THE POULTRY YARD.

Colonist, Volume XIX, Issue 2281, 8 September 1877, Page 4

THE POULTRY YARD.

■ - ■ I i ... • DISEASES. '■ ■ -!' .. ■ ' :; ■• A healtht fowl can be hatched and reared wilh less trouble than is often giren by an attempt to cure a sick one ; and a tick-one, if cured, will never be so good ai a healthy one, either as breading stock, for the table, or for' production of eggs. We say nothing ag&inst doctoring sick fowls as a matter of kindness, but we have no faith in it as a matter of economy. Great difficultieg attend the treatment of poultry diseases. Who attends to them ? what complaint do they make ? an&: when they die, whoj acquainted with,the symptoms before' death, makes post mortem examinations, and then refers those symptoms to the morbid appearances which his scalpel reveals ? The ailments of fowls may generally be traced to our chilly variable climate, to irregular injiidioious feeding, or to their being kept oh ground which has become impure with their use of it. .Judicious feeding, perfect cleanliness, and occasional removal to new ground, will, to a great extent, keep fowls h«althyi ' , Apoplexy often makes its attack without previous warning. Could it be known that a bird was in danger, it might be reduced, physicked, or bled, to ensure safety. Aviary birds, in the finest health apparently, will drop dead from their perch from this cause. They are often over-fed*; they have hot to exercise themselves in the task of seeking for food ; they have an allowance in unlimited measure, but have no according measure of muscular exertion; they do not "earn their bread before they eat it," as wild birds do. The best advioe to give, as to the means of prevention, is to feed birds a little in proportion to the exercise which they have the power to take. '. '"' ■ -' '" ■ The Pip, or Thrush, may be regarded as a token of derangement of the mucous membrane'of the alimentary canal generally, and not as a local disease ; it is symptomatic. Put the chicken in a warm, comfortable place, and feed it on bread and milk, fresh vegetable food, mixed with potatoes and a,little oatmeal, and plenty of pure water. Give of castor oil a teaapoooful or thereabouts, according' to age and strength: Do not scrape the tongue, nor, use^ rough modes of cleaning it, but apply a little borax, dissolved in tincture of myrrh and water, ,by means of a camel hair penoil, two or three tunes; a ; day..., The symptoms of pip consist in a thickening of the membrane lining the tongue and palate, which causes an obstruction to free inspiration, and , makes .the poor sufferer gasp for breath; the plumage becomes ruffled, the bird mopes and pines, the appetite fails, and is at last utterly extinguished, the bird at length dying, worn out by fever and starvation*. .;. ',:,.. , ; .-.;. MOULTING. ; ■• . ~:■■.,• :*".. ■.-.■■ \. \ ■ This process is natural, and consists in the gradual exchange of old feathersfor new ones. i! Nevertheless^ it often happens that birds in a state of domestication have -not* sufficient vital energy fof the accomplishment of thechangej1 They require improved diet, warmth, andigoodiwater. Of course their rooming plane must be properly, sheltered and ventilated. ' A grain or two of cayenne; pepper,' made'into a pill with bread, may be given daily, with advantage. Douglas's mixture, or. a nail, or any bit of iron may! be put into the drinking trough, in order to render the water chalybeate. ' ! :; • When chickens fledge, if they droop and seem to suffer as the feathers on [> the head grow/ give 'them meufc cut up fine once a day, and a little canary seed" oiroe a day, aa part of their diet.' ■ '■' .Fowls are subjeot to a'loss of feathers, which must not be confounded with moulting. At' first, the plumage appears ruffled and disarranged; then the feaihera"begin to drop out, and continue to fall till the bird is greatly denuded.' In the meatitime it is ■ dull and destituteof appetite, and becomes this and feeble; This disease is most common among poultry kept in a limited space, debarred from exercise and. good sir, with'a ■ wet'soib beneath them, having little or no gravel, nor asj dusting place in which to clean their plumage : it is analogous to the mange in cattle, and is not, easily cured. A change of diet, goo*d air, • : cleanliness, andl a dusting place (or, as some call it. a dust-bath) art essential. Some recommend small1 quantitiei of sulphur and nitre, mixed with butter, to be daily given; ' -'" ■• ' ;■/■• ; PABABITKS. ' The flour of sulphur^dußted into the down of young ohickens -will destroy parasites, of whioh one large ivariety, especially : will, we b«lieve, even kill' young ohiokens if they establish themselves in their, heads. Ba'ily's pills are too well known to need' comment; ■ '■'■^•■' "" ■■■• * ■• : ■'■ ■' ■-•1-: ■ ' :