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Diseases of Fowls, and Treat
ment.
The most common diseases to which
fowls are liable, says W. W. Hilliard*
son, in a communication to the Rock
River Farmer, arc moulting, ]>ip, in¬
flammation, asthma, diarrhoea indiges¬
tion, fever, consumption, gout, corns
and costivencss. The firs% moulting,
as being a natural process of annual
occurrence, can scarcely be called a
disease ; yet it must be treated as if
it were really one, from the effects
which it produces. It is most danger¬
ous in young chickens. With adult
birds, warmth and shelter are usually
all that is required, united with a diet
of somewhat extra, stimulating and
nutritious character. In a state of
nature moulting occurs to wild birds
when their food is most plentiful,
hence nature herself points out that
the fowl should, during that period, be
furnished with an extra supply of
food. After the third year the period
of moulting becomes later later and
later, until it will sometimes happen
in January or February ; of course,
when tins occurs, every care as to
warmth should be given ; the use of
cayenne pepper alone, administering
two or three grains made into a pill
with bread, will generally suffice. The
feathers will at times drop off fowls,
when not moulting, to a very con¬
siderable extent, rendering them often
nearly naked. This is a disorder
eimiliar to the mange in many other
animals, and the same sort of treat¬
ment, viz : alteratives, such as sul¬
phur and nitre iu the proportions of
onc-quarier each, mixed with fresh
butter, a change of diet, cleanliness,
and fresh air in addition to this, will
generally be found sufficient to effect
the cure; be careful not to confound
this affection with moulting. The
distinction is that in the latter case
the feathers arc replaced by in new the
ones as fast as they are and cast,
former this is not so, the fowl
becomes bald. Fin—To this disease
young fowls aicpeculiarly liable, and i
that, too, chiefly in hot.weather. The
symptoms are a thickening of the
membrane of the tongue, especially
toward the tip. Thisspeedily becomes
an obstruction of sufficient.magnitude
to impede the breathing; tins pro¬
duces gasping tor breath, and at this
stage the beak will often be held open.
The plumage becomes rutiled and neg¬
lected, especially about the head and
neck. The appetite gradually goes, by
and the bird shows its distress
pining, moping and seeking solitude
and darkness. The cause of this
disease is want of clean water and
from feeding too much upon hot
exciting food. As a cure, you may
remove the thickened membrane or
apply a little borax dissolved in tinc¬
ture of myrrh, by moans of a camel
liair pencil, two or three times a day,
or prick the scale with a needle and
give internally a pill about the size of
a marble, composed of equal parts of
scraped garlic and horse-radish, with
as much cayenne pepper as will out¬
weigh a grain of wheat ; mix this
with fresh butter, and give it every
morniDg, keeping the fowl warm and
well supplied with fresh water; pre-
rather than those who feed extrava¬
gantly high. The feeding of the lat¬
ter is often attended with waste. To
illustrate this point, we nmy mention
the case of a neighbor ol our own, a
successful farmer sixty years old, who
stall fed a yoke of oxen for market
last Winter. After eating sixteen
hundred pounds (1G00 lbs ) ot corn
meal, and all the good hay they wanted
they weighed exactly twenty pounds
(20 lbs ) more tbau when the feeding
began. noticed that the stock of
It is some
farmers is always in fine condition
They never feed high. cry little
meal or grain is used, and nothing is
wasted about their barns ; while the
stock of their neighbors who have
abundance of equally good bay and
usually as much meal, wiil be lean and
hide-bound, and iu low condition every
way. The greater success of one is
due entirely to his skill in the care of
stuck aud the uniform care and at¬
tention it receives.
Among the many essentials of
successful management, of stock ol
the first importance, is absolute regu¬
larity in everything. It has been said
that the appetite of a cow or a sheep
is a perfect chronometer. They know
when feeding time c »mes, aud become
uneasy if the feeding does not pro¬
ceed as usual. This restlessness is
unfavorable to thrift Absolute quiet
and contentment are essential to the
most rapid growth.
When the feeding time comes, the
regular rations should be given with¬
out delay, and with as little noise and
commotion as may be.
It is not only necessary to observe
regularity, but the routine itself should
be such as not to interfere with the
quiet of the stock. In the manage¬
ment of our own herd of dairy cows,
we practicd for a milking. time feeding The roots
at night after cows
were fed at three o’clock, and alter
eating two hours were milked, and
the turnips were cut in the barn
where the stable is situated, and led
to them just at night. If was found
that as the time fur turnips approach¬
ed, the cows were all on tiptoe of
expectation, watching every move¬
ment, and exhibiting the greatest If
earnestness and impatience. a
barn door moved, they looked around
anxiously for the expected treat. This
would begin more than an hour before
the regular time for feeding roots ;
aud if a basket lull were brought into
the barn, no more hav would they
cat until the turnips came. It was
found to interfere materially with the
welfare of the cattle and the product
of milk, and the hour of feeding roots
was changed. The plan of feeding
meal at once on ty ing up the cattle
in the afternoon, followed by roots
and then hay, proves to be more
satisfactory. It may be mentioned
that a peek of turnips each, t< d iu
this way, has no unpleasant effect on
the flavor of tne miik, the same
being thoionghly cooied and aerated
before closing theyjans for transporta¬
tion.— Ohio Farmtr.
