ROUP OR TUBERCULOSIS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1315, 13 May 1897, Page 28

ROUP OR TUBERCULOSIS.

I have had, says Mrs Lance IDwson, the Queensland poultry expert, many letters from poultry keepers asking for some simple remedy for roup. I Uni afraid the cure of roup is no simple matter. It is for this reason that so many let their affected birds die rather than bother with them. However; I will ' give here a mixture which I have found more successful than any other, but it must be given regularly to do good, as roup really is only tuberculosis, and may, arise from a great many unthought-of causes, such as sudden change of weather, unhealthy conditions, bad feeding, -&c.< My own opinion is that tuberculosis a 3 often conics from in breeding and breed-! ing from immature parents as anything, and when it is that there is no permanent cure. However, I have frequently effected a cure with the following mixture and ext rein , cure : MIXTURE FOE, ROUP. Boil loz of linseed in pint of wa'er till it is a jelly ; strain and leturn to tlm saucepan, and when it simmers add 1 tablespoonful of treacle ; stir well, and then add four grains of powdered aniseed, two grains sulphate of iron, and 20 to 25 drops creosote ; bottle and cork well. For adult fowls the dose is 1 tab'espoonful for chickens half the quantity, night and morning. At the same time bathe the eyes with sulphate of zinc lotion - about foz to the pint of water being the quantity. The symptoms of roup or tuberculosis are so varied that the most experienced are often deceived. The most common symptoms are swelled head, eyes, and wattles—called catarrhal roup. Then there is the tuberculous liver, the symp toms i I which are a shrivelled, pule comb | amt ■/.allies, and the remedy for which is quinine and iron in the food. With this • form of the oisease the bird is generally - very poor, though inclined to eat ravoJ nousiv. Fowls that have'access to the street chains frequently suffer from this, and from other forms o? liver disease, i They should bo isolated for a week or so, • and fed cm specially-prepared food— oatmeal, well cooked meat, bone meal, I bread, <sfcs , with of

charcoal every day as a digestive, and plenty ot green food. In liver disease nevor give potatoes or pollard ; both are bad. But one must always be guided by the cause ; if it ia constitutional nothing will cure it, and the sooner the bird ia killed the better. Diphtheritic roup is another form of the disease, the symptoms of which are —yellow matter in the mouth and down the throat, and eyes swell, n. The eyes must be bathed v> icli ffi't water, and the throat and mouth treated with a dressing of carbolic acid, per chloride of lime, and chlorate of potash with glycerine, applied with a brush. If roup—that is true roup—has once beeu in the yard it can never be mistaken for anything else again ; the smell is so very offensive.