The Veterinarian Part 30

SYMPTOMS: The first symptoms are similar to those of catarrh or cold. A clear, watery liquid escapes from the eyes and nostrils, the head is drawn in toward the body, the feathers appear rough, the breathing fast, the temperature rises from three to five degrees above normal. The bird walks about as if blind, sneezing, swallowing with difficulty, and showing signs of great weakness. If the mouth is opened small white spots or elevations will be seen on the back of the tongue. There may be diarrhoea of a green or yellow color. As the disease progresses the discharge from the nose and eyes becomes thick and stringy, obstructing the air pa.s.sages and gathering in large quant.i.ties between the eyelids.

The mouth, throat and tongue are very much inflamed and swollen and in most cases it is impossible for the bird to make a sound. Recovery is doubtful after the disease has reached this stage.

TREATMENT: Isolate the affected birds in some clean, warm, light, well ventilated quarters, excluding drafts. Dissolve thirty grains of Chlorate of Potash in one ounce of water and one ounce of Glycerine, and to the average sized fowl give one teaspoonful three or four times a day. To chicks give one-fourth the dose. When the sc.u.m loosens in the back part of the tongue, remove the sc.u.m gently, Care should be taken so as to prevent bleeding. Feed soft, nourishing food.

DOUBLE-YOLK EGGS

Eggs are frequently found with two yolks. This condition is produced by two ovary capsules bursting at about the same time and gaining entrance together into the oviduct where they are concealed in the same sh.e.l.l.

Double-yolked eggs are larger than normal and may injure the oviduct when expelled. When hatched, they produce twins or abnormal chicks.

DROPSY

(Ascites)

CAUSE: Generally due to irritating, indigestible food, causing inflammation of the membranous lining of the intestinal cavity.

SYMPTOMS: The abdomen becomes enlarged, is tender to the touch and contains a watery fluid, the movement of which can be heard in most cases by pressure on the swollen parts. The bird appears stupid, the comb pale and the appet.i.te poor.

TREATMENT: Unless the bird is very valuable, treatment is not advisable.

In case the bird is valuable, give one grain of Pota.s.sium Iodide twice daily in the feed or drinking water. Also feed nourishing food as beef-sc.r.a.ps, vegetables, wheat bran mashes, etc.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Photograph of chicken.]

PRIZE WINNING WHITE LEGHORN HEN.

EGG BOUND

(Difficult Laying; Obstruction of the Oviduct)

CAUSE: Due to the eggs being too large, the bird too fat, or to the absence of the secretions lubricating the oviduct.

SYMPTOMS: The first signs are scarcely noticeable but soon the feathers appear rough, the bird becomes dull and moves slowly, making frequent efforts to expel the egg.

TREATMENT: Remove the egg by injecting Sweet Oil, a.s.sisting the bird with gentle pressure. In some cases it is well to puncture the egg and collapse the sh.e.l.l. If the bird is very fat, reduce by careful feeding.

If the bird is of normal size, the trouble is probably due to the absence of lubricating secretions of the oviduct, in which case the following tonic should be given: Pulv. Ferri Sulphate, Pulv. Gentian Root, each one dram. Mix and make into thirty powders. Give one powder two or three times a day in their feed for a week or ten days.

EGG EATING

CAUSE: Is usually due to lack of sh.e.l.l-building material in the food; in such case the sh.e.l.l of the egg is thin and easily broken and the fowl craving the lime contained in the egg sh.e.l.l, naturally contracts the habit.

TREATMENT: Supply ground bone and oyster sh.e.l.ls. Feed green food such as cabbage, kale, potatoes, carrots, etc.

EGGS WITHOUT Sh.e.l.lS

(Soft-Sh.e.l.led Eggs)

CAUSE: Deficiency of sh.e.l.l material; or it is possible that fright sometimes causes premature expulsion of the eggs before the sh.e.l.l is formed.

TREATMENT: Feed ground bone, oyster sh.e.l.ls. They contain egg sh.e.l.l producing material. Perhaps the best results are obtained when mixed with wheat bran. Also feed vegetables such as cabbage, potatoes and carrots.

FEATHER PULLING

(Feather Eating)

CAUSE: Irritation of the skin due to lice, mites or to lack of exercise and improper food.

TREATMENT: Feed meat, ground bones and vegetables. Place the food where the fowls are compelled to scratch and work to obtain it. Dust the fowls with Powdered Aloes.

If due to lice, treat the same as recommended under the heading of Lice.

GAPES

(Verminous Tracheo Bronchitis)

CAUSE: A red, parasitic worm, the male measuring about one-fifth of an inch and the female one-half an inch in length. Fowls become infected by eating worms containing this parasite or its eggs, and by coming in contact with other birds suffering from the disease.

SYMPTOMS: The most noticeable symptom is frequent gaping; the Gapeworms attach themselves by their months to the walls of the windpipe where they suck the blood which nourishes them; they cause irritation and inflammation of the windpipe, bronchial tubes and lungs; breathing is difficult and the bird loses strength rapidly; windpipe eventually becomes totally obstructed and the bird dies from suffocation and exhaustion. Young, weak chickens are more susceptible to this disease than strong ones.

TREATMENT: Separate the sick birds from the healthy ones. Clean and disinfect the coops and runs. Burn all manure. Remove the worms from the windpipe by the use of a feather, from which the fan has been stripped, leaving only a small brush at the end. Dip the feather into Oil of Turpentine or Coal Oil, removing the surplus liquid by drawing the feather between the fingers. Now insert the feather into the windpipe of the bird and by turning gently you will dislodge the worms from their attachments. Repeat this treatment once a day for two or three days.

Disinfect coops and runs with undiluted Crude Carbolic Acid. Feed good nutritious food as wheat bran mashes, etc.

HEAD LICE

CAUSE: Result of insanitary conditions and lack of care. Communicated by direct contact with infected birds, or by infected coops or brooders.

SYMPTOMS: The head soon becomes denuded of feathers, and also sore by being constantly scratched with the feet. If not properly treated the chicks weaken and die.

TREATMENT: An ointment made of one part Sulphur and four parts Lard well mixed and applied two to three times will exterminate the lice. If the fowl is run down in condition, feed good nutritious food as wheat bran mashes.

HOW TO FEED YOUNG POULTRY