RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES ^\ Poultryman^s Hand-Book of Tried -and -Proved Remedies for the Common Diseases of Poultry, ...,.., SIXTH EDITION S F :PK.I0E, 25 OEIsTTS. published by the Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Company, QuiNCY, Illinois. Class __^ Book_ -^ -. ^ Copyright 11^. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT LiSRAh'Y ot 00NSSE8S Two Ooptes tiocttiYM MAR 22 1905 Oopynxm ci)U> ouass ^ XXc No; COPY B. copyright by Reliable Poultry Journal Publishixg Co. March 1, 1905, QUINCY, ILLINOIS. RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES POULTRYMAN'S HAND-BOOK TRIED-AND-PROVED REMEDIES FOR THE COMMON DISEASES OF POULTRY. SIXTH EDITION. PRICE, TWEINTY-FIVE CENTS. PUBLISHED BY THE re;liable poultry journal publishing co. \\ QUINCY, ILLINOIS, INTRODUCTION. i THIS little book was first published more especially for the benefit of the friends and patrons of the Reliable Poultry Journal, It was not put forth as a money-making scheme, except as a time- sa,ver. We were led to publish it on account of the hundreds of letters received each year from readers of the Journal, asking for advice and help in the care and treatment of their poultty, both in hdalth and sickness, and owing to our inability to give them in the short space of a "reply by mail" the help they needed. It is hoped this book w'ill be of real service to them. In later editions the size of the pages has been materially increased, still they are but half as large as the regular size of the other books issued by this company, because of the greater con- venience in handling this sized book in the dhicken yard. A number of remedies given for the same disease need not confuse any one. A physician knows of several remedies, one of which may be better than the others, but in its absence he uses another with more or less success. So in doctoring sick chicks and fowls, use whichever rem- edy is at hand. Time is often an important factor in a cure. We expect to continue to revise and re-issue RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES from time to time, with a view to improving it, and we ask the co-operation of interested persons. Reports, therefore, of your suc- cess in applying the remedies given in this edition, also new remedies that you have tried and found to be good, will be much appreciated. Fraternally yours, RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB. CO. Quincy, 111., April 1, 1901. STANDARD POULTRY BOOKS. In the back pages of this book will be found a description of the other books published by this company and of the American Standard of Perfection. We present this list of books with pleas- ure and confidence — pleasure that we can serve our friends and patrons, confidence that in these books we have given to the public the best thoughts and experience of the leading authori- ties on the different subjects. To the beginner the books treat- ing of the subjects most interesting to him, will be almost inval- uable, while even the veteran in the poultry business will find much to interest him and we doubt not, some new knowledge. PREVENTION AND CURE OF POULTRY DISEASES. An Exhaustive Treatise on the Diseases Common to Fowls, both Old and Young, with Causes, Symptoms, Treatment and Remedies. DR. N. W. SANBORN. IN RECENT years we have been handling poultry ailments from the wrong end. Too many times we have sought a remedy for a disease when we should liave learned the cause that produced the condi- tion so as to avoid it in the future. For every inch of space given in poultry journals to prevention, one hundred have been devoted to remedies and cures. This is wrong. There is more saitisfaction and profit in keeping healthy poultry than in curing sick birds. With sick birds we not only have the care and expense of the cure, but there is the loss of production during the time, as well as the still greaJter danger of having on hand birds weak in vitality when the hatching season arrives. The corner stone of successful poultry keeping is healthy stock. Healthy birds will grow well, lay satisfactorily and reproduce themselves, while sick birds are a source of trouble to the owner. We can only think of succeeding with poultry when we have learned the causes as well as the cures of poultry diseases. The man who is constantly asking about his sick birds is not getting financial returns from his plant, and prob- ably counts himself among those who are having "bad luck." Too many beginners with poultry fail because they start with birds that have not the vigor of well-bred stock. Too long inbred, late-hatched, weak stock never give good results. It does not pay to breed from a bird that shows a tendency to weakness, no matter how high it may score. Every breeder should be sure that his stock is healthy and that it was bred from heal- thy stock, and his chicks will have vigor. Inbreeding and Its Limits. Inbreeding may or may not be a factor in causing disease. The mating of two perfectly healthy birds 6an be expected to give good results. The danger is that both birds may have a tendency toward a certain diseased condition and the mating will intensify the trouble in the chicks. To a certain extent it is right for the poultryman to inbreed but the more he practices it the more sure he must 'be that he is using only strx)ng, well birds. The beginner in keeping hens should buy- fresh blood 'every year until he has learned to succeed with common matings. It is not necessary to "have all kinds mixed," as a woman 6 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. recently said to me. The day of the barnyard fowl is passed. The stan- dard-bred bird of to-day is stronger and gives more eggs and pounds cf meat than did the bird of our childhood. Every fancier can help along the bird of his choice by keeping it high in strength and vigor. Study your birds. Learn their weak points and strive to overcome them. Much has been done along this line, but there is yet much undone. The fancier deserves more praise for what he has done in successful poultry keeping than has generally been given him. Let not the utility breeder despise the fancier, for they are more nearly related than they think. See what has been done with the horse and cow in past years, and let us not be satisfied with the hen until we have attained as good results. Inbreeding is a subject that has attracted a deal of attention and there has been much contention over the questions involved. Volumes have been written and the ground gone over thoroughly, yet the last word to be written seems far in the future. Care Required in Feeding. Wrong feeding is another prolific factor in producing disease. The best stock, if fed incorrectly, will give only indifferent results and is sure to develop some form of sickness. There is no "best ration" to suit all breeds, all ages, all seasons or conditions. Along the line of careful study in poultr5'' feeding very little has been done. Here and there a breeder has done good work, but it has been lost because not reduced to writing. Experiment stations seem to have forgotten that the poultry industry produces more wealth than any other branch of agriculture. