Transcriber’s Notes

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.

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POULTRY DISEASES

Causes
Symptoms
and Treatment
With Notes on
Post-Mortem Examinations

E. J. WORTLEY, F. C. S.

Illustrated

NEW YORK
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
1915
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO., Limited

Copyright, 1915, by
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
All Rights Reserved
Entered at Stationers’ Hall
LONDON, ENGLAND

Printed in U. S. A.

PREFACE

Poultry farming as a means of profit can be made successful only by maintaining the most vigorous and sustained campaign against disease. The aim of the poultry rearer should be to stamp out disease by preventive measures. Practical experience proves the inefficiency of many so-called cures, and points to the urgency of poultrymen endeavoring to understand more thoroughly the causes of the ailments to which domestic fowls are liable.

My aim is to put a concise handbook into the hands of poultry rearers, who should thus be assisted in determining the various diseases and in taking the precautionary steps important in preventing the introduction and spread of contagious diseases. No effort is made to elaborate the scientific side of the subject. Those desirous of obtaining full information about the types of organisms that have been proved to be the specific causes of, or to be invariably associated with, particular disorders, may do so with profit by obtaining fuller works on the subject. Many scientific workers are devoting their time to the problem of combating diseases among poultry, and assistance is willingly given by officers of the experiment stations to farmers who desire to identify any disease causing loss in their flocks.

The practical poultryman will recognize the fact that measures for the control of disease cannot be limited to sanitation and the treatment of sick birds, but, in reality, include such important matters as the selection of healthy stock, intelligent feeding, proper housing, and other details essential to the successful management of poultry.

I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to the works of Dr. D. E. Salmon and John H. Robinson, editor of Farm Poultry, and to the recent publication on poultry diseases by Dr. Raymond Pearl, Frank M. Surface, and Maynie R. Curtis. My thanks are due to R. S. Martinez for the care taken in making the photographs from which the drawings for the illustrations in the chapter on Post-Mortem Examinations were prepared. Much valuable information has also been obtained from bulletins issued by the experiment stations of the United States and by the Ontario Agricultural College of Canada.

E. J. Wortley.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

CHAPTER I
General Methods of Controlling Disease

1. Importance of Controlling Disease

The ravages of disease add considerably to the difficulties of raising poultry in all parts of the world. It is the experience of poultry rearers that an annual toll has to be paid in the lives of young birds and older stock. Sooner or later, in addition, an epidemic may break out and result in heavy losses and much discouragement.

It is most important, therefore, to be able to recognize the symptoms and to know the causes of the many diseases to which various kinds of poultry are subject. Every practical effort should be made to reduce avoidable mortality. An unexplained death should be regarded with concern. It may point to the presence of a serious disease. When there is not sufficient external evidence for determining the cause of death, a post-mortem examination should be made (see page [98]).

The poultryman must know above all whether he is dealing with an infectious disease or not. The discovery that a sudden death among his fowls is due to apoplexy will set his mind at ease. On the other hand, if a case of cholera occurs, the body of the dead fowl should be burnt, and a vigorous campaign started to prevent the spread of the disease; birds showing mopishness and other suspicious symptoms should be isolated; the houses, the feed troughs, the water vessels, and the yard to which the dead fowl has had access, should all be thoroughly disinfected.

2. Dangers of Introducing Disease

Perhaps more loss has been caused by introducing birds with disease into a healthy flock than by any other means. Readers will, doubtless, be able to recall occasions on which their own, or their neighbors’, flocks suffered. An instance was recently related to the writer. A poultryman was offered two fowls, which he at first refused, but owing to the vagrant seller’s importunity, he eventually bought the birds and let them loose among the home flock. On the following day one died; but no effort was made to discover the cause, nor was the dead fowl’s body burnt. In a few days, a fowl belonging to the original flock died and, in three to four weeks after the purchase, two-thirds of the stock had died. It afterwards transpired that the vendor had lost several of his fowls from cholera, and the fear of further mortalities had been his reason for being so anxious to dispose of the survivors.

On every farm where poultry is kept, there should be a quarantine ward for new purchases. The most careful breeders will isolate their own birds that have returned from an exhibition, for fear they may have contracted some disease there or on the journey.

3. Control Measures

Practical experience and scientific investigation have clearly proved that preventive measures are more economical and effective than curative. Failing prevention, everything points to the importance of dealing promptly with the first cases, owing to the risk of infection of the rest of the stock. Control measures may be divided into three classes:

1. Proper housing and feeding of fowls.

2. General sanitation and disinfection.

3. Administration of medicine to sick birds.

The details to which special attention must be given are covered by the following axiomatic rules:

1. Isolate birds recently purchased—for two or three weeks.

2. Isolate every bird that shows any sign of ill health.

3. Provide a fresh and pure supply of water in a shady position.

4. Add Epsom salts (one teaspoonful to a quart) once a week to the drinking water. Give chickens daily a liberal supply of bran in addition to their other food.

5. Feed birds on a varied diet, including green food.

6. Arrange that birds have to scratch for some of their food.

7. Construct houses, nest boxes, etc., so that they can be readily and thoroughly disinfected. Houses should be free from drafts.

8. Disinfect contaminated soil by spraying, liming, and resting.

9. Visit the roosts at night to detect cases of wheezing due to colds, and to search for mites and other pests.

10. Keep on hand disinfectants, lice powders and medicines likely to be required.

4. Nursing Sick Birds

Fig. 2.—ISOLATION

The small margin of profit on a single fowl makes dosing with medicines and nursing an unprofitable occupation, except in the case of valuable stock. If the treatment of a bird is undertaken, it should be borne in mind that more depends upon attention to the rules of good nursing than to the administration of drugs. Comfortable quarters, warm and free from drafts, clean straw, and invalid’s diet of soft and easily digested food will all turn the chances in favor of recovery.

