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Show Ij .rnrg.-n yrmm nan mfifffwi m i ii iii r iii j Tiie ' Standard's U. L C. Bureau I ' i Articles of Interest to FaiTners, Housekeepers and Others I Written for The Standard by Experts at Utah's Noted m Agricultural College at Logan j W8 ' POULTRY DISEASES AND TREAT- Jw MENT By Pren Moore Poultry Husbandman, University of Idaho Extension Division An outbreak of disease is always X possible in any flock, regardless of tho ' ; size of the flock. Bad environment Is usually the causo. On the average, j j fowls are expected to live under san-5 san-5 j itary conditions that would ' not be : j thought of for any other class of live-' live-' j stefek. Diseases may break out in well i ' managed flocks, with no apparent ; cause. Usually where environment Is favorable, wholesome foods are fed 'A and clean water Is provided in a clean A .,vwl iVift rwlv nrp If I kept free from lice and mites, there is j snall danger. k jj ii seldom pays to treat fowls that are diseased. Fowls that have shown S .Mk signs of physical weakness at any time jj j in their lives, should not be used for A !: r breeding purposes. Fowls that are dis- ij jky cased cannot be made productive. Tho v" value of an individual fowl and its f(!m product Is not sufficient to justify fiB" a very great expenditure of time and I W medicines. If the disease is infectious I or highly contagious, it should never ! ; bo treated. The danger from diseased j'!? fowls about the place is entirely too, i great. The better practice would be to kill diseased fowls as soon us they are noticed. All cases should bo diagnosed di-agnosed to determine the nature of the disease and then the carcass destroyed destroy-ed by burning. Fowls that have died of disease should not be burled, as it is quite likely that they will be uncov-' uncov-' ered by some dog. Provention is better than cure. Ordinary Or-dinary preventative measures consist of keeping houses, yards or runs scrupulously clean. Give only feeds and drinking water In feed hoppers and drinking Tenaels that are immaculately immac-ulately clean. Tho straw in the house should be fresh and clean at all times. Flocks should be protected from out-j out-j . olde contagion. If fowls are taken to a ; poultry show, or now stock purchased, !, they should bo isolated for several i! days to seo that no disease develops. i.Ico and mites are the cause of -j much disease. Fowls that are infected I r with lice and mites are constantly an noyed. They lose much blood and as a consequence are low Mn vitality. Proper sanitation will aid wonderfully wonderful-ly in keeping down lice and mites, j Clean quarters, plenty of sunlight and igood ventilation are the greatest enemies ene-mies of lice and mites, as well as of disease. Dark, filthy corners are their natural incubators. . Lice are continually on the bodies. Llcene and similar remedies" are splendid splen-did for lice and may be obtained through the local druggist or poultry supply house. These ointments should bo applied to the flesh of the fowls and not smeared in the feathers. Full directions for use como with each I oackage. If these ointments arc ap plied two or three times a year, thero will bo no trouble with lice. Mites are on tho fowls at night and go off during the day. During the day they can be found in the cracks and dark places about the roosting quarters. quar-ters. If mites are kept out of the quarters quar-ters when fowls roost they can do no harm. .Mites can be kept out oL tho roosting quarters by painting a the perches, droppings boards, and the walls up as high as the fowls can reach, with a mixture of equal parts of kerosene and zenoleum, Kreso or some other of the coal tar preparations prepara-tions found on the markeLs. Spraying the quartets with a two or three per cent solution of some one of the coal tar preparations or orchard sprays lr also good. Tho only advantage there Is to the painting process is that It does not need to be done often. In the first warm days of spring, the mites begin to require attention. If they aro not allowed to get a start they are easily kept down. If mites aro kept down during the summer months, they will not bother in win-' ter. Thero are many poultry diseases. There is not space in this article to deal with all of tho many diseases common to poultry. Many aggravated' cases of environment and improper feeding aro mistaken for disease. Ptomaine poisoning Is causnd by feeding mouldy feeds, usually meats. Dead carcasses that have been allowed allow-ed to lie aroun'd the place and decay aro a very common cause. Ptomaine poisoning is mistaken for a multitude of ills. Roup is an aggravated case of cold .nd boqomes contagious. When colds are noticed, the flock should bo treated treat-ed for lice and ventilation corrected. Permanganate of potash in the driiv ing water is a good treatment. Use enough of the permanganate to give the water a rich color. All ailing fowls should be removed from the general -flock. Tuberculosis Tuberculosis is common among the fowls of Idaho and is very destructive. In some sections, fully eighty per cent of tho flocks aro affected. The symptoms aro lameness and "going light." Tubercular lameness Is often mistaken for rheumatism. When lameness becomes common in a flock, the affected fowls should bo diagnosed. diag-nosed. Tubercular fowls will contlnuo to eat almost to the last, but will grow thinner until they appear to have no flesh on the breast bone. The breast bone becomes very sharp and appears from the feeling to be very dry. On opening a fowl that is far advanced ad-vanced in the disease, the liver will be found to be covered with yellow, cheesy spots. The intestines and lungs also may bo covered with tubercular nodules. In many cases, the spots aro found on all of the internal organs but they are most commonly found ton the liver. On the intestines, the tubercules may grow in clusters. The lungs of fowls are rarely affected by tuberculosis. There Is no known cure for tuberculosis tuber-culosis In fowls. The only treatment Is 10 uispose 01 me enure hock, luocr-cular luocr-cular flock of fowls need not be a total to-tal loss, as they may be sold for meat,.' subject to inspection, the same as oth-i er farm animals. It Is never safe to at- I tempt to keep any of the fowls from j a tubercular flock, as the disease is, likely to break out at any time. If the poultry house is, an old, rickety, rick-ety, unsanitary hovel it should be torn clown. If a good house, in case of tuberculosis, it should be thoroughly cleaned and then disinfected. Tho disinfecting dis-infecting should bo repeated, several times. The land whore the diseased fowls havo run should be cultivated and If possible somo crop grown on it. All treatment should bo thorough. No fowls should bo kept for one year. When restocking, great care should be exercised, that breeding stock is not secured from tubercular flocks. Black head Is a disease affecting the intestines and liver which is n03t' common in turkeys. The cause, of this disease Is not lenown as the organism has never been located. Tho symptoms aro most usually seen in young turkeys tur-keys from two weeks to four months old, but older turkeys may bo affected. affect-ed. Tho affected birds appear listless and are Inclined to lag bohlnd, or may separate themsolves from tho flock entirely. A constant symptom is diarrhoea. diar-rhoea. Loss of appetite, dullness and drooping tails and wings aro noticeable. notice-able. Loss of weight is rapid. The dis-easo dis-easo progresses slowly, but the effected effect-ed "birds usually die. Thero has been no scientific treat-. ment found as yet that has proven en- tlrely satisfactory. The following: treat-' ment, however, has proven very effective. ef-fective. To each sick turkey give a one tenth grain calomel tablet in a tea-spoonful tea-spoonful of castor oil. Older fowls require larger doses. Keep them far out on the farm away from the farm yards. Fresh land Is good for them. Feed tho sick turkeys ground feeds. A good plan is to soak tho feed 'in sour milk. Turkeys should always be encouraged to rove. Black head is often of-ten cured by removing the sick fowls to fresh land., f The old adage that "An ounco of prevention is better than a pound of cure," applies very aptly to remedies for all poultry diseases. oo |