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been expended on the study of cows and their feeding (well spent, too), but time and money should have been given to the investigation of poultry. Stations in New York, Utah and especially in Rhode Island, are to be commended for the good already accomplished and for the pr'omise they give to devote more time to this important economic subject. Rhode Island is not only working out these proiblems and putting them in print, but Is also impressing them directly upon the minds of poultrymen through its winter class in "poultry culture." Right feeding will eliminate much sickness. Overfeeding Induces a plethoric condition of the bird which is liable to be followed by indi- gestion. On the contrary, the giving of a ration insufficient in food value produces an anaemic state of body which furnishes a goiod breed- ing ground for disease. The use of a diet lacking in any of the elements needed to sustain life and produce paying results, or the feeding of a ration in which an over supply of one of the elements is given, disar- ranges the animal economy and brings dangerous results from a health- ful standpoint. Feeding a strictly grain diet, without any bulky food, will in time tell upon the bodily condition of the bird. Fortunately a bird with half a chance will manage to find waste of some kind, even though it be old leaves or chaff. A hen needs "filling" just as much as a cow, and it is as much common sense teaching to advocate the giving of 'Clover hay to one as the other. RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 7 Necessity of Grit. Another pitfall to healthy poultry is a lack of grinding material. To give good grain to your birds and then have it wasted because they can not find sharp grit to grind it with is poor economy. A short time ago I saw a tlock of four-months-old chicks dying because they were unable to reach grit. In some sections of the country there is little available grit, and it is important to health as well as to profit that grinding mate- rial be supplied. Some of the so-called cases of cholera are simply indi- gestion and diarrhoea from lack of grit. Impure Water a Disease Breeder. Impure water is a cause of many sick birds. All birds drinking bad water do not become sick. If they did, the letters to poultry editors ask- ing what to do "for my sick birds" would be too many to answer. Towns and cities known to be healthful are sure to have a pure water supply, and poultry plants that are known as producers of sturdy birds are care- ful to supply clean water. Not only must good water be given, but the dishes must be kept free from filth. Water is so cheap, and so easily given, that it seems a pity that so many seem to think it is something to be supplied or not. as is convenient. Hens insufficiently supplied with water are poor layers, and if the available water is bad they are in a condition to contract disease because of their lowered vitality. Filthy water is a good carrier of catarrh, roup and cholera germs. Cleaning daily the water dishes and giving fresh water diminishes the danger of these severe diseases getting a foot-hold. Many a promising lot of brooder chicks have died solely owing to being obliged to drink warm, filthy water, while the owner of the birds comforted himself by thinking that the diarrhoea must have been owing to a "cold." Filthy or Wet Quarters. Filthy brooders, houses or yards are a constant source of danger to any flock. To be obliged to breathe the air of a long uncleaned brooder, or to pick up grain or mash from a dirty floor, is to run a risk too great to be safe. Houses that are strong smelling from uncleaned dropping boards and damp, filthy floors are hotbeds of disease. Yards that are sticky with filth after every rain are not to be desired from a healthful standpoint. Filth in any form is a constant source of danger that should at all times be guarded against. Many of the acute diseases that take off whole flocks find the best conditions present in filthy surroundings. Excessive wet or dampness presents a favorable breeding ground for some diseases. The location of a poultry plant upon or even near wet soil is to be avoided. A hen keeps in best working condition when yarded and houses upon light, sandy soil. If already settled in a damp place something can be done by draining and filling, but there must be constant care to overcome the unfavorable circumstances. It ought not be necessary .to speak of dampness from leaky roofs, but I find too many pouHrymen that are careless in this respect. Houses need to be carefully watched at all seasons of the year, espe- 8 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. cially in winter, to see that no opening comes to let in water. The snow often dams up near the gutter and if the roof is not well covered the water will work in and wet both scratching material and earth floor, which is likely to be followed by catarrh or roup. When building upon hillsides see that the natural flow of surface water is not against the building. T have seen a house, one hundred feet in length, thoughtlessly placed so that in winter the water would dam up behind it thirty feet wide, finally working under the foundations and - flooding nearly all the pens. It upset all cherished plans for winter profit, and led, I think, to the plant being offered for sale through a real estate broker. Heat, moisture and filth are to blame for many failures in poultry keeping. Even the frost, which collects in winter under the roof boards and on the walls, may be the cause of trouble. There is only one way to avoid this serious condition of affairs. Ventilate thoroughly during the day, getting the house dry, and there will be little accumula- tion of dampness during the night. I have seen long houses built with single windows to each pen so damp as to cause severe colds. The burn- ing of oil stoves in these houses had little effect, and the moisture was finally overcome by cutting large doors in the front of each pen, giving free ventilation all day. The scratching sihed houses are seldom troubled by this cause of dampness. Cold and Heat. Cold and heat