BEAK AND THROAT OBSTRUCTION.
Cause.—Lodgment in the beak or food canal of a foreign substance, such as a kernel of corn, sunflower seed, bone, etc.
Symptoms.—Fowl jerks its head suddenly and frequently attempts to swallow. If a close examination is made the foreign body can be felt from the outside.
Treatment.—For the removal of such obstructions, no special treatment is needed further than to use care and avoid any injury to the beak or throat. Feed nutritious food, as wheat bran mashes and vegetables and see that they have a liberal quantity of good pure water at all times.
BLACKHEAD.
(Infectious Entero Hepatitis of Turkeys)
Cause.—Due to a protozoa taken into the system with the food or drinking water. This parasite enters the caeca which becomes inflamed and discolored and the liver is enlarged and studded with yellowish spots about the size of a pea.
Symptoms.—Although this disease is termed Blackhead, the discoloration of the head is not necessarily present in all cases; neither is this condition confined to this particular disease. One of the first symptoms is loss of appetite, followed in most cases by diarrhoea. The fowl becomes weak and loses weight rapidly. Examination of the liver after death will determine whether or not death has been caused by Infectious Entero Hepatitis. The dead birds should be burned to prevent the spread of the disease.
Treatment.—Prevention is one of the most important factors as this disease is very contagious and the protozoa once implanted in the turkey runs is almost impossible to eradicate. Provide clean, well ventilated coops and feed clean, wholesome food and good fresh water to drink.
Medical Treatment.—Give Bismuth Salicylate and Quinine Sulphate each one grain two to three times a day. Also mix Hyposulphite of Soda in the proportion of two to four grains to every fowl in their drinking water twice daily. Disinfect coops and runs with Crude Carbolic Acid, undiluted.