Fig. 3.—DESOLATION

Too often isolation is in effect a death sentence. The bird is put into cramped quarters, exposed to cold winds and beating rains, and, being in an out-of-the-way corner, is, perhaps, neglected instead of being specially cared for.

Fowls that will not take food should be fed lightly, but frequently, with a spoon in order that their strength may be kept up. All stale food should be removed.

5. The Use of Drugs and Medicines

Drugs and medicines likely to be required should always be kept in stock. The weekly use of Epsom salts, as a mild laxative for preventing intestinal disorders, is strongly recommended. Little faith should be put in drugs said to cure tuberculosis, cholera, etc. Below is given a list of the medicines generally required. The doses given in the table are for a medium-sized adult fowl; three-quarters as much should be given for a half-grown bird, and about one-fifth for a young chicken. Treatment should be repeated as necessary, and animals should be well nursed.

Fig. 4.—POULTRYMAN’S MEDICINE SHELVES

Note.—By accepting that 1¼ teaspoonfuls made up to a pint with water gives approximately a 1% solution, any of the weak dilutions required by poultrymen can be easily prepared.

6. Disinfection

Fig. 5.—HOW DISEASE IS SPREAD
Germs of tuberculosis in the excrement of a fowl. (After Edwards.)

The important part played by micro-organisms in causing and spreading disease must be understood before the value of disinfection can be fully appreciated. The poultryman must develop a sense of sight that sees lurking microbes at every turn, especially in unclean corners. Figure 5 shows germs revealed by the microscope in the excrement of a bird suffering from tuberculosis. The fact that this speck contained so many germs, although it was far too small to be seen with the naked eye, will give an idea of how epidemics may be caused by food, water, and soil contaminated by excreta, nasal discharges, etc.

Regular and thorough disinfection of woodwork, of feeding vessels, and of the drinking water should form part of the routine of poultry management, and a stock of disinfectants should always be kept on hand. It will be found convenient to have an iron drum with a tap for a diluted solution, say 5%, of some standard disinfectant—e. g., creolin—that can be further diluted as required.

Water. A stock solution of permanganate of potash, made by adding ten grains to one quart of water, should always be kept on hand for purposes of disinfection. When there is danger of infection, two tablespoonfuls of this solution should be added to every gallon of drinking water.

Feeding Vessels. Clean with boiling water.

Fig. 6.—AIDS TO THOROUGH DISINFECTION

Houses and Fixtures. Spray with 2% to 5% creolin (or other disinfectant) and whitewash afterwards, or use whitewash to which 2% of creolin has been added. The whitewash should be prepared with quick-lime. The house should first be cleaned out with an iron scraper and scrubbing brush, using a liberal supply of water (see Fig. [6]).

Soil. The most convenient of the following methods should be adopted:

(1) Spray surface with 5% creolin.

(2) Spread straw over ground and set fire to it.

(3) Fork over and lime. This method is not sufficient if serious contamination is suspected.

CHAPTER II
SUMMARY OF EXTERNAL SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT

CHAPTER III
Diseases of Poultry Other Than Fowls

All classes of domestic poultry are to a great extent subject to the same diseases that affect the common fowl. The symptoms of such diseases are for the most part similar to those noticed when fowls are affected, and treatment must be on the same lines. In the management of turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowls and pigeons, the strictest sanitary measures must be enforced, as in the rearing of fowls.

Owing to its importance, blackhead of turkeys is dealt with separately. It is one of the most serious of poultry diseases and causes heavy losses to turkey rearers. Careful study should be made of the reports of the recent investigations at the Rhode Island Experiment Station.

Severe epidemics of diarrhea or cholera occur among all classes of poultry. Geese are subject to a form of cholera that appears to be different from any kind that attacks fowls. Water fowl are not commonly infested with external parasites. Pigeons, on the other hand, are worried by fleas and ticks as well as mites. Smallpox of pigeons is similar to chicken pox of fowls, but pustular swellings may be found on the rump and the cloaca of the pigeon as well as on the head. The scaly leg mite attacks turkeys and the gape worm is sometimes a serious pest of poults. Below is given a list of some of the diseases of turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowls and pigeons:

TURKEYS

• Blackhead
• Diphtheria
• Gapes
• Leg weakness
• Lice
• Mites
• Roup
• Tuberculosis
• Scaly leg
• White comb
• Worms

DUCKS

• Aspergillosis
• Catarrh
• Congestion of lungs
• Cholera
• Diphtheria
• Lice
• Mites
• Worms

GEESE

• Aspergillosis
• Cholera
• Congestion of lungs
• Diphtheria
• Lice
• Mites
• Worms

GUINEA FOWLS

• Aspergillosis
• Cholera
• Diphtheria
• Lice
• Mites
• Worms

PIGEONS

• Aspergillosis
• Canker
• Chicken pox (smallpox)
• Diphtheria
• Dovecot bug
• Flea
• Lice
• Mites
• Ticks
• Worms