are important factors in the production of disease. Of the two, heat is more to be feared than cold, and at first thought it it is a strange fact that heat in winter is the cause of disease. An ordi- nary hen house, witb only one window to each ten feet of length, unless carefully aired during the day, will get so hot at noon on bright days as to be almost unbearable. To the hen in her winter coat this heat is very debilitating, and exposure to draft or cold is often followed by catarrh or bronchitis. It is safer to have a dry cold house than one that is alternately hot and cold. Better an open front and no windows than plenty of glass an'd close, hot air. If the hens are kept busy during the day scratching for grain, the exercise will give them heat, and their warm coat of feathers will keep from harm all birds of rose comb vari- eties. Some of the most healthy birds I ever saw were wintered in open front houses, in which the doors between the scratching and roosting rooms were never tightly closed. These birds during the blizzard of last season continued to lay as if they were unconscious of weather changes. A warm house is not to be desired, if it is to be had by the use of too much glass or close air. The close-air, warm house is the one that is cold at night. The shut-in damp air is a good conductor of heat and the warmth is rapidly radiated during the night. Birds exposed to the great changes of temperature l)dtween day and night are fit subjects to all catarrhal diseases. I would not be understood as advising the use of open-front houses, but between the tight front and the open-front house there is a medium worth seeking. The more glass in front, the more need of careful ventilation. RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 9 Overheating From Crowding. Crowding on the roost, because of too large numbers, produces an overheated condition favorahle to colds, and this is as true in summer as in winter. Extremely low temperature will produce frosted combs and throw the birds off their laying. Tall-combed birds need warmer houses than these w'ith low combs, but warmth must never be had from crowded quarters or close air. Unless you can keep your birds comfort- able in a house without artificial heat, dispose of them and get a variety with comb and feathers that are safe in your climate. Drafts and Imperfect Ventilation. Drafts are a source of danger to healthy stock. A broken pane ot glass, or a crack in the wall, will let a current of air in on a bird that will do more mischief than seems possible. There is less danger from the breeze that miiy blow through an open shed than a draft through a small crack. The warmer the house and more crowded the birds, the sreater the danger of disease. Ventilators are the cause of many colds, because they are commonly arranged so that snow or rain find their way in on the birds. A house that is well aired during the daytime and is kept clean and is not crowded with birds, seldom needs any ventilation at night. A house that is stifling to go into in the morning generally needs better care of floors and dropping boards, rather than the intro- duction of more air. Too Many Chicks in a Brood. The crowding of chieks with the mo'ther hen or in the brooder pro- duces sorry results. It is seldom wise from a healthful point of view to put over fifty chicks in a single brooder or to give more than twenty to a hen. A larger number are sure to be crowded, if indeed they do not crowd themselves, the chicks inside the mob becoming hot and damp and taking cold when exposed to the outside air. This summer i saw one hundred and fifty chicks given to three hens, and after two weeks* experience the owner was glad to take my advice and remove the hens. The chicks crowded less Without than with the hens. Of course if it had been earlier in the season the chicks could not have got along with- out some outside heat. Foul Air and Filthy Quarters. A factor in the causation of disease is foul air. This may come from having too many chicks or hens for the size of the house, the air being breathed over and over again, and becoming more filthy the longer the birds are confined. Foul air may arise from uncleaned floors or drop- ping boards, heat increasing the danger of it. The danger from many of the brooders now sold is not irregular heat, but too small a provision for pure air. The little chicks sleep in a small chamber, in which their droppings accumulate, and unless abundant currents of warm air are introduced the air is soon unfit for use. There are many- good incuba- tors, but few good brooders. With chicks out in coops or boxes in the field, arrange so that there will be air without drafts. In no beitter way, can this be done than by having the fronts of all coops covered with inch 10 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. wire netting or laths. Foul air seems to play too important a part in cases of roup to be allowed to exist on the premises of any thoughtful I>oultryman. Protection From Exposure. Storms are a prolific cause of disease. We cannot help the rain and Fnow, but we must keep our birds from severe exposure. When to keep our birds indoors, away from falling snow or driving rain, is not hard to decide, but the sudden changes that come at all times of the year must be promptly met. It is only by constant watchfulness that our flock escapes illness from nature's ways. Little chicks, whether with hens or brooder, need oversight to avoid the effects of a sudden storm. Tt IS money saved to provide room enough to keep all birds indoors on stormy days. The loss of a brooderful of chicks or a pen of birds would go far toward providing ample accommbdatiion for the stock. Lack of Shade from Summer's Sun. The intense heat of summer, unless there is escape from it in some way, ofttimes produces trouble. On the farm the overheated bird can escape to the cool barn cellar or to some orchard, but on our modern poultry plant the bird has little choice of her own. If the division boards of the yards are high enough they will cast some shade for part of the day, but at high noon these boards are worth little for this purpose. The houses on the hot days are too warm to be depended! upon for retreat. The arranging of brush or boards in the yards will be helpful, but after all there is no shade like that of a tree in full leaf. The wise poultryman will early plan to set out trees in all his yards. For this purpose the apple tree seems to feel at home in the conditions that are present in rich soil and grass covered yards. The apple tree in the hen yard, is a rapid grower and comes early into bearing. Little chicks and fowls cut in the field, if allowed