POISONING

Symptoms. As a rule the poisons that fowls eat are mineral. The most pronounced symptom is evidence of pain. In cases of arsenical poison there is diarrhea. A poison containing a copper compound acts partly as an emetic, causing the fowl to make an effort to vomit. In cases of mineral poisons, post-mortem examinations show inflammation of the stomach and the digestive tract.

Sources of poison. Poultry are likely to get poisoned from the following sources:

Fertilizers (e. g., nitrate of soda) used on fields in which fowls scratch for food. Such cases are rare.

Insecticides and fungicides (e. g., Paris green [arsenic], lead arsenate, Bordeaux mixture) applied to plants under which fowls run. If sprays are mixed in correct proportions and used in normal quantities, there is little danger to poultry feeding on the grass below sprayed trees. Great care should, however, be taken in disposing of the sediment and the residue after spraying operations are completed.

Rat poisons (e. g., phosphorus, strychnine, baryta). These poisons are particularly dangerous when mixed with cornmeal or other bait attractive to fowls. The best way to set rat poison is to put it in a piece of piping of such a diameter and length that fowls cannot reach it.

Salt. Food mixed with salt for other domestic animals may be accidentally given to fowls. Chickens are the most likely to be poisoned by excess of salt.

Treatment. If fowls have eaten poisonous substances, the fact is not usually discovered until after death or until it is too late to administer an antidote. Most of the poisons fowls are likely to eat act as irritants of the digestive tract. Milk and white of egg should be given. It is advisable to give a stimulant, such as half a teaspoonful of brandy.

PYÆMIA
Not contagious, and not common

Symptoms. This disease cannot be diagnosed except by post-mortem examination and microscopic identification of pus-forming organisms in the infected areas (whitish spots) of liver, spleen, etc.

Cause. Pus-forming organisms believed to enter the blood through a wound in the skin.

Treatment. As there are no external symptoms, treatment is not possible.

RHEUMATISM
Not a common trouble

Symptoms. Lameness and stiffness of joints.

Cause. May be due in some cases to too stimulating food and to dampness.

Treatment. Put affected bird in dry quarters and vary food, adding more greens. Rub joints with embrocation, or turpentine and oil.

ROUP (CONTAGIOUS CATARRH)
One of the most serious contagious diseases

Symptoms. The bird first has symptoms of an ordinary cold, such as running at the nostrils and sneezing. Definite evidence of roup is the offensive odor detected on opening the bird’s mouth. The exudate is also offensive. The disease may attack the eyes, which then become inflamed and swollen; a tumor, containing offensive, yellowish, cheesy matter, sometimes develops. The course of the disease may extend over several weeks or months and there may be cases of chronic roup. Some cases end fatally in a comparatively short time. The form of the disease, in which yellowish patches develop on the throat, is dealt with under diphtheria or diphtheritic roup.

Fig. 19.—EXAMINING A FOWL WITH A SUSPICIOUS COLD

Cause. Cases of roup occur when birds are subjected to draft and damp, but the cause must be infection with disease germs. It is believed that the almost constant presence of the germs is due to lack of regular disinfection and to birds in the flock believed to have recovered from a previous attack of the disease, but that, in reality, are suffering from chronic roup, and are able, whenever suitable conditions arise for an outbreak of this disease, to infect the rest of the flock through the drinking water and the soil.

Treatment. The seriousness of this disease makes it imperative for the poultry rearer to isolate immediately any birds showing any suspicious symptoms. If treatment of the infected bird is taken in hand early, and carried out faithfully, a cure can be effected, but it is often wiser to kill and burn infected stock. In treating birds, the mouth and nostrils should be washed out with 5% carbolic acid, or with 50% hydrogen peroxide, or with 2% permanganate of potash. It is important to clean out the passage of the nostrils, and this may be done by:

1. Pressing against the roof of the bird’s mouth from inside and squeezing the nostrils from above downwards.

2. Syringing out the nostrils.

3. Dipping the fowl’s head for a few seconds in a solution of the disinfectant. Great care should be exercised in this method of treatment, which is only recommended when permanganate of potash is used.

It is well to keep birds isolated for some time after apparent recovery. When the eye is affected (see Fig. 20), the tumor should be carefully lanced and the cheesy matter removed, after which the cavity should be rinsed out with one of the disinfectants recommended above; such treatment may have to be repeated time after time.

Fig. 20.—A Roupy Eye

As an after effect of a cold or of roup, conjunctivitis or sore eyes may develop. A discharge comes from the eyes and the eyelids become stuck together. Bathe the eyes with hydrogen peroxide mixed with an equal quantity of water.

If this condition follows an attack of roup, there is danger that the fowl has not entirely recovered, and may be a source of infection to the rest of the flock.

SCALY LEG
An unsightly affection that, although contagious, does not spread rapidly

Symptoms. A rough and scaly growth on the legs of the bird.

Fig. 21.—SCALY LEG
A. Showing early stages of attack.

Cause. A small mite (Fig. 22), known as Sarcoptes mutans, burrows in the skin and gives rise to the unsightly growth (Fig. 21) that gives this disease its name.