CHAPTER IV
Diseases and Pests of Fowls

• Abscesses.
• Abnormal eggs (see [Oviduct diseases]).
• Air under skin (see [Emphysema]).
• Air sac mite (see Mites, air sac).
• Anæmia.
• Apoplexy.
• Aspergillosis.
• Atrophy of liver (see Liver diseases).
• Bacterial enteritis (see Diarrhea)
• Baldness (see Favus).
• Biliary repletion (see Jaundice).
• Blackhead of turkeys.
• Breakdown.
• Broken limbs (see Fractures).
• Bronchitis.
• Brooder pneumonia.
• Bumblefoot.
• Cancer (see Liver diseases and Ovary diseases).
• Canker (see Diphtheria).
• Catarrh (see [Cold]).
• Catarrh, contagious (see [Roup]).
• Catarrh of crop.
• Catarrh of stomach (see Gastritis).
• Chicken pox.
• Cholera.
• Cloacitis.
• Coccidiosis of adult fowls.
• Coccidiosis of chickens (see Brooder pneumonia).
• Coccidiosis of turkeys (see Blackhead).
• Cold.
• Congestion of the liver (see Liver diseases).
• Congestion of the lungs (see [Pneumonia]).
• Conjunctivitis (see [Roup]).
• Constipation.
• Cramp.
• Crop-bound.
• Crop, soft (see Soft crop).
• Crop, Catarrh of.
• Depluming mite.
• Diarrhea, bacterial.
• Diarrhea, mycotic.
• Diarrhea, protozoan.
• Diarrhea, simple.
• Diarrhea, severe.
• Diarrhea, white.
• Diphtheria.
• Diphtheritic roup.
• Dislocations (see Fractures).
• Dropsy.
• Dysentery.
• Egg-bound.
• Egg-eating.
• Emphysema.
• Enlargement of heart (see Heart, diseases of).
• Enlargement of liver (see Liver diseases).
• Enlargement of kidneys (see Kidney diseases).
• Enteritis (see Diarrhea).
• Entero-hepatitis (see Blackhead).
• Epilepsy.
• Fatty degeneration.
• Favus.
• Feather-eating.
• Fits (see [Epilepsy]).
• Fleas.
• Fowl typhoid.
• Fractures.
• Frost bite.
• Gangrenous Ovary (see Ovary diseases).
• Gapes.
• Gastritis.
• Going light (see Anæmia).
• Gout.
• Grippe (see [Cold]).
• Heart, diseases of.
• Heart, dropsy of.
• Heart, enlargement of.
• Heart, rupture.
• Hypertrophy of the liver (see Liver diseases).
• Impaction of the crop (see Crop-bound).
• Indigestion.
• Influenza (see [Cold]).
• Jaundice.
• Kidney diseases.
• Leg weakness.
• Leukemia (see Cholera).
• Lice.
• Limber-neck.
• Liver diseases.
• Lungs, congestion of (see [Pneumonia]).
• Maggots.
• Mites, air sac.
• Mites, depluming.
• Mites, red.
• Mites, scaly leg (see Scaly leg).
• Molting.
• Nodular tæniasis (see Worms).
• Ovary diseases.
• Oviduct diseases.
• Peritonitis.
• Pip.
• Pneumonia.
• Poisoning.
• Prolapse of oviduct (see [Oviduct diseases]).
• Puffed skin (see [Emphysema]).
• Pyæmia.
• Rheumatism.
• Roup.
• Scabies (see Mites, depluming).
• Scaly leg.
• Soft crop.
• Sore head (see [Chicken pox]).
• Ticks.
• Tuberculosis.
• Vertigo (see Apoplexy).
• White comb (see Favus).
• White diarrhea of chickens.
• Worms.

ABSCESSES
Not a common poultry complaint

Symptoms. The flesh becomes inflamed and swollen and forms a “head” containing pus.

Cause. A scratch or a small injury followed by inflammation due to pus-forming organisms.

Treatment. Lance the abscess when “ripe” with a clean, sharp knife, cutting low so that the sore may drain readily. Squeeze out the pus; wash with 1% carbolic acid or creolin and dress with creolin and sweet oil (half and half) until healed.

The most common abscess is that which forms on the pad of the foot and develops into bumblefoot.

ANÆMIA, OR GOING LIGHT
A condition that should incite the poultryman to investigate the cause

Symptoms. Birds lose weight, or ”go light,” without any apparent reason.

Cause. A general lack of thriftiness in the flock may be due to insufficient or poor food, to lack of exercise, or to bad ventilation of houses; lice or mites may be infesting the birds. On the other hand, birds may gradually lose weight as the result of some such disease as tuberculosis (see page 90}, aspergillosis (see page 29), or worms (see page 94).

Treatment. Make any changes in feeding or management that may appear desirable. Search at night for mites or lice on the birds; in the daytime examine the straw in nest boxes, the roosts, and the cracks and crevices of the woodwork for parasites. Much time may often be saved in discovering what is wrong with the flock by killing one or more of the affected birds and making a post-mortem examination to discover if a specific disease is the cause.

APOPLEXY
Not a common trouble

Symptoms. Staggering gait and bewildered appearance; bird generally drops dead suddenly.

Cause. Attributed to high feeding or over-laying.

Treatment. There is usually no time for treatment, but if the attack is mild, put the bird in a dark place and give no food for a few hours; give a dose of Epsom salts and add green food to diet. Bleeding from under a wing is sometimes tried.

Post-mortem examination shows clotted blood on the brain, the other organs being normal.

The name vertigo is applied to congestion of the brain as distinct from apoplexy due to hemorrhage of the brain. The fowl has fits. It is difficult to distinguish this disease from epilepsy (see page 55). The cause is little understood.

Fig. 7.—Head Showing Brain Exposed

ASPERGILLOSIS
A disease that exists more commonly than is usually suspected, and is the cause of the death of large numbers of young chickens

Symptoms. Fowls gradually lose weight, mope, and die without any pronounced ailment except difficulty in breathing. In adults the disease may be mistaken for tuberculosis and in chickens for white diarrhea. Aspergillosis of chickens is dealt with under brooder pneumonia. Post-mortem symptoms are whitish or yellowish growths on the windpipe, that can only be definitely diagnosed under the microscope.