shelter from the hot sun, well repay in health and growth for the trouble taken to provide their retreat. Right Amount of Exercise. Exercise, too much or too little, has a bearing on health, and, what appeals to poultrymen, a relation to profits. If the bird has to work for its grain in scratching material so deep that it cannot get food enough for its needs, or if obliged to range too far for its food, it will never do its best, either in growth or egg yield. On the other hand, the bird that has no work to perform in getting its living is sluggish and is a poor layer. Leg weakness can be avoided and strength gained by proper exer- cise on the part of the little chicks. It is a mistake to let a hen that has been shut in on the nest for three weeks drag her chicks around all day. Much better results may be obtained by yarding and feeding them two- thirds of each day. The busy, bustling hen is the bird that is well and pays a profit. Care in Feeding. The feeding of hens bears a certdin relation to healthy stock. Not only the quantities of the articles fed, but also the way it is given, pro- duce good or bad results. All grain fed, except just at night, should be RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 11 given in scratching material. This can be any waste hay or straw that is dry. If it js wet or even damp thei food will takei some of the filtk that will alwayr accumulate in a hen house, and filth is never to be desired in connection with paying poultry. Mash ought to be given la clean troughs or on boards. The arrangement should be such that there is no crowding or fighting among the birds to get the food. If the hena are obliged to seize a mouthful and run to some wet spot to eat it, in the process it will get mixed with some of the droppings and become undesirable for healthy poultry. Brooder chicks need special care in furnishing them clean food. Too many die from dirty food to allotw us to relax our efforts to keep their mash and dry grain in proper condition. Hens will stand food that will kill growing birds. When possible, feed all little chicks far enough from the house or brooder to escape most of the droppings. Never feed wet food on the ground or where it can be mixed w'it'h foul earth. High Roosts Cause Bumble Foot. High roosis are one cause of bumble foot. While it is "nature" for a hen to roost high, it is only when the grass covered ground is at hand that the bird is safe from danger of injury to the feet. In most cases, six inches above the droppings board is right. If there is a raised edge to the droppings board the bird can step from one to the other and then easily to the floor. The droppings board itself should only be high enough to allow room for an egg box underneath. If there is no other place for the birds to roost they will accept the low roost, thereby avoiding the dangers of one that is higher. Droppings Boards and Their Accumulations. Droppings boards should be kept clean. To allow the filth to accu- mulate is to furnish an atmosphere to the sleeping birds that is irritat- ing to the mucous surfaces of the throat and bronchial tubes. Some of the cases of chronic bronchitis are due to this cause. After cleaning the boards, sprinkle ground plaster on the surface to sweeten and keep sweet the boards. Ground plaster is worth its cost for the good it will do when applied to the garden. If unable to procure the plaster the use of dry earth or finely sifted coal ashes will g'ive good results. Do not use lime to dust the boards, as it seits free the ammon'ia contained in the droppings, and this is an irritant to the organs of respiration. Dur- ing cold snaps in winter the droppings often freeze to the boards for several days. Watch for the sudden thaw some warm noon, and remove the waste before the ammonia beg'ins to arise. Store all droppings out- side of any room in which birds are kept. Stock Weakened by Lice. Insects play an important part in the health of poultry. Of these the ordinary hen louse and red spider are most common. Chickens infested w*ith lice, whether from the mother hen or from a brooder, are always undersized, rough in plumage and easily fall a prey to disease- Hens troubled with lice are uneasy, restless, grow thin and do not prove 12 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. good layers. The sitting hen, afflicted with lice, often becomes weak, and her food produces looseness of the bowels. The red spider, or red mite, as it is often called from its size, lives in cracks of the house, under the roost and droppings board, or multiplies rapidly in dry droppings, and comes out at night to suck the blood of the birds. Wlhen birds are thus troubled by mites the loss of blood produces an anaemic state conducive to disease as well as to poor financial results. Poultry plants infested with lice or mites never succeed and are a hotbed of disease. It is possible to have sickness where there are no lice, but it is impossible to keep birds well on which there are lice in any number. It is the first duty of a poultryman to be sure that insects have no foothold on his place. Destroy all insects and see that none are introduced on new birds. Never be too sure that you are free from. lice. When you least expect it, some friend will show you one of your birds loaded with insect life. Keep at it, from one end of the year to the other, fighting lice, and it will be time well spent. If you relax your vigilance for awhile the pests may get in such work as to upset all your plans for a year. Sunshine. Sunshine is as essential to the health of poultry as it is to the health of the human being, and to keep birds in a location so poor that the sun has no chance to send its needful rays streaming toward the flock is to invite disease and failure. Sunshine is needed to dry all moisture, whether arising from a damp soil or from the lungs of the birds. Plenty of sunshine and fresh air are cheaper and better for the health's sake than carbolic acid or sulphur. The less sunlight the more disease. There is always trouble ahead for the man or bird who is obliged to live in shady quarters. To keep hens in a house with light only from the north, or in cellars with low, dusty windows, is taking risks of disease as well as probabilities of egg failure. Birds housed under such condi- tions are sure to become weak, pale in comb and wattles, and are likely to contract catarrh, bronchitis or roup. Sunshine may also b© a source of harm if sufficient ventilation is not furnished. A house facing south, well supplied with glass, if not allowed plenty of escape for the hot air. Will show in winter a temperature of 80 to 100 degrees. The birds suf- fer during