&. BRAGSHAW, in the ‘Agricultural 
Gazette of N.S,W.’ 
(Continued from last Issue.) 
meee Bound i 
Sometimes a hen is unable to lay her 
ge, which blocks up the passages from 
the oviduct. Unless she is relieved, the 
Tesult must be fatal sooner. or later... A 
hen 80 affected will be seen; to visit the’ 
Nest repeatedly without result, and will 
show general distress, with a ‘depression 
of the wings and tail. The stoppage may 
® the result: of contraction of the egg. 
Passage, or an abnormally large egg. , If. 
® latter, the remedy is easy; but onen 
the former is the cause, ‘then the matter 
ig More serious. For large eggs, which: 
°8n be discovered by an examination of 
the bird, the vent should be softened. by 
Silad. oil, followed by an injection of the 
*8me if not effectual within an hour,, 
®at'care’must be taken in handling or 
Making an injection, for if the egg, be 
broken) the fresult, will probably, ‘be 
fatal, Benefit has ‘been derived also from, 
the holding of the bird above a jug of hot 
water, allowing the steam to enter the 
vent. Contraction of the vent is generally 
accompanied by inflammation, either the 
cause or the result of the contraction, 
This can be discerned by heat of the part 
and ‘everishness of the bird. As. an’ 
internal remedy homeopathic tincture of 
aconite should be given. The vent and 
surroundings also should be fomented with 
a week solution of aconite. 
‘Dr. Greene, writing on this ea in 
G Poultry,’ England, says: — 
The passage of the first egg with every : 
pullet is always a process which is some- 
what. prolonged, but which seldom’ has 
other than a successful termination. A-. 
part from this, however, an. occasionally 
and exceptionally. large egg may pass 
successfully through the oviduct in its 
plastic state, put on the shell becomiag 
hardened in its short sojourn in the’ 
cldata, it will encounter an outlet which, : 
though of the normal size, is out of all: 
proportion to the gigantic ovum to which ; 
itiis expected to giye passage, Or, again, 
a somewhat similiar, condition arises when 
the ogg is of the normal size, but outlet is 
narrow. It is a good plan to watch those 
birds that are about to lay. Should they’ 
visit’the nest frequently during the course 
of the day and leave without depositing, 
an egg, it is almost certain that something 
is wrong; and when a pullet isin such a 
33 
state there are three good remedies that 
may be tried. The firstis: Take the bird 
up gently, and hold her so that her stern 
is.over the mouth of a jug of boiling 
water, that the steam arising therefrom 
may get to the parts and help to relax and 
procure the delivery of the egg. If this 
has not the desired effect after an hour’s 
rest in a quiet coop, the vent should be 
oiled gently with a feather, and the hen 
given a powder composed of 1 grain of 
calomel and one-twelth grain of tartar 
emetic. The powder may be mixed in a 
bolus cf food, and put into the bird’s 
crop. If it be acting properly a marked 
improvement should be noticeable in the 
bird a few hours afterwards, while a 
second powder. given two days suba 
sequently will probably complete the 
cure. It is advisable for a while to feed 
the fowl sparingly on a somewhat low 
diet, withholding any fat-forming food, 
and giving lime-water to drink, after the 
system is rid of the powder. 
(To be Continued.) 
The Foolish Broody Hen. 
The hen she is a foolish bird and though 
she sings no, lays, 
She lays her eggs and favours us in other 
little ways; 
Belike the heroines of old, she nye her 
young life down 
To give us white-meat crispy fried with 
bread-crumbs rich and brown. 
In case she be a rooster, she alarms us. 
with her crow, 
To warn us in our drowsy beds ’tis six. 
o’clock below ; : 
But, oh, her toil is purposeless—of | com- 
“mon sence the dregs, © 
_ Those times in stubborn: hopefulness sho 
sits on china eggs. 
Now perseverence is a trait by which 
success is won | 
But perseverence in this Wits is: highly 
overdone ;. 
And though the wisest of us makes an 
error now and then, 
For graceless repetition just commend me. 
to the hen, 
She mounts her nest of china eggs, and 
though she never gets © 
A solitary chicken for her patience, still 
she ‘ sets.’ 
Experience may teach us of . its wisdom 
now and then, 
But never seems successful i in the teach- 
I ing of the hen. 
saws Foley, i in . Success Magazine. \ 