Cause. A fungoid growth in the windpipe and bronchial tubes, sometimes extending to the lungs and liver. Fig. 8 shows the spores and filaments of the species of aspergillosis most commonly responsible for this disease. Infection may be due to musty grain or dirty straw.

Fig. 8.—ASPERGILLOSIS
On left—Windpipe cut open. On right—A fungus that causes aspergillosis

Treatment. No medicines are of any avail. Protection lies in not using musty grain or moldy litter. Burn dead birds.

BLACKHEAD OF TURKEYS
A very serious disease, making the successful rearing of turkeys difficult and in some cases impossible.

Symptoms. Young turkeys, or poults, are most commonly attacked; there is loss of weight and loss of appetite; the bird appears listless and stands by itself with drooping wings and tail. Diarrhea is generally one of the symptoms. The comb often turns a dark purple—a symptom that has given rise to the name blackhead. Death generally follows an attack fairly rapidly, but in some cases the disease may take a chronic form, while it is believed that recovery is occasionally effected.

Post-mortem symptoms. The cæca (see Fig. 32) are enlarged, are diseased in parts, and are more or less plugged with cheesy matter and pus. The liver is diseased, being sometimes very much enlarged and covered with yellowish necrotic areas, generally depressed in the centre (see Fig. 24d). In cases of an acute attack, especially in young birds, one of the cæca only may be affected and the liver may not be invaded. The extent of the necrotic areas and the degree of the enlargement of the infected organs may vary greatly in different cases.

Cause. The cause of blackhead has been shown by Drs. Cole and Hadley to be a coccidium. A full account of their work is published in Bulletin 141 of the Rhode Island Experiment Station. Coccidia enter the digestive tract of the healthy turkey by means of food or water infected by the excrement of a sick bird. The organisms pass along the alimentary canal until they reach the cæca, the lining of which they attack, giving rise to the conditions mentioned under post-mortem symptoms. How the infection spreads from the cæca to the liver is not clear.

It has been conclusively proved that fowls, as well as pigeons, sparrows, etc., act as hosts for these parasites. Although adult fowls have a great degree of resistance themselves, they are a means of carrying infection to turkeys.

Eggs may be one of the means of spreading the disease, as they may become contaminated in the oviduct or the cloaca of birds affected with blackhead.

Treatment. No remedy or satisfactory method of prevention has been discovered. The difficulty of effecting a cure is obvious when the nature of the disease is considered. Drs. Cole and Hadley summarize measures of prevention as follows:

1. Protect the yards and flocks which may have the good fortune to be uninfected with the blackhead organism by a thorough examination of all new stock, whether turkeys, fowls, geese or other domestic birds.

2. Keep the turkeys on grounds which are as fresh as can be obtained, and above all, keep them isolated from fowls and other domestic birds.

3. Keep every turkey in the flock under close observation in order to separate and at once isolate any bird which gives evidence of the disease. To facilitate such observations it is helpful to leg-band each individual, and to record its weight from time to time. Such a course makes it possible to learn whether any birds are losing weight, and if this is the case, these birds must be regarded with suspicion, and separated from the rest of the flock.

4. If it is known that blackhead is present in any of the poultry, the yard should be kept free from English sparrows, and the poultry houses and grain boxes from rats and mice, which have been shown to carry the causative organism.

5. When it is desired to fatten birds for the market, begin to increase the rations gradually. Never attempt to fatten birds which, in successive weighings, show a loss of weight. Overfeeding does not cause blackhead, but frequently causes the sudden death of birds in which blackhead is present.

6. When birds have died of blackhead, their bodies should be promptly burned or buried in order to prevent the dissemination of the coccidia, either through the ravages of rats or skunks, or consequent to the natural processes of decay.

BREAKDOWN
Not often seen in the poultry yard

Symptoms. The abdomen becomes enlarged, hangs down at the back, and sometimes touches the ground.

Cause. Old layers are generally affected. The cause may be the strain of heavy laying, or may in cases be due to too much internal fat.

Treatment. No satisfactory treatment can be recommended and the bird had best be killed. Such birds should not be used for breeding purposes.

BRONCHITIS (CROUP)
Not very common

Symptoms. Bronchitis may be distinguished by the rattling in the throat of the bird affected and by the rapid breathing and cough. The rattling is due to mucus in the inflamed bronchial tubes. In bad cases, birds mope, refuse to eat, and soon die.

Cause. Bronchitis may develop from an ordinary cold, or may be due to sudden changes of temperature, or to exposure to rain, cold, and damp.

Treatment. Keep affected bird away from drafts and in a warm place; dose with Epsom salts (see page 9) and give soft food, e. g., bread, bran, and middlings, with milk. Wine of ipecacuanha has been recommended for cases in which breathing is very difficult owing to excessive inflammation.

BROODER PNEUMONIA
A very serious disease, causing the death of many chickens

Symptoms. Chickens affected stand by themselves with roughened plumage. There is a whitish diarrhea, and this disease can easily be mistaken for white diarrhea. (See page 92.) Post-mortem examination will show yellowish spots on the lungs, on the walls of the air sacs, and on the liver and other organs, due to infection by the aspergillus fungus. (See page 29.)

Cause. Infection by a species of the aspergillus fungus, the spores of which are probably inhaled. This fungus is common. The spores may be in the straw used for nests or for litter, or in the food, especially if it is at all moldy.