the heat of noon only to feel more keenly the other extreme of low temperature at night. The scratching shed house is not perfec- tion, but it does furnish an escape from a hot pen at noon, to the fresh air out-of-doors. The days of the all-glass front house are happily ol the past, but even now I am occasionally asked by some one if it is not best to have lots of windows in the new house. The old idea of our childhood clings to us, but we know from experience that about one win- dow to each ten feet of front gives the best results from both the health and profit point of View. Condiments in Excess Are Harmful. Condiments are an interesting subject from a health basis. Many of the egg foods sold in past years have helped send many a flock to the RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 13 market because of non-paying results. Our birds need a little spice if shut in house and yard— just enough to take the place of the wild berry or racy leaf, that are within reach of the birds at liberty. Some of the powders offered for sale will throw the birds out of condition if fed according to directions. There is danger of irritating the crop and giz- zard as well as enlarging the liver. Salt the mash as you would your own food, and in cold weather add a little black pepper. You can buy nothing better and will get good results if other things are right. Exposure in Shipping. Train or express exposure is a factor in disease. The sending of birds to the winter shows or the transportation of breeding stock is not without its dangers. I have seen coops standing for hours in a brisk northwest wind, with the temperature below freezing, and then put into a baggage car near the hot steam pipes. The reverse often occurs and the sudden change from hot to cold is followed by some catarrhal trouble. Even the change from the warm show room to the cold of the cuter air is not without its dangers. There is something wrong about this sending of birds in the way we do, else why is it that some of our larger exhibitors never have anything in the line of diphtheria except in birds at shows, or returning therefrom? To avoid disease resulting from transportation of birds the coops should be roomy, with wind-proof sides, and in cold weather a coarse burlap top cover should be provided. Safeguards Against Poison. Irritant poisons have caused much sickness and not a few deaths. The common forms of poisons as found on farms or the village lot are paint in some form, paris green or potato bug poisons, and "rough on rats" or vermin killer. There is great carelessness shown in the way in which these are left around. Tins containing remains of former paint contents are often thrown into fence corners or rubbish dumps, only to become receptacles for falling rain, and these cans seem to possess an attraction for the wandering hen. Paris green is an every-day article of use by the farmer or villager and seems to have lost its first impres- sion upon the mind of the user that it is a source of danger to all animal life. Paris green, and all similar substances ought to be kept out of reach of our birds. Little chicks allowed to run in a potato field soon after it has been sprayed are very likely to get harm from the bright drops of liquid that hang from leaf or tip. Pails used in applying the paris green need to be carefully guarded at all times, and above all, not allowed to be where they can receive any rainfall. Rat poison is usually given on bread, a food that always appeals to a hen's appetite. This should be surrounded by all the safeguards possible and even then there is danger that by some mischance the phosphorous ingredients of the rat poison may be taken in the bird's digestive system. Balancing Grain and Vegetables. Green Vegetable food fed in too large quantities or withheld alto- gether influences the condition of the bird's health. An over-use of 14 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. cabbage, rye, weeds or roots is likely to produce diarrhoea and weaken the fowl's general system. If largely fed in place of proper food the bird Joses weight and becomes sluggish. To refrain from the use of green food is like feeding a cow on grain only and expecting good results. Hens must have some green food in order to do their best and pay gocd dividends. Birds so confined as to be out of reach of any green food be- come pale, weak and anaemic. We see this condition in hens kept in city barns or cellars or housed and yarded in a manner to cut off access to grass. There is no better all-round green food than cut clover, either green or dry and steamed. If not allowed a grass run something of the green food ought to be fed for both health and profits. Brooder chicks will be less likely to get "off their legs" if given a little lettuce or young oat sprouts. Even the waste from the hay mow is useful, not only for the exercise, but for the leaves and seeds that help make up the bulk. Exclusive Grain Diet. Grain in connection with diseases of poultry is worth some atten- tion. Many cases of bowel trouble are traceable to feeding musty, sour or charred grain Any damaged grain is recommended as "good enough for poultry" by the ordinary seller, and too often the dealer's statement is accepted as good advice. A short time ago I found a poultryman feed- ing damaged wheat at a cost of one dollar per hundred pounds, wlien the best white wheat was worth one dollar and sixty cents. More than half the damaged wheat was without food value while at the same time the birds were exposed to dangers of spoiled food. One-half the quantity of good wheat was giving better results than the damaged grain and the birds were not v)bliged to eat and dispose of a lot of rubbish in order to live. To avoid disease, feed the best grain you can get. The best is none too good. The feeding of an exclusively grain diet is dangerous from a health- ful point of view. None of the grains contain elements rightly balanced to give perfect results. Wheat comes the nearest to perfection, but even this grain when fed to the exclusion of all other foods is followed by dumpish, poor laying birds. Any or all of the grains need to be balanced with something of the animal nature. A bird depending entirely upon grain for food will eat too much in quantity in its endeavors to obtain a sufficient amount of nitrogenous, or protein food. Birds having a farm run, with free access to the barn mows, will get ainmal food enough for warm weather work, but will need a supply of meat meal or green bone in winter. Birds fed on a meal mash in the morning and corn at night will naturally be sluggish, over-fat, and inclined to fall a prey to dis- ease. The desire