The way to fame is like the way to ,
heaven, through much tribulation. 1
J i serve it from molestation by keeping
it. it by lit? itself, ifmpir fir.fl and you cnn will will penerallv generally
fin<1 if will «•< t vvidl if von Lave taken
tlie disease in time.
- ♦ % » - ----
How to Start a Co-operative
Dairy
A writer in the Albany Cultiva¬
tor makes some good points upon this
subject, which we copy for the advan¬
tage of our own farmers :
From every point of view the in¬
stitution is a success, and both cheese
and butter caa be manufactured
under the same roof; a ton of cheese,
and 700 or 800 pouuds of butter can
be produced in twenty-four hours, all
which will find ready market at and
large town or city. The business
cannot be overdone, for cheese and
butter are staple articles— essential*
in every family—and there is little
danger of producing too much, for
our western frontier will consume vast
quantities, and as yet can produce
but little, owing to the scarcity of
laborers.
The best way to start a butter or
cheese factory is to call a meeting of
the farmers in any given district and
obtain some man who has had prac¬
tical experience, who knows the busi¬
ness fully, and can give good instruc¬
tion upon the location, the size of the
building, the utensils required, Ac.,
to speak to them on the subject. His
expenses should be paid, and also his
time, and the money will be well in¬
vested. Then let the farmers form a
stock company, appoint a president
and directors, and subscribe for the
stock; and when the buildings are
erected and the needful machinery
procured, the farmers’ wives and
daughters will rejoice in a respite
from heavy toil, and will look forward
to the Summer withe ut groaning over
the thought of being worked to death.
Did the labor of the dairy fall
upon men—were they compelled to
skim milk and wash a hundred pans
or iin.ro every morning and night to
work and salt the butter, and put il
down—butter factories would have
been built by the hundreds long ere
this. For men usually avail them¬
selves of all labor-saving machinery.
They know the toil of mowing, reap
ing, threshing, Ac., and when they I !
can buy or hire the machines, they
doit; but they do not comprehend! I
the daily work of the dairy ; many ot
them imagine it is merely play to
stand and skim milk and make but¬
ter iu a cool, shady, pleasant room,
never thinking of the endless routine
of work demanded of tin* house
keeper—the maid ot all work—and j
how her overtaxed muscles and nerves
swell, throb and ache under all these
occupations.
Regularity in Feeding Stock.
The number of good feeders of,
stock among farmers is comparatively
small. By the term “good feeders,” j
we mean those who by a judicious j
economy and care iu management,
secure the greatest benefit to their
stock from a .iberal use of the forage
aud other farm products ted to stock,
Covering Manure.
It is remarkable that more attention
is not given to the subject of cover¬
ing manure from the weather, and
especially from too much rain. Those
who have given the matter particular
attend m have found that the manure
so protected is worth double that
which is left out in the open air. Two
loads for one is a profit few farmers
can afford to lose. There is no ques¬
tion which so vitally concerns the
farmer as this one of manure. Much
that he dor s has reference to it. Straw
is not to be sold because it makes
manure. Stock is led through t' e
Winter for the express purpose of
manure making. Articles which will
scarcely pay to send to market, art*
nevertheless taken to tin* city in order
that manure may be brought back as
a return load ; and yet the whole ot
the manure made, remain a all the
season exposed to the sun, wind and
rain, until it is diminished in value
to so great an extent as it is.
The trouble is probably that few
really believe that exposed manures
undergo this loss. But the matter
has been too thoroughly tested class to
admit of a doubt. We know first
fanners who did not themselves be¬
lieve it, until by actual experiment
they found cut its truth.
In -arranging*farm buildings, it will
pay well to look as much to the pre¬
servation of the manure as of the hay
or grain ; and those who have their
buildings already finished without
these manorial arrangements will find
that twenty five or fifty dollars spent
on boards for a covered shed will rank
among the best investments ever
made .—Germ antinen Tt ■ legraph.
(Japes in Chickens —W. B. Teget*
meier writes to the London Field :
"The fatal disease caused by the pre¬
sence of the gape worm, appears unu¬
sually prevalent I have bad il in
my own runs, where it has attacked
some Sebright bantams; but l have
found no difficulty iu curing it by the
means of carbolic acid, which 1 lir&t
recommended for this purpose in the
Field ol last year. So potent, are
the fumes of this powerful remedy,
and so destructive are they to para
s.tic ii!c, that their inhalation for a
few minutes even scorns perfectly ef¬
fectual in destroying the life ot the
worm. It is not necessary even to em¬
ploy any special apparatus ; a few
drops ot carbolic acid may be placed
iu a sp>on and held over the fl inic of
a candle until the vapor is seen to
ri-e, when the head of the young
chicken or pheasant (held in the other
hand) may he placed in the vapor,
which the animal is forced to inhale.
Care must be taken not to carry on
the process until the fowl as well as the
worms are killed. 1 find alter expo¬
sure to the fumes for a few seconds,
the bird may be regarded as cured,
and may be seen running about quite
well on the following day; if not, the
treatment should be repeated. The
medicinal carbolic acid is preferable
to the tarry- liquid used for disinfect¬
ing sewers and drains.'’