Pratt's Practical Pointers on the Care of Livestock and Poultry Part 18

~Aspergilosis~--_Cause:_ Growth of mould in air pa.s.sages. _Symptoms:_ Rapid breathing, rattling in throat, loss of weight, dragging wings, weakness, exhaustion. In chicks, sleepiness, diarrhoea, yellowish growth on lungs. _Treatment:_ Avoid mouldy grain and litter to keep flock free from infection. Disinfect with Pratts Poultry Disinfectant. Put flock in condition with Pratts Poultry Regulator.

~Bacillary White Diarrhoea~--_Cause:_ Bacteria. The disease may be inherited from hens having infected ovaries, or pa.s.s from chick to chick. _Symptoms:_ Chicks have diarrhoea, usually white or creamy.

Sleepy, chilly, thin, rough plumage, drooping wings. Heaviest mortality under three weeks of age. _Treatment:_ Badly infected chicks should be killed. Prevent epidemics by disinfecting everything with Pratts Poultry Disinfectant. Give Pratts White Diarrhoea Remedy in drinking water. Give chicks strong start by feeding Pratts Baby Chick Food.

~Bronchitis~--_Cause:_ Development of common cold, breathing in dust.

_Symptoms:_ Cough, rapid breathing, whistling, rattling and bubbling in throat. _Treatment:_ Keep patient dry, give laxative, treat with Pratts Bronchitis Remedy.

~Canker~--_Cause:_ Development of pus germs following injury or digestive troubles. _Symptoms:_ Cheesy growths in mouth and throat.

_Treatment:_ Sc.r.a.pe off canker and swab with full strength Pratts Poultry Disinfectant. Improve general condition with Pratts Poultry Regulator.

_Summerville, S.C.

I have used Pratts White Diarrhoea Remedy, and I wish to say that I have had some chicks that started with the white diarrhoea and I have given them the tablets in their drinking water, and have not had any trouble since. They are growing fine.

R.C. FOSTER._

~Catarrh~--_Cause:_ Draughts, dampness, exposure. _Symptoms:_ Thin discharge from eyes and nostrils, sneezing, difficult breathing, dullness. _Treatment:_ Pratts Condition Tablets to quickly tone up the system and Pratts Roup Remedy to overcome the disease.

~Chicken Pox or Sore Head~--_Cause:_ Bacteria. _Symptoms:_ Eruption on unfeathered areas of head. At first small and gray in color, increasing until head is covered with scabs. Eyes frequently closed. _Treatment:_ Disinfect most thoroughly with Pratts Poultry Disinfectant. Treat with Pratts Sore Head (Chicken Pox) Remedy.

~Cholera~--_Cause:_ Bacteria. _Symptoms:_ Weakness, thirst, head drawn down, drooping wings, intense thirst, frequently full crops, yellow or green diarrhoea. _Treatment:_ Give Pratts Chicken Cholera Remedy to whole flock as remedy and preventive. Improve general health with Pratts Poultry Regulator. Disinfect most carefully and frequently. Burn all dead birds and everything taken from poultry house. A most difficult disease to control if it gets established.

~Gapes~--_Cause:_ Small Y-shaped worm, about one-half inch long. May be either pale or red in color. Attaches itself to interior walls of windpipe, weakening the chick by sucking the blood, and also causing strangulation. This apparently double-headed worm is really two worms, one of each s.e.x, joined together. _Symptoms:_ Usually afflicts young chicks. Frequent gasping; gaping; coughing; discharge of mucus and worms from throat. _Treatment:_ Use Pratts Gape Remedy. Disinfect floors of coops and runs with Pratts Disinfectant. Move to new ground and keep chicks off wet gra.s.s.

~Intestinal Parasites (Worms)~--_Symptoms:_ Dullness, poor condition.

Worms found in droppings. _Treatment:_ Fowls regularly receiving Pratts Poultry Regulator are almost invariably free from this trouble. See details of individual treatment in The Poultryman's Complete Handbook.

~Leg Weakness (Chicks)~--_Cause:_ Feed lacking in bone and animal matter; close confinement; lack of exercise; over-heating in brooders.

_Symptoms:_ Chicks walk in a wobbly, weak-kneed fas.h.i.+on, often resting or hobbling along on the joints. _Treatment:_ Feed young chicks on Pratts Baby Chick Food. Give fair amount of beef or fish sc.r.a.p and bone meal. Afford opportunity for exercise, especially on the ground. Avoid bottom heat in brooders. Feed liberally on green food. Add small quant.i.ty Pratts Poultry Regulator to the ration.

~Liver Disease~--_Cause:_ Improper food, as overfeeding of corn or animal food, lack of exercise, general inactivity of intestinal tract.

_Symptoms:_ No prominent ones. If flock is not doing well and birds are lazy and sluggish, kill one or more and examine the livers. If found diseased, treat the flock. _Treatment:_ Use Pratts Poultry Regulator to improve general condition. Feed plenty of green food. Disinfect the buildings, and admit a big volume of fresh air. Induce the birds to exercise.

~Rheumatism~--_Cause:_ Exposure to dampness, and cold. _Symptoms:_ Swelling of joints, stiffness, lameness. _Treatment:_ Make house dry and sunny. Use Pratts Poultry Regulator to improve general condition. Rub affected parts with Pratts Liniment. (This fine liniment should be in every household. It has a hundred uses.)

~Roup~--_Symptoms:_ Bad-smelling discharge from the nostrils; sticky discharge from the eyes; feathers under wings and on back smeared and sticky, where bird has wiped its head; sometimes coughing and sneezing; eyes stuck shut; eyes closed and swollen out; mouth forced open by cheesy growth; patches of canker in mouth and throat. _Treatment:_ The disease is very contagious. Remove all birds showing symptoms. Clean up and disinfect the quarters, using Pratts Disinfectant liberally. Give sick and well birds Pratts Roup Remedy. Give the healthy flock Pratts Poultry Regulator. Treat the sick with Pratts Condition Tablets in addition to the Roup remedy. Burn all dead birds and all material removed from the hospital.

~Scaly Leg~--_Cause:_ A tiny mite which burrows under the scales and into the tissues of the leg. _Symptoms:_ Scaly, rough, crusty appearance of feet and shanks. _Treatment:_ Apply Pratts Scaly Leg Ointment.

~Tuberculosis~--_Cause:_ A minute germ. _Symptoms:_ Steady loss in weight; paleness of comb, wattles and face; general weakness; lameness, ruffling of feathers; frequently diarrhoea. Eye bright; ravenous appet.i.te. _Treatment:_ The disease is contagious and will spread through the flock unless proper precautions are taken. Remove affected birds.

Disinfect the poultry plant and surroundings with Pratts Disinfectant.

Kill birds in advanced stages. Give the whole flock a nouris.h.i.+ng ration, and include Pratts Poultry Regulator. Use lime freely. If disease continues to spread, dispose of entire flock, disinfect with greatest care, start anew with healthy stock.

_Pleasant Valley, N.Y.

I gave Pratts Roup Remedy a careful test on a flock of 50 growing white Wyandotte chicks in October which were infected with bad colds, and after treating one week with your roup remedy nearly every one was well.

EDGAR BRIGGS_