for healthy and profitable poultry ougOit to be strong enough irx the mind of the owner to lead him to know something about balancing rations. There is much food for thoug*ht in the report of some of our state experiment stations. Poultry keepers ought to have and study them. Rhode Island, Massachusetts, West Virginia and Utah have done good work in the poultry line and their reports are to be had for the asking. RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 15 Too Little and Too Much Food. Cramming, or over-feeding, when persistently followed results in indigestion or breakdown. By cramming I mean the giving of too much food, either to adult birds or to chicks. In these days of yarded stock there is more danger of over-feeding, than in the times of farm flocks at liberty. A bird left free to wander where it wishes will stand a better chance of keeping well than the one that is dependent on the owner for every particle of food. The only time it is best to cram a bird with food is when it is soon to be used for the table, and this process ought not to take over three weeks. A longer stuffing process is likely to be followed by the bird's getting off its feed and losing all it has gained. Many a lot of brooder chicks have "passed away" because the owner thought it best to give them lots of food often. Chicks, as well as grown birds, must not be fed so as to remain lazy, but should be cared for and fed in such a way as always to be ready to work for the next meal. There must be time for most of one meal to digest before giving the next. With the exception of the last feed of the day no meal should be enough in quantity to cause the bird to retire to some corner and "mope." The active chick is the one with a good appetite and a rapid growth. The sluggish, over-fed chick is always a source of worry and easily passes into a sick condition. Over-feeding with meat, cooked or raw, is not without its dangers. Excess of meat is liable to induce diarrhoea or tax the kidneys to get rid of the extra waste. The safe plan to follow in feeding green cut bone and meat is to find how much the birds can eat in one full meal. Then give at various times during the seven days of the week a total amount equal to twice that of the single meal." If fed in this way, very little ground meat will be needed in the morning mash. Too little food is a cause of anaemic conditions and a source of trouble occasionally met with. The common poultry keeper does not often err in this direction, but rather leans toward heavy feeding. Giv- ing too little food or starving the birds is not pleasant to think of, but we may well be watchful that in our system of feeding we do not starve the birds along the line of some needed element. Combine or balance your ration in such a way that the bird gets just what is needed for profit as well as to sustain life. Diphtheria. Diphtheria is a disease of the cold months rather than of warm months. While not so contagious as cholera, it is easily passed from bird to bird, either directly or by means of the drinking water or feed trough. Diphtheria is fatal enough to be dreaded by any poultry Keeper, and even though the birds pull through they are never equal to birds that have not had the disease, even for layers, to say nothing of cheir doubtful value as breeding stock. Diphtheria leaves its mark on the constitution of any bird that has the disease. Diphtheria may be taken from sick birds at the shows, or it may be introduced through new birds. It always pays to have some system of quarantine even though you keep but 'a few birds. This is some trouble, to be sure, but it is a safeguard worth its cost to any earnest poultryman. 16 RELIABLE POUIiTRY REMEDIES. Many of the severe epidemics have been in connection with filtlhy or damp houses or yards. As we take up the various diseases, readers will be surprised to learn the part that filth takes as a factor in disease. A clean kept poultry plant seldom has diseased birds, unlessi introduced from without. Diphtheria manifests itself early by a sleepy appearance of the bird, a slight discharge from the nostrils. The plum- age is rough, not sleek. After twenty-four to forty-eight hours the catarrhal condition of the nostrils becomes more prominent, and the sides of the mouth are sticky with a fluid that comes from within. Opening the mouth you will see that the sides and back are also sticky with the same fluid that you observed on the outside. Even as early as the second day you are likely to find the throat a bright red in color, except where covered with the characteristic leaden membrane. In true diphtheria this membrane is always firmly attached to the mucous sur- face, so closely in fact that its removal is always followed by bleeding. If at any time you find on tlhe throat or mouth a membrane that can be detached without being followed by bleeding jou may doubt the pres- ence of diphtheria. The tendency of the mem .:^iie in diphtheria is to spread over the entire ^rface rf the throat that is in view, if indeed it does not run up into the nostrils and down into the windpipe. This disease is likely to prove fatal in severe attacks within four days of the time attention is attracted to the sick bird, and in the mild form to run a course of from ten to fifteen days. In cured cases, even after the birds are out of danger, there may be some weakness of legs or wings that lasts for weeks or months. The ordinary hen house is not the ideal place to doctor diphtheria. The bird needs a moderately warm room where a stove can have water boiling on it most of the time. During the warm months of the year any dry, sunny box of a house will do, but diphtheria is a rare disease except in the cold season. For both local and internal treatment there is nothing better than calcium sul- phide. This must be fresh and very strong-smelling to give good results. One grain mixed with a little hot mash and fed so you know the bird gets it, three times a day, will do for internal treatment. A little of the dry powdered calcium sulphide dropped into a piece of paper folded into a V shape and blown into the open mouth will aodify the course of the local manifestation of the disease. Something depends upon the feeding in this trouble, just how much it is hard to say. In severe cases the bird is unable to digest food even though it be got into the crop and gizzard. In a case where the general symptoms are much lighter than you would expect from the appearance of the throat, it is well to give highly nutritious foods, such as raw or dropped eggs, beef juice and milk. For a tonic to "pick up" the convalescing birds, arsenate of iron in 1-50 grain doses, given in mash