Poultry diseases / Causes, symptoms and treatment, with notes on post-mortem examinations

by E. J. Wortley

FRACTURES

Broken bones of legs or wings can be mended by placing the bones back in their proper positions and binding with light splints. The splints may be removed in about four weeks. It will be found that shanks are easily set, but that broken wings give far more trouble.

If a fowl dislocates its leg or its wing, the joint should be gently pushed back into place.

FROST BITE
A strain on the bird’s system

Symptoms. Combs and wattles are most liable to frost bite, particularly in breeds in which these parts are large.

Cause. Exposure to very low temperatures, especially if birds are suddenly turned out from warm quarters; dipping comb and wattles in water when the temperature is low.

Treatment. Prevent by keeping birds as warm as possible during winter, and do not allow them to go out early in the mornings in very cold weather. Drinking water should be provided in a vessel from which birds can drink without wetting their wattles. In a case of frost bite, thaw the affected parts by gently rubbing with vaseline and afterwards treat with a mixture of two grains of salicylic acid to one ounce of vaseline or lard.

GAPES
Serious in badly infested yards

Fig. 12.—GAPES
On left: Chicken affected with gapes. On right: a, male and female gape worms; b, gape worms in windpipe. (From Salmon.)

Symptoms. Frequent gaping and coughing; young chicks attacked, as a rule. Notice if any worms are coughed up by the chicken; if none can be found, but the gaping continues, put a stripped feather down the windpipe, as recommended under treatment, and see if any gape worms can be pulled up.

Cause. Small worms, red in color when engorged, which attach themselves to the mucous membrane of the windpipe. Affected birds cough up worms or ova, which infect the yard and sometimes the water supply. Earthworms taken from infested yards have been found to contain portions of gape worms, and may be one means of infecting poultry.

Treatment. Isolate attacked poultry and disinfect coops and yards. The worms may be extracted from the windpipe of a gaping chicken with a feather stripped nearly to the end, and moistened, but not dripping, with oil of turpentine. Hold the mouth open, push the feather down the windpipe, and give it a sudden twist, which will dislodge the worms and allow of their being drawn up. Fumigation by holding the bird’s head over an irritant vapor, such as that of carbolic acid poured into boiling water, is risky, but sometimes successful. If not cautiously done, much suffering may be inflicted on the bird.

Post-mortem. Cut open the windpipe and look for the worms, which may be easily recognized by Fig. 12. Male and female specimens will be found attached to one another.

GASTRITIS (CATARRH OF THE STOMACH)
Not a common complaint

Symptoms. This disease cannot be readily diagnosed while the fowl is living; it is generally associated with catarrh of the crop. (See page 37.) The symptoms are similar. Post-mortem examination will show the lining of the stomach in an inflamed condition.

Cause. The inflammation of the lining of the stomach is generally due to eating decomposing food or other poisonous matter.

Treatment. Empty the crop as recommended under Catarrh of the crop. Give one or two tablespoonfuls of castor oil and feed on soft and easily digested food with milk or barley water. Be sure that poultry are not allowed to run under trees that have been sprayed with arsenical poisons.

GOUT
Not a common ailment

Symptoms. The bird sometimes loses weight, and as the disease develops shows stiffness and an indisposition to stand. In some cases small nodules containing crystals of urate of soda occur on the underside of the toes.

Cause. Failure of the kidneys to perform their normal functions and consequent accumulation of urates in the bird’s system in excessive quantities. Gout may be due to too concentrated feeding.

Treatment. Medicines and treatment are of little avail. Endeavor to prevent by feeding a mixed diet.

Post-mortem. In one form of this disease, known as visceral gout, the liver and other abdominal organs are covered over with a powder-like deposit of the crystals of urate of soda.

HEART DISEASES
Not common, and cannot be treated

The heart is an organ that is subject to several serious diseases, but these cannot be detected with any certainty while the bird is living, and treatment cannot be recommended as likely to be successful. Post-mortem examination may show the following symptoms:

1. The heart sac full of serous liquid, in the case of pericarditis, or dropsy of the heart sac.

2. A reddening of the membrane lining the heart, in the case of inflammation (endocarditis).

3. An enlarged heart, in the case of enlargement of the heart.

4. Hemorrhage, in the case of rupture of the heart and of the blood vessels.

INDIGESTION
Disorder of the intestinal tract, that is not very serious

Symptoms. The bird mopes and shows signs of a capricious appetite. Either diarrhea or, less commonly, constipation, may be a symptom.

Cause. Disorders of the digestive tract, due to error in dieting—for example, overfeeding, or too little green food and not enough exercise.

Treatment. Alter the feeding, see that the water is clean, and give a dose of Epsom salts. (See page 9.)

JAUNDICE
Not a common disease

Symptoms. A yellow comb may indicate jaundice, but there are no definite external symptoms. Post-mortem examination shows distention of the gall bladder, due to an excessive secretion of bile.

Cause. Said to be due to continued congestion of the liver, arising possibly from too much heat-giving food.

Treatment. If the disease is suspected, give one grain of calomel as a purgative and feed on more green food.

KIDNEY DISEASES
With the exception of gout, kidney diseases cannot be detected by external symptoms

Gout (see page 63) is the commonest disease of the kidneys. In addition, there are some disorders of the kidneys (e. g., enlargement) that may be noticed on post-mortem examination. Little is known about these diseases; there are no symptoms that can be recognized before death, and no treatment can be recommended.

LEG WEAKNESS
Constitutional weakness, to which the heavier breeds are more subject than are the lighter ones

Symptoms. Fowls walk in an unsteady manner, without showing any specific cause for lameness. Young birds are more likely to be affected in this manner, particularly those of the heavier breeds.

Cause. Too rapid growth, the bird outgrowing the strength of its legs.

Treatment. Reduce the quantity of fat-producing foods. Care in the selection of breeding stock is important.

LICE
Invariably present in small numbers, and likely to become a serious pest, if not persistently controlled

Symptoms. Unthrifty look of fowl and signs of irritation; desertion of nest by setting hens; and, of course, the detection of lice on the fowl: this may be done by quickly turning over the feathers on the body and looking for the lice.

Fig. 13.—LOOKING FOR LICE

Fig. 14.—Three Lice That Commonly Affect Fowls (From Salmon.)
a. Lipeurus variabilis.
b, Menopon pallidum.
c, Goniodes dissimilis.

Cause. Introduction of an infested fowl; neglect to dust fowls regularly to keep down lice, and to clean out fowl houses and change the straw of nest boxes. At the season that lice are likely to be most prevalent the poultryman should take precautionary measures.

Description of lice. Lice are small insects ranging in size from 1∕25 to 1∕8 of an inch. They breed rapidly, laying their eggs on the feathers. They are not blood-sucking insects, but cause much irritation to the birds they infest.

Several species are found on fowls. Fig. 14 shows three of the common species.

Treatment. Dust fowls with fresh insect powder (pyrethrum). Smear sulphur ointment on head and under wings, especially in the case of chickens. Infested fowls may be dipped in 2% creolin. Dust setting hens with a lice powder before putting them on their nests. Infested straw should be burnt, and boxes, nests, fixtures, etc., should be thoroughly sprayed with 2% creolin.

LIMBER-NECK
An occasional complaint

Symptoms. The muscles of the fowl’s neck become so relaxed that they cannot support the head.

Cause. Limber-neck, due to partial or entire paralysis of the muscles of the neck, is believed to be associated with acute indigestion or worms.

Treatment. A strong purgative may be the means of effecting a cure by cleaning out any intestinal poisons and thus correcting the cause. If the treatment recommended does not effect a cure in a few days, kill the bird.