POULTRY LORE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 932, 10 January 1890, Page 18

POULTRY LORE.

BRONCHITIS. Sometimes fowls are troubled with thiß complaint, though it is of rare occurence. It is distinguished from the other forms of disease accompanied by coughs by the absence of any discharge from the eves or nostrils. The best and moat simple remedy is an egg beaten up in vinegar and strongly sweetened with honey or ooarse sugar, and a teaspoonfnl given to the bird every three hours ; soft food seasoned with cayenne should be given and the bird kept in warm place. CROP-BOUND-Thi* can be caused by improper feeding or accidentally by the bird swallowing a piece of bone or other substance which blocks up the outlet of the crop. When first observed the bird should be at once caught' and a little warm water poured down the throat; the crop should then be carefully worked with the finger from the outside until the contents become soft, after which give a dose of castor oil. In most caseß this is all that in needed, with the exception of carefully feeding rather sparingly with soft food for two or three days. Should these means, however, fail, the crop must be opened, and the ma3S removed by making an incision near the top of the crop, acid carefully removing the contents and washing it out with warm water. The crop must afterward be sewn up, great care being necessary in order to prevent the inner and outer skins being stitched together. Few fowls excel the Minorcas as a combination of egg producing and table birds ; it is therefore satisfactory to find them gradually advancing in public estimation. The following is from the Stockkeepor : 1 We hear that Mr Amesbury has recently sold his Minorca cockerel which won first at the Dairy to a gentleman at Bristol for £2O. This, we believe is the largest sum ever paid for a Minorca. We wish the purchaser every Bucces3 with the bird.’