three times a day, will do good work. Canker. Whether this is a disease of itself or a mild form of diphtheria is not definitely known, but it is always well to consider it of danger REIJABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 17 enough to give it prompt and careful attention. While all birds are at times attacked by canker, the Games are quite subject to it. Canker is as often seen in the show room as in the home pen. What there is about the exposure of the express travel and show room, to cause this trouble is not known, but it is a risk that must be taken if we are to exhibit our birds. Your attention is called to this disease by observing that the bird has some trouble in swallowing food or water. Its neck seems to be stiff. Even when standing and doing nothing else it has the appearance of swallowing, as though it were trying to get down some substance in its throat. The usual treatment of canker for years has been to blow powdered chlorate of potash into the throat upon the inflamed surfaces. The latest and it seems to me the best remedy, is the use of calcium sulphide, as in diphtheria. All cases of canker or diphtheria should be sent to the hospital, whether that be a dry goods box or an isolated room. You can handle the sick bird better in this way and at the same time lessen the danger to the flock at large. The previous condition of the bird has no beaiing on the contracting of diphtheria or canker. If these diseases have any preference it is for vigorous birds rather than weak stock. Catarrh. In considering catarrh it is well at the very beginning to make prominent the fact that catarrh is not roup. Catarrh is a simple inflam- mation of the mucous surfaces, and the special term is only appliedi to the air passages above the windpipe. Unless filth enters into the cause of the sickness catarrh never passes into roup. A bird sick with catarrh is likely to contract roup if the proper exposure be given. Catarrh and roup cannot be distinguished apart in the first stages, but should receive prompt treatment even before the disease can be named. In catarrh the bird is not sick to any extent. The infiammation of the nostrils does not upset the digestion, and unless added to by im- proper treatment or lack of good care, the bird does not lose weight. Catarrh is caused by long exposure to cold winds, roosting in a coop so that a steady draft of air blows through a chink onto the bird, and from contagion from dther cases. Catarrh in quite young chicks is very common from the effects of a chill, either from low temperature or as the result of crowding and sweating in a cold brooder. Many brooders do not have warm floors so as to make comfortable the chick at rest. A chick in mdtion requires no warm surface under him, but when morning, be sick at night, and dead the next day. The first symptom is a slight, watery diarrhoea, lacking in color as the hours go by. With this the bird is sluggish and not easily moved by any motion of the owner. It is inclined to remain standing wher- ever it may be; often gets into a corner and stands in the sun with its tail drooped. There is a look of disarray to the feathers, a roughness in the appearance of the plumage, and the fluff below the vent is wet with diarrhoea! discharge, if indeed it is not stuck together. There is a gen- eral let-down to the muscular system, the wings drooping, head carried low, and even the eye-lids half closed. There is 'no desire for food, but the bird is decidedly thirsty. The desire for water is offset by the sluggishness of the bird, and it may be 40 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. seen starting for the water dish, then stopping to wait on the way. The first discharge from the bowels is thick from the usual contents of the Intestines, but as the bowels become empty the discharge gets less solid and quite watery. As the inflammation of the bowel lining increases there appear slight bloody streaks in the discharge, and this may in- cre^ase until the flow is nearly pure blood. Severe cases s'how some irritation of the throat and nostrils, a slight discharge appearing in mouth and eyes. At the end of the first day you may expect to find the bird decidedly weak. The comb gets darker than in health, passing from red to purple as the disease pro- gresses. Hill, in his book, "Diseases of Poultry," gives the best descrip- tion of the post-mortem appearance of this disease, as follows: "Lin- ing membrane of the mouth livid, except toward the outside, which was pale; throat purple and full of sticky, dirty, yellowish matter; tip of tongue hardened and partly detached; eyes sunk deep into the sockets; eyelids emphysematous or swollen; gizard empty, except a little gravel and thin, acid fluid; muscular substance of a deep red color; intestines extensively inflamed, with extravasated blood patches under the mucous membrane, and here and there corrosions. The matter contained in the intestines was of a dirty, thin, ichorous, acrid nature; liver deeply con- gested and increased in volume; lungs slightly congested and pleuritic exudation; heart purplish-red and studded with echymose of extrava- sated blood spots; pericardium contained an excessive amount of straw colored fluid." The treatment of such a disease as cholera, running so rapid a course and with such violence, must be prompt and active. To wait a few days to see whether any more birds take the trouble, is giving your- self a hard, discouraging season in which to get rid of the last case. The man who is quick to see any change in appearance of his hens will early note danger in the first few hours of cholera. At the first sug- gestion of a possible cholera case quarantine all doubtful birds; at once scald or bake every drinking dish; scald all food utensils, and clean up every house. In other words, destroy every lurking germ that can cause future trouble. If the sick birds cp.n be kept by themselves, so much the better. Add to each quart of drinking water for the sick birds spirits of camphor, one teaspoonful, and one-fourth ounce of sulpho-carbolate of zinc. The sulpho-oarbolate of zinc should be white in color. The more red it shows the more impure and irritating it is. Much of the sulpho- carbolate offered is not white and should be avoided for internal use. You will notice that this salt of zinc is often suggested by me. I get much satisfaction from it as an internal antiseptic. For drinking water for the apparently well birds, add to every quart one-eighth ounce sul- pho-carbolate of zinc. If the diarrhoea is excessive give a pill of "Dover's Powder," one grain every two hours until the discharge lessens. The opium in the pill relieves