Treatment. There is no cure for an affected chicken, and the poultryman must aim at prevention. Vigorous sanitary measures are imperative. Clean straw or excelsior should be used for nests; eggs for hatching should be disinfected by wiping with 80% alcohol; incubators and brooders should be thoroughly disinfected.

BUMBLEFOOT
Not serious if treated early

Fig. 9.—BUMBLEFOOT

Symptoms. Lameness with swelling on pad of foot.

Cause. Injury to sole of foot, developing into an abscess. Heavy birds are more subject than light ones to bumblefoot, especially if made to roost on perches that are too high.

Treatment. Paint with iodine. Lance the abscess if it is sufficiently advanced. Lower perches. Birds under treatment should have their feet bandaged, and should be put on deep straw to prevent further injury while the wounds are healing. Not serious if taken in hand promptly.

CATARRH OF THE CROP
Not a common trouble

Symptoms. Distention of crop with soft pasty matter of a more or less offensive character.

Cause. Eating stale, putrifying food or some poisonous matter.

Treatment. Empty the bird’s crop by holding the head downwards and gently pressing the contents out through the mouth. Feed sparingly on soft food.

CHICKEN POX OR SORE HEAD
An infectious disease that causes considerable loss among chickens and young birds in warm climates

Symptoms. Small, scabby, wart-like growths and eruptions on the head, especially on the comb and the wattles and around the eyes—in bad cases extending to the lids and even the mouth. Chickens and young birds are most commonly attacked by this disease, which spreads rapidly.

Fig. 10.—CHICKEN POX

Cause. The specific organism has not been definitely determined. Chicken pox may be started by the introduction of an infected bird, and mosquitoes and other insects are suspected of being agents in its spread.

Treatment. Prompt treatment may be very successful. Isolate affected birds. Apply tincture of iodine, first scraping off the scabs. Creolin 2%, or other disinfectants, may be used instead of iodine. Dirty coops are a contributing cause, and cleanliness of chicken runs and houses is important. Disinfect soil (see page 13) and woodwork (see page 12) regularly and with extra care when the first cases are noticed. When roupy lesions develop, as is sometimes the case, treat as for roup. (See page 83.)

CHOLERA
A serious and epidemic form of diarrhea for which no remedy is known

Symptoms. Fowls die suddenly with apparently little reason. There are symptoms of diarrhea and examination shows that the feces are a bright yellow or green instead of the normal color. Before death, fowls have fever and may be seen moping and showing evidences of distress. For post-mortem symptoms see page 112.

Cause. A contagious disease, due to bacteria, that, owing to infection of soil and drinking water by birds suffering from the disease, spreads rapidly through a flock. It is often introduced by the purchase of an infected bird that appears at the time of purchase to be well.

Treatment. Prevention by strict sanitary measures is what must be aimed at. It is believed that no cure is known for genuine cases of cholera. Isolate all new birds brought into the flock, especially when cases of cholera are reported in the neighborhood. The bodies of birds that have died of this disease are best burnt without delay. The germ of cholera appears to be both persistent and easily spread, and too much stress cannot be laid on the necessity of preventing its introduction, failing that, of quickly stamping it out. The sacrifice of a few birds to prevent the spread of the disease will be well repaid, for it has been necessary on occasions to kill a whole flock. In some cases it has been found best to move unaffected birds to new quarters.

Fowl typhoid, or leukemia, is a disease of the blood that may be mistaken for cholera. The poultryman must treat it in the same way.

CLOACITIS OR VENT-GLEET
Not a common disease

Symptoms. Frequent small discharges of excrement and unsuccessful efforts to discharge when the cloaca (Fig. 32) is empty, the mucous membrane of which becomes hot and inflamed. These symptoms are soon followed by an offensive discharge.

Cause. A specific disease transmitted from hen to hen by the agency of the cock.

Treatment. Immediately isolate affected hens; syringe out cloaca twice daily with 2% creolin; give mild purgative and put on soft food. Males likely to be affected should be examined, and diseased birds killed.

Caution. The hands should be carefully cleansed and disinfected, as a serious inflammation will result if the eyes are rubbed with infected hands. This is a troublesome and risky disease to treat.

COCCIDIOSIS OF ADULT FOWLS
The germ of this disease does not usually affect adult fowls seriously, but causes severe losses among chickens and turkeys

Symptoms. The external symptoms are not very pronounced; there is loss of weight and in some cases diarrhea. The disease may last for a long time and birds may even recover. A post-mortem examination shows the walls of the cæca thickened and filled with a pasty mass, while characteristic whitish or yellowish spots (see Fig. 24, d) are found in the liver.

Cause. This disease is due to the same germ (a coccidium) that causes blackhead in turkeys. Adult fowls occasionally develop this disease, but appear to be able, as a rule, to act as a host for the germs without being themselves affected, although heavy losses occur among turkeys or chickens that get the germ from them.

Treatment. Copperas in the drinking water (three grains to a quart) has been recommended, together with the occasional use of calomel in one-grain doses, or one or two teaspoonfuls of castor oil. Thorough disinfection (see page 10) of houses and runs, etc., where affected fowls have been, is important. Burn the bodies of birds that die of the disease.

COLD (SIMPLE CATARRH)
Dangerous, because it may be confused with the early stages of roup

Symptoms. Discharge from the nostrils and the eyes, with occasional fits of sneezing; loss of appetite, and moping.

Cause. Cold and damp. Colds most frequently occur in wet weather and among poorly housed and poorly fed stock.

Treatment. Warm housing and protection from cold and wet. Give quinine—one grain to an adult fowl. Many believe in dosing fowls suffering from colds with red pepper given in the food. When there are signs of stuffiness, the eyes and the nostrils should be washed out once or twice daily. Carbolic acid 2%, or boric acid, about 3%, dissolved in water, is recommended for this purpose. Witch hazel has been found very effective.