Fig. 22.-The Mite That Causes Scaly Leg

Treatment. Soften the scaly growth by washing and soaking the legs with warm water and soap. Scrub the affected portion of the legs with a brush and then treat as follows: Dip the legs in kerosene oil, holding them there for not longer than a few seconds. If the kerosene oil is mixed with sweet oil, or if the legs are wet first with water, there will be no risk of the kerosene proving harsh, as sometimes happens. Sulphur ointment (see page 9) may be used instead of the kerosene oil treatment.

SOFT CROP
Not a serious complaint

Symptoms. Distended crop, soft to the feel.

Cause. Over-eating; or food turning sour in the crop.

Treatment. Hold bird downwards and squeeze contents of crop through mouth, taking care not to suffocate the patient. Repeat treatment if necessary. Put on low diet for some time, feeding slowly and sparingly.

TICKS
A pest found in the Southern States and tropical countries

Symptoms. The fowl has fever, appears depressed, and stands in a cramped position.

Fig. 23. The Fowl Tick a. Adult.
b. Larva.

Cause. The fowl tick (Argas minatus), which hides during the day in cracks and crevices, sucks the fowl’s blood at night and introduces a fever-producing parasite.

Remedies. Examine sick birds during the day, and visit the roosts at night, for proof of the presence of ticks; carefully search under perches, in nests, and in corners of woodwork, etc. Spray woodwork with 5% creolin; squirt kerosene oil, or turpentine, into cracks and crevices.

TUBERCULOSIS
A very serious poultry disease

Fig. 24. Organs Affected by Tuberculosis and Blackhead

Symptoms. This disease may be present in a poultry yard for some time without being detected. Suspicion should be aroused if birds gradually lose weight and die. If a bird that has gradually been getting thinner, goes lame, or loses the use of a wing, without apparent injury, the evidence that tuberculosis is present is strong, but positive proof of its presence can be obtained only by post-mortem and microscopic examination. This disease generally attacks adult birds.

Cause. The specific organism causing this disease, known as the Bacillus tuberculosis (Fig. 5), infects the liver (Fig. 24), the spleen (Fig. 24), and other organs, least frequently the lungs. The disease may be introduced into a flock by the purchase of an infected bird, and may be spread by uninfected birds picking up the excrement of diseased birds with their food.

Treatment. There is no known cure. The insidious manner in which this disease advances through a poultry yard makes it a very serious malady. Birds suffering from it should be killed and burnt. Thorough disinfection of coops, etc., should be made. Strict attention to sanitation will help in preventing and controlling this disease. If many birds in a flock are believed to have tuberculosis, it would be well to destroy the whole flock and start again, preferably on fresh ground.

WHITE DIARRHEA OF CHICKENS
A very serious disease, causing the death of large numbers

Symptoms. Chickens are generally attacked when 10 to 15 days old. They appear listless, their feathers become rough, and they stand about with drooping wings. A white diarrhea is soon noticed. Chicken after chicken shows similar symptoms and dies, resulting in much loss and discouragement to the poultry rearer.

Fig. 25.—CHICKENS AFFECTED WITH WHITE DIARRHEA
Ten-day White Leghorn chickens showing symptoms of bacillary white diarrhea. (After Rettger & Stoneburn.)

Fig. 26.—HEALTHY CHICKENS
Normal ten-day White Leghorn chickens. (After Rettger & Stoneburn.)

Cause. Various causes, such as improper or stale food, may upset the chicken’s digestive organs and give rise to a whitish diarrhea, but the term “white diarrhea” is best restricted to a contagious form of diarrhea due to minute parasites in the intestinal tracts of chickens. A coccidium and a bacillus have been proved by different investigators to cause very similar forms of white diarrhea. A distinct form of white diarrhea, known as brooder pneumonia, is described on page 35.

Treatment. This disease is a very difficult one to control. Incubators and brooders should be thoroughly disinfected. Special care should be taken in the feeding during the first few weeks. Chickens should not be overfed. The feeding of dry bran is recommended, as it tends to keep the bowels in a healthy, active condition. In the form of white diarrhea due to a bacillus, suspicion rests on the hen and the egg as sources of infection. When the disease becomes serious, and general sanitation and proper care of chickens do not control it, the advisability of obtaining the eggs for hatching from a poultry farm free of white diarrhea should be considered.

WORMS
Intestinal parasites that occasionally become serious

Symptoms. General debility; worms or segments of worms; seen in the droppings. If there is doubt as to whether a flock is suffering from worms, give a suspected bird a strong purgative and keep it up so that the feces may be examined for worms. If doubt still exists, the suspected bird should be killed and a post-mortem examination made. Cut the intestines open lengthways (see Fig. 34) with a small pair of scissors and wash them out with water so as to detect the smaller worms, and the tapeworms attached to the lining of the intestines.

Fig. 27.—Worms in Intestinal Tract of Fowl
(After Bradshaw. From Pearl, Surface & Curtis.)

Cause. Two classes of worms are commonly parasitic on fowls—round worms (see Fig. 27) and tapeworms. There are generally a few specimens of worms in the intestines of fowls; but only when the numbers are large do worms affect the health of the fowl.

Fig. 28.—THE PARTS OF A FOWL

Fig. 29.—SKELETON OF A FOWL

Treatment. Every bird suspected of having worms may be tested with a purgative as suