THE POULTRY YARD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 19, 23 January 1897, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE POULTRY YARD.

Diseases of tke Egg Organs Inflammation of the oviduct ia induced either by the feeding ot boo stimulating or unwholesome food, or ib may resulb from exposure to cold. This disease ia also known by the name Ovitie. Ib iB said to affect Spanish and bheir allied races more than other breads of fowls, although all breeds are more or less subject to ib. Tha symptoms are general fevorishnsßß, the feathers on the back and rump being ruffled up; a listlessne.a of manner, the hen moping about; a continual straining, as if to lay an ogg, no doubt duo in parb, at least, bo tho swollen condition of the lining membrane ; and the producbion of irregularly formed and imperfectly inclosed eggs, Homebimoa being simply yolk., sometimes white and yolks together, eithor wholly uninelosed or inclosed only with the membrane, and wanting the calcareous covering. Tha treatrnenb is simple, and generally successful. Remove the hen from tho cock, and ab once reduce the diet, avoiding all highly seasoned and atiraula!ing food. Give one grain of calomel and one-benbh of a grain of tartar emetic in bhe sofb food, followed by a second dose on tho nexb day, if bhe firsb faila to give relief. Or a dessertspoonful of Epsom salts may bo administered in the aofb food, followed bho second day by a beaapoonful of castor oil, afber which give bwice a day five drops of laudanum in a littale water. Frequently no medicine will be needed, if the hen is removed from tho cock, and proper attention is given to tbo diet. Softshelled eggs: These may resulb from inflammation of the oviduct, as described above, may ba caused by overfeeding, whereby the hen haa become too fat, may bo induced by eabing ergot, may be produced by fright and worry, or may be evidence of a lack of shell-making material in tha food. lib is important to decide the cause of the trouble. If the soft-shelled eggs resulb from inflammation of bho oviduct, taraat as above recommended ; if by overfeeding, ab once reduce the feed, giving a liberal proportion of wheab bran in bho sofb food f if bhe result of eating ergob remove bhab from tahe runs ; if from frighb and worry, see thab bhe causeß are removed ; and if from lack of shell-making material, furnish cracked oyster shell-, granulated bone, or old plaster for bhe bens to pick ab, give one meal of good sound wheal daily, and add a little lima bo the drinking water. This disease vvheiy produced by frighb or from eabing ergob, whereby bhe hen is caused to drop her eggs prematurely, is called by aome Abortion. Egga broken within bha body : This disorder, ia rather an accident .ban a disease, and very frequently proves fatal. _ Tho egg may have beon broken by straining, or ib may have come from some exterior violence. Whatever the cause, bhe result is bhe same. Tha symptoms are nob well marked, but the fowl generally bags down bohind, mopea about, frequently strains bo remove the broken egg, and there ia usually some evidence of bho disorder in tha draining from the anus of the white of tho broken egg. By passing bhe oiled finger carofully into tho vent, the broke- egg may be frequently felt, and in some cases it may be removed. The besb treatment is to separate the hen from tho reßb of the flock and injecb a email quantity of castor oil into bhe passage. This will soften the membranes aud allow tho broke- particles morß easily to pass oub. Egg bound : Sornebimea, either because bhe egg is much larger than uaual, or from some weakness of the egg organs, a fowl is unable to eject the eggfand is said to be egg-bound. Such cases aro nob of rare occurrenco, especially amosg certain breeds, such aa bhe Spanish and Polish. The symptoms are either a long remaining upon bho nesb withonb laying, or coming from tha nest, after remaining the usual time withoub ejecbing the egg, and walking slowly aboub with a distressed look and trailing wings. When thase symDtoms are noticed and the breeder is in doubt as bo tha real cause of tbe trouble, he may genbly pass his wall oiled finger into the vent, and ha will feel the full formed e"g. In breabing bhis disease we havo found that holding the bird's vent over a jug of boiling water and subjecting it to the steam for ten or flfbeen minutes, is often successful. Tho steam relaxea bhe ti=_ue* and the hon seek, hor nest and Boon produces the egg. Fomentations of hob water if sufficiently long continued, will nroduce a aimtiar resulb, The giving of a dose o? castor oil is. often sufficient-. Pasam_ an oiled feather up the vent, or, bettor still injecbing an ounce of aweefc oil, by introducing a syringe, ia usually successful In any caso care ahould be taken to =0 handle the bird aa not to cause the breakage of the egg. «If a soft agg, says Tegetmeier, 'as frequently happens,, is broken in bhe passage, the. collapsed membrane, from ibs irregular form, is not readily expelled, and bhe efforts to get rid of 16 lead to the rapture of a vessel in tha brain ; at obher times, bhe canal being closed, additional. yolk*.acc.m .late above, caus-no a tumor, which is eventually fatal, a„d which is r«pdly enlarged by the conSued secretion of the oviduct. 1 have aeen tumors upward of a po^nd in weight nrodnced in this manner. Hernia, or protrusion of thepnsaage. This may be produced by the laying of an abnormal y large ' « "r o r may result from a general relaxation oi.Uo svßtem. Ir. a cane of this nature, continued* laying .increases the d^olty, and bhe production of ege* should bo smedily checked. This is besb done by feeding *™ on H(-'hb nnstimulat_t food such as boiled rice and nobaboeß, and administering a pill contain int-r one grain calomol, onebwelfth grain tartar eme.ic, and one-quarter grain I nf onium twice a day ; or in place thereof five grains of jalap and one gram of ralomol once or twice a day. Bathe the nrotruding parts with warm water, anomb them with sweet oil of glycerine and gently nress bhem back into their place. Ihey n-nv return a number of times, but should __!. reolaced. Mr Lewis Wright m.nbioned seeing the case of a Minorca hen whore tha 00„ rneea<*e protruded and was ruptured, .ho e_*g "passing bhrough the rupture. ssiioh cage's are raro bub nob necessarily fLttl and should receive tho tr.atment above recommended. Discharge from the nviducb:—A form of diarrhoea appear, fco occur in old fowls from bhe dribbling away, in a liquid state, of bhe eecrebiona of bhe shell-making apparatus. The discharges are whibe, although they may be mingled wibh the ordinary excremente. This dribbling ia conbinuoua and gradually accumulates on bhe posterior feathers in bhe form of a dry crush of chalky appearance. Beyond attending to bhe general health of the owl little can be done for this disorder.