Caution. There is a risk of mistaking the early stages of roup for a simple cold. Further, birds are more likely to contract roup when suffering from a cold, and should, on this account, be isolated and regularly examined.

Influenza. The term influenza, or grippe, is generally applied to a severe cold that has no symptoms of roup.

CONSTIPATION
Not common and seldom serious

Symptoms. The bird suffering is dull and listless. Its efforts to evacuate are painful and unsuccessful.

Cause. Internal blocking of the cloaca or the intestines, or, occasionally, of the vent by dirt accumulated on the outside. Want of exercise and lack of green food are held to be contributing causes.

Treatment. If constipation is due to dirt on the outside, cleanse vent by swabbing with warm water. When stoppage is inside and can be felt through the vent syringe with sweet oil. In other cases, give a purgative such as castor oil or Epsom salts. If worms are suspected as the cause, give santonin (see page 9), followed by a teaspoonful of castor oil.

CRAMP
Must not be confused with more serious complaints

Symptoms. Difficulty in standing and lameness, due to inflammation of muscles and joints.

Cause. Damp and cold.

Treatment. Put legs of bird in warm water; rub joints with embrocation and put in dry quarters.

Note—In cases of rheumatism, tick fever, and tuberculosis, birds may show the same difficulty in standing that they do in cramp.

CROP-BOUND (IMPACTION OF CROP)
Not serious, as a rule

Symptoms. The crop is hard and swollen.

Cause. The blocking of the passage from the crop to the gizzard by a bit of stick or a stone, with the result that the food cannot pass out of the crop.

Treatment. Pour sweet oil down fowl’s throat; work the crop with the fingers, endeavoring to remove the obstructing object. If unsuccessful, cut open the crop and remove the contents, making sure that the opening into the gizzard is clear. Sew up the cut made, stitching separately first the inner skin and then the outer.

DIARRHEA OR ENTERITIS
May take a serious and epidemic form

Diarrhea is a common complaint among fowls, and in some cases takes a severe and epidemic form. The latter form may be due to various causes, and it will be best, perhaps, to deal with diarrhea under the following heads:

• 1. Mild diarrhea.
• 2. Epidemic and severe diarrhea.
• 3. Dysentery. (See page 52.)
• 4. Cholera. (See page 39.)
• 5. White diarrhea of chickens. (See page 92.)

Mild Diarrhea.

Symptoms. Looseness of bowels and staining of feathers around the anus with excreta.

Cause. Indigestion caused by food which may be too laxative; e. g., excess of bran, or, by food which may be partly decomposed or may contain an intestinal irritant. Cold may also be a cause.

Treatment. Give Epsom salts, or castor oil. (See page 9.) Change diet if food is suspected. Often no treatment is necessary, but it is not wise to neglect cases that are apparently mild diarrhea, for fear they may turn out to be an epidemic and contagious form.

Diarrhea, Severe and Epidemic

Symptoms. Excessive looseness of bowels, ruffling of feathers, depression, loss of appetite. A number of birds in the flock are attacked and death results.

Cause. There are a variety of causes. Scientific investigation has led to the discovery of specific organisms responsible for various forms of diarrhea. It would be well for poultry rearers to study the results of such work, but, for the purposes of this book, it will be sufficient to state that the causal organism may be bacterial, mycotic, or protozoan. The owner of poultry will not usually be able himself to determine what type of diarrhea the fowls are suffering from, but as a rule the treatment will have to be the same. Advice will have to be sought from an expert when dangerous epidemics are feared.

Treatment. The most energetic measures of disinfection must be undertaken. (See page 10.)

• 1. Isolate sick fowls.
• 2. Disinfect soil of run thoroughly.
• 3. Clean and disinfect coops.
• 4. In bad cases, remove the rest of the flock from the infested run.
• 5. Give sick fowls Epsom salts, or castor oil; feed fowls on soft food.
• 6. If the diarrhea is not checked, give 6 to 12 drops of chlorodyne.

DIPHTHERIA OR DIPHTHERITIC ROUP
A dangerous disease, and infected birds should be killed at once

Symptoms. A cold, accompanied by whitish and yellowish patches on the back of the throat and in the mouth. These patches apparently form a false membrane and cannot be torn off without causing bleeding. The disease is sometimes known as canker.

Fig. 11.—DIPHTHERITIC ROUP
b, lower beak; t, tongue; m, false membrane.
(After Harrison and Streit.)

Cause. This disease is often clearly a later stage of roup. It is difficult to say where one ends and the other begins. It has been claimed that the organism is the same as that which causes diphtheria in human beings, but the weight of evidence is against this conclusion.

Treatment. Diphtheria is extremely infectious. It is best to kill the first cases at once. If the bird is of particular value, it may be isolated and the patches on the throat swabbed with 50% hydrogen peroxide or 5% creolin, with a small bit of cotton wool wound around a stick. If great care is exercised, 20% carbolic acid or 20% creolin may be painted on the patches, but neither should be allowed to touch the normal skin. Burn the swabs. Treat accompanying roupy symptoms as recommended under roup.

The term canker is also applied to certain spots or growths that occur on the throat. These are not in any way associated with diphtheritic roup, or any dangerous, contagious disease, and are due to injury or to an unhealthy condition of the mucous membrane.

DROPSY
Not a common disease

Symptoms. Distention of abdomen.

Cause. Collection of liquid in abdominal cavity.

Treatment. Treatment is seldom successful. It is best and most merciful to kill the afflicted bird. If it is desired to make an effort to save the bird, carefully puncture the lower portion of the abdomen with a trocar and squeeze out the liquid. Give invalid diet.

