ROUP OR FOWL DIPHTHERIA

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1749, 13 September 1905, Page 61

ROUP OR FOWL DIPHTHERIA

This is the most prevalent of all poultry diseases and is responsible for more deaths than all others together, notwithstanding which it is largely preventible and in its earlier stages comparatively easy of cure. Occasionally it becomes epidemic when for a. time its progress is most difficult to check. It is a microbic disease of the air passages and eyes and occasionally affects the ears also. It is not identical with human diphtheria nor is there any authentic record of its communication to In man beings. experiments in America have also proved that human diphtheria is not communicable to fowls. Pigeons, turkeys, and in a less degree, ducks are also subject to roup. Tho first symptoms resemble those of a cold, there being inflammation of the ducts between the mouth, nostrils and eyes, accompanied by a thin mucous discharge. This inflammation causes the bird to sneeze, the peculiar sound of which has given rise to the name of “pip,” though this term is sometimes applied to the hard homy tongue caused by indigestion. The mucous thickens as the disease advances, until it chokes the ducts and causes the face to swell. In the acute stage it assumes a cheesy consistency, and is hard to get away; in fact, being like a fungoid growth. If unchecked, and the constitution is unable to throw off the disease, tho inflammation extends to the lungs, causing death.

The above is the most common form of roup, the progress of which is comparatively slow. In the diphtheric, or diptheriticj form it develops more rapidly. The first appearance: is small white spots at the sides, and roof of the mouth, on and under the tongue, and at the entrance to the windpipe. Prom, these fungoid growths arise, in severe cases developing with astonishing rapidity, so that where the root of the tongue and entrance to the windpipe are attacked, death must result very early from choking, unless, they are removed. In conjunction with either of the above forms of roup, waits or scabs on tbe face, eyes, nostrils, etc., frequently occur, and in all cases there is present with more or less persistency a. peculiar foetid smell, which Once experienced will afterwards always be recognised.

As with chicken cholera, young birds are the most liable to be attacked. It very rarely proves fatal to> those upwards of 12’ months, though sometimes the swollen face becomes chronic, with apparently little detriment to the bird concerned. In treatment, it is absolutely necessary toi ensure success that the bird he taken in hand as soon as possible, and as some appearances are deceiving, this is not always easy. A bird when first attacked with roup may stand about listlessly for a time, which would indicate that it is sick, but immediately it is stirred up it joins_tho others, starts eating or scratching, and as its comb is, if anything, a brighter red than usual, the owner usually concludes that nothing particular is wrong. Bo up is most prevalent in the fall of the year, and poultry-keepers are strongly advised at that season to visit the roosts every evening after the birds have gone to bed, for it is then that the first signs are best discernible. Everything is quiet, and it is easy to detect a sneeze l , which should be a signal for examining the eyes and nostrils, or a wheezing, or gaping, Avhich should direct attention to the mouth and throat. Eiase of handling points also to the night being the best time to deal with the disease.

Boup is very infectious, and affected birds should therefore he at once removed, and placed in small pens or coops, where they may he easily handled, and where they can be kept thoroughly warm and dry day and night, hut not restricted as to fresh air. Their quarters must he kept strictly clean and well disinfected, and their food must be light and nourishing. When the mouth is affected! grain should not be given. The disease will run its course in any case?- but if the effects can be minimised the bi v d will rapidly get through it. This is best done by local antiseptic treatment, washing the eyes, nostrils, and mouth with such lotions as phenyle, one part to forty of water, solution of chlorinated seda or coal tar solution in the same proportion, or permanganate of potash dissolved and diluted till the lotion is a transparent pink. A well-known remedy is to dip the bird’s head in kerosene. The washing should take place twice a day. Of course, where a large number of young birds are to he treated it is simply impossible to carry out these directions, but if they he taken in time, removed to a warm, sunny pen, with roosting house frequently lime washed and the floor dusted with air-slaked lime, much good may be done by adding a little solution of permanganate of potash to the drinking water, or even letting a little kerosene float on the top. The

best results for a large qpmber of birds will follow the administration of eucalyptus oil in a small meal of soft food 1 , immediately before the birds go to roost. A small teaspoonful will be sufficient for fifty birds. It should first he thoroughly mixed! with a tablespoonful of salad oil, and then rubbed thoroughly into a small quantity of dry pollard, and this again thoroughly mixed with the remainder of the meal before moistening with cold water; hot water having a tendency to drive off the eucalyptus. It is, however, absolutely necessary, with this treatment that the house should be thoroughly warm, free from di j.ught, hut at the same time thoroughly well ventilated. Where fungoid growth appears round the entrance to the windpipe, it must he frequently, removed, and the part dusted’ with burnt alum or boracio acid* or tho mouth sprayed with sulphurous acid 1 part., water 40 parts. Though cures may with care he affected when the disease has progressed beyond the earlier stages, for practical work it will be! found best to kill and burn the birds, as the trouble will exceed their worth, except with very valuable specimens!.. The tonic recommended for the prevention of chicken cholera should also bO given to all birds whenever roup ap* pears in the yards, and! will he found of great aid in the eucalyptus treatment.

Although, as before stated, roup is a microbic disease and can only arise from infection, still, want of cleanliness, ovencrowding, damp or draughty quarters, and insufficient ventilation, are highly conducive to it. In autumn the germs of the disease are present in every district where poultry are largely kept', ready to develop under insanitary conditions, and hence the vital importance of attention to these matters. —“Towq, and Country Journal.”