pain and quiets the muscular action of the bowels. Th« KELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 41 diet question is difficult to solve. Anything bulky is out of the ques- tion, if indeed the bird does not directly solve this by refusing to eat at all. Highly concentrated food is needed to sustain life; something easily digested, and this requirement is best found in meat juice. One tablespodnful, every four hours, given by means of a spoon or glass dropping tube, will help the case. The meat juice is prepared by half cooking ^teak, squeezing the liquid out and adding a little salt and pepper. The treatment of cholera is not satisfactory in results. If you suc- ceed in curing more than one-half your birds, you may well doubt the presence of that disease, and may make up your mind that the trouble is simple diarrhoea, enteritis or indigestion. The successful plan of handling dholera is prevention, rather than the time and labor needed to doctor sick birds. Dysentery. This may be a neglected diarrhoea running on into deep inflamma- tion, or it may be a disease of itself originating from some filthy con- dition of the poultry plant. A.t any rate, poor care always enters into this disease. It may be from wrong ideas of what is needed to keep healthy birds, or from allowing the disease to be introduced through outside birds. Filthy water or foul floors are likely to spread dj^sentery. If indeed they are not the direct cause of it. Dysentery always is accompanied by a looseness of the bowels. The discharge is thin, often watery, with more or less blood, according to the severity of the dis- ease. The bird early shows weakness of the muscuhir system, and is soon "off its feed." This disease is not highly infectious, but there is much danger if the plant is not well cleaned up at the very beginning of the outbreak. There is danger enough to call for the division of tte flock into well and sick birds. The disease seems to spread by means of the droppings. All suspected, as well as ajll decidedly sick birds, should have an Intestinal disinfectant given in the drinking water. Here we find another use for the sulpho-carbolate of zinc, or for a combination of the sulpho-carbolates of zinc, soda and lime. One ounce of the zinc, or of the combination, added to two quarts of boiled water, should be the only drink for four days. The best results will be obtained by placing this drink before the birds, for ten minutes at a time, soon before feed- ing, four times a day. If the discharge is decidedly bloody a pill of Dover's Powder of one grain can be administered in a little mash twice a day. If there seems to be much pain, give three doses of the Dover's Powder per day. The diet of all the birds, sick and well, ought to be non-irritating for a few days. Feed lightly of the coarsest parts of the wheat, giving middlings rather than bran, making at least one-third the mash of clover hay, thoroughly cooked. Feed wheat rather than corn for a week, supplying grit in abundance. If possible let all drinking water used for 42 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. a month be first boiled. Clean all dishes often and keep aJll droppings, out of them. In uncleaned brooders there sometimes develops a condition resem- bling dysentery, a condition to be removed by keeping the chicks' sur- roundings in a correct way. Winter chicks are especially prone to bowel troulDle, and if fed in such a way as to make the little ones eat off the wet floor they are likely to be good subjects for dysentery or enteritis. Dropsy. This is a disease of the abdomen, or it may be a symptom of disease- in some other part of the body. There is always a collection of water or serum to be found in or between the tissues of this section of the- bird. Anaemic chicks sometimes develop dropsy as the result of filthy surroundings or incorrect feeding. The dropsy is secondary to the anaemia. Old birds may have this same condition as the result of poor sur* Foundings or care, or it may result because of obstruction to blood flow from diseased organs, or from the pressure of tumors. Tonics, such as tincture of nux vomica, one teaspoonful to two quarts water, or arsenate of iron, one grain to one quart water, used as. drink for the sick birds, will help improve the general health of the foMs and sometimes this is followed by the disappearance of the dropsy^ "With tonics, good food, dry, sunny houses, clean yards and houses, you may look for improvement. If the collection of fluid is large it will be well to insert a hollow needle, first boiling it in water, through the tense skin, letting much of the liquid run out. Follow this by giving in the drinking water one tablespoonful sulphate magnesia to each quart, and keep this up for a week, or until you see a change for the better. When this improvement begins, change from magnesia to iodide of potassium, twenty grains to each quart drinking water. Birds that have had dropsy are to be ruled out for breeders. Birds, that have a history of sickness of any form are to be viewed with sus- picion, for egg yielders as well as breeders. Flocks that seem to have a tendency toward certain diseases are poor property, and should be put one side and a fresh start taken, or fresh Mood should be promptly introduced. The Lungs. The diseases of the lungs are bronchitis, pneiimonia, consumption, and tuberculosis. Of these, bronchitis may be either acute or (Chronic; pneumonia is acute, consumption and tuberculosis chronic. These dis- eases are not easily given one to another, but there is danger enough to make it desirable to keep all sick birds away from well ones. Bron- chitis is limited to the lining membrane of the bronchial tubes, pneu- monia to the air cells, consumption to the substance of the lung tissue, tuberculosis to all parts of the lungs. RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 43 Bronchitis. While catarrh is an inflammation of the lining of the nostrils, bron- chitis is limite 22, 63 Pneumonia 44 Poison ; Safeguards Against 13 Pox, Chicken 54 Quarters : Filthy or Wet 7, 9 Resin for Colds; Smoking 71 Rheumatism 27, 69 Rot; Black 52 Roundworm ; The 56 Roup 19, 21, 65 Scaly Legs 23 Shade from Sun; Lack of .10 Shanks; Broken 26 Skin Disease 24 Sleepiness 66 Soft-Shelled Eggs 37 Spring Ailments 31 Staggers 67 Sunshine 12 Sun; Lack of Shade from 10 Symptoms 61 Tapeworm 57, 70 Torn Side 70 Tuberculosis 47 Tuberculosis in Brooder Chicks 32 Vaseline for Colds : 71 Vegetables ; Balancing Grain and 13 Ventilation ; Drafts and Imperfect 9 Water a Disease Breeder; Impure 7 Watery Eyes 66 Weakness; Leg 25, 69, 72 Wet Quarters ; Filthy or 7 White Comb 51 Worms 56, 57, 68, 70