DYSENTERY
Serious if in epidemic form

Symptoms. Severe diarrhea with blood in the discharges.

Cause. Bacterial or other specific infection of the intestines. Occasionally the eating of some poisonous or irritating substance will give rise to blood in the excrement.

Treatment. Isolate bird, and give six to eight drops of chlorodyne on a small piece of bread. Thorough disinfection (see page 10) of water, soil and house is necessary to prevent this disease spreading.

EGG-BOUND
An uncommon complaint

Symptoms. The hen goes on and off the nest straining to lay. Generally the egg may be felt through the vent. After straining for some time, she may succeed in laying the egg, and treatment should not be undertaken until it is evident that the fowl needs assistance.

Cause. Very young hens are more liable to this complaint, which arises from eggs of an abnormal size, from lack of muscular power, or from some other disorder of the oviduct.

Treatment. It will be most merciful to kill fowls in much distress, as treatment is tedious and painful to the fowl. It has been recommended to hold the fowl’s vent over steam from boiling water and then to pass an oiled finger up the vent. In bad cases, pierce the egg and withdraw the contents, then break the shell and remove all the pieces. Great care must be taken to leave no particle of the broken shell behind.

EGG-EATING
A bad habit that may be controlled

Symptoms. If remains of eggs are seen in nests or runs, the poultryman should become suspicious and make observations to prove whether any of his flock are eating eggs.

Cause. Broken eggs or soft-shelled eggs left about the yard may be the cause of hens acquiring this bad habit.

Treatment. All signs of broken eggs should always be immediately removed. The culprit, when detected, should be removed to a different pen and nest. Dark nests have been recommended. A trap nest will prevent a hen from getting at her egg.

EMPHYSEMA (AIR UNDER SKIN)
Not a common disease of chickens

Symptoms. In this disease of chickens the skin becomes puffed out in one or more places, generally on the neck. In rare cases the puffing spreads over nearly the whole of the body.

Cause. This disease is evidently caused by some obstruction of the air passages that forces the air to escape under the skin.

Treatment. Let out the air by puncturing the skin. Give soft and nourishing food. It will probably be wiser not to use birds that recover from this complaint for breeding stock.

EPILEPSY
An unusual complaint

Symptoms. The bird staggers about and has a fit. It may recover.

Cause. It is difficult to discover a cause; intestinal worms are suspected in some cases.

Treatment. If it is suspected that intestinal worms are responsible, try the treatment recommended for worms. (See page 95.)

FATTY DEGENERATION
Not contagious, but pointing to error in diet

Symptoms. More or less sudden deaths of birds in good condition. Post-mortem examination shows an enlarged liver and masses of fat attached to the intestines.

Cause. Something wrong with the diet; too much heat-giving food and want of exercise.

Treatment. Post-mortem proof of fatty degeneration in the flock should lead the poultry owner to change the diet, reducing the amount of heat-giving food, and giving more exercise. Some authors draw attention to a fatty degeneration in which the liver is shrunken and shows fat globules under the microscope.

FAVUS (WHITE COMB)
Disfiguring, but easily controlled if treated early

Symptoms. Whitish scabs or crusts on the comb, the head and down the neck.

Cause. Due to a fungus that spreads, if not treated, and that probably starts where there is an abrasion of the skin.

Treatment. Treat in early stages of the disease by dressing with sulphur ointment. (See page 9.) Isolate bird. If the case has been neglected and allowed to develop, the crusts must first be moistened with oil and the surface scraped off with a blunt instrument. Then apply tincture of iodine or nitrate of silver.

FEATHER-EATING
Not a very common habit

Symptoms. The presence of bare patches and injured plumage on birds should lead the poultryman to watch for feather-eaters.

Cause. Irritation from insects, some defect in diet, or natural cussedness.

Treatment. Isolate the offender, and, if persistent and of no special value, kill, for fear the bad example may be followed by others. If several fowls develop this vice, try hanging up a bone for them to peck at and thus distract their attention.

FLEAS
An occasional parasite of poultry

Symptoms. Fleas are found on the fowls or in the straw of their nests.

Description. The flea that attacks fowls is known as the hen flea (Pulex gallinæ). It is dark colored and has sharp mouth parts. Doubtless it causes the fowl it attacks much irritation in addition to loss of blood.

Treatment. Keep poultry houses in a clean, sanitary condition. Dust the infested fowls with an insect powder or dip them in creolin, about 1%. Burn infested straw.

FRACTURES

Broken bones of legs or wings can be mended by placing the bones back in their proper positions and binding with light splints. The splints may be removed in about four weeks. It will be found that shanks are easily set, but that broken wings give far more trouble.

If a fowl dislocates its leg or its wing, the joint should be gently pushed back into place.

FROST BITE
A strain on the bird’s system

Symptoms. Combs and wattles are most liable to frost bite, particularly in breeds in which these parts are large.

Cause. Exposure to very low temperatures, especially if birds are suddenly turned out from warm quarters; dipping comb and wattles in water when the temperature is low.

Treatment. Prevent by keeping birds as warm as possible during winter, and do not allow them to go out early in the mornings in very cold weather. Drinking water should be provided in a vessel from which birds can drink without wetting their wattles. In a case of frost bite, thaw the affected parts by gently rubbing with vaseline and afterwards treat with a mixture of two grains of salicylic acid to one ounce of vaseline or lard.

GAPES
Serious in badly infested yards

Fig. 12.—GAPES
On left: Chicken affected with gapes. On right: a, male and female gape worms; b, gape worms in windpipe. (From Salmon.)

Symptoms. Frequent gaping and coughing; young chicks attacked, as a rule. Notice if any worms are coughed up by the chicken; if none can be found, but the gaping continues, put a stripped feather down the windpipe, as recommended under treatment, and see if any gape worms can be pulled up.

Cause. Small worms, red in color when engorged, which attach themselves to the mucous membrane of the windpipe. Affected birds cough up worms or ova, which infect the yard and sometimes the water supply. Earthworms taken from infested yards have been found to contain portions of gape worms, and may be one means of infecting poultry.

Treatment. Isolate attacked poultry and disinfect coops and yards. The worms may be extracted from the windpipe of a gaping chicken with a feather stripped nearly to the end, and moistened, but not dripping, with oil of turpentine. Hold the mouth open, push the feather down the windpipe, and give it a sudden twist, which will dislodge the worms and allow of their being drawn up. Fumigation by holding the bird’s head over an irritant vapor, such as that of carbolic acid poured into boiling water, is risky, but sometimes successful. If not cautiously done, much suffering may be inflicted on the bird.

Post-mortem. Cut open the windpipe and look for the worms, which may be easily recognized by Fig. 12. Male and female specimens will be found attached to one another.

GASTRITIS (CATARRH OF THE STOMACH)
Not a common complaint

Symptoms. This disease cannot be readily diagnosed while the fowl is living; it is generally associated with catarrh of the crop. (See page 37.) The symptoms are similar. Post-mortem examination will show the lining of the stomach in an inflamed condition.

Cause. The inflammation of the lining of the stomach is generally due to eating decomposing food or other poisonous matter.

Treatment. Empty the crop as recommended under Catarrh of the crop. Give one or two tablespoonfuls of castor oil and feed on soft and easily digested food with milk or barley water. Be sure that poultry are not allowed to run under trees that have been sprayed with arsenical poisons.

GOUT
Not a common ailment

Symptoms. The bird sometimes loses weight, and as the disease develops shows stiffness and an indisposition to stand. In some cases small nodules containing crystals of urate of soda occur on the underside of the toes.

Cause. Failure of the kidneys to perform their normal functions and consequent accumulation of urates in the bird’s system in excessive quantities. Gout may be due to too concentrated feeding.

Treatment. Medicines and treatment are of little avail. Endeavor to prevent by feeding a mixed diet.

Post-mortem. In one form of this disease, known as visceral gout, the liver and other abdominal organs are covered over with a powder-like deposit of the crystals of urate of soda.

HEART DISEASES
Not common, and cannot be treated

The heart is an organ that is subject to several serious diseases, but these cannot be detected with any certainty while the bird is living, and treatment cannot be recommended as likely to be successful. Post-mortem examination may show the following symptoms:

1. The heart sac full of serous liquid, in the case of pericarditis, or dropsy of the heart sac.

2. A reddening of the membrane lining the heart, in the case of inflammation (endocarditis).

3. An enlarged heart, in the case of enlargement of the heart.

4. Hemorrhage, in the case of rupture of the heart and of the blood vessels.

INDIGESTION
Disorder of the intestinal tract, that is not very serious

Symptoms. The bird mopes and shows signs of a capricious appetite. Either diarrhea or, less commonly, constipation, may be a symptom.

Cause. Disorders of the digestive tract, due to error in dieting—for example, overfeeding, or too little green food and not enough exercise.

Treatment. Alter the feeding, see that the water is clean, and give a dose of Epsom salts. (See page 9.)

JAUNDICE
Not a common disease

Symptoms. A yellow comb may indicate jaundice, but there are no definite external symptoms. Post-mortem examination shows distention of the gall bladder, due to an excessive secretion of bile.

Cause. Said to be due to continued congestion of the liver, arising possibly from too much heat-giving food.

Treatment. If the disease is suspected, give one grain of calomel as a purgative and feed on more green food.

KIDNEY DISEASES
With the exception of gout, kidney diseases cannot be detected by external symptoms

Gout (see page 63) is the commonest disease of the kidneys. In addition, there are some disorders of the kidneys (e. g., enlargement) that may be noticed on post-mortem examination. Little is known about these diseases; there are no symptoms that can be recognized before death, and no treatment can be recommended.

LEG WEAKNESS
Constitutional weakness, to which the heavier breeds are more subject than are the lighter ones

Symptoms. Fowls walk in an unsteady manner, without showing any specific cause for lameness. Young birds are more likely to be affected in this manner, particularly those of the heavier breeds.

Cause. Too rapid growth, the bird outgrowing the strength of its legs.

Treatment. Reduce the quantity of fat-producing foods. Care in the selection of breeding stock is important.

LICE
Invariably present in small numbers, and likely to become a serious pest, if not persistently controlled

Symptoms. Unthrifty look of fowl and signs of irritation; desertion of nest by setting hens; and, of course, the detection of lice on the fowl: this may be done by quickly turning over the feathers on the body and looking for the lice.

Fig. 13.—LOOKING FOR LICE

Fig. 14.—Three Lice That Commonly Affect Fowls (From Salmon.)
a. Lipeurus variabilis.
b, Menopon pallidum.
c, Goniodes dissimilis.

Cause. Introduction of an infested fowl; neglect to dust fowls regularly to keep down lice, and to clean out fowl houses and change the straw of nest boxes. At the season that lice are likely to be most prevalent the poultryman should take precautionary measures.

Description of lice. Lice are small insects ranging in size from 1∕25 to 1∕8 of an inch. They breed rapidly, laying their eggs on the feathers. They are not blood-sucking insects, but cause much irritation to the birds they infest.

Several species are found on fowls. Fig. 14 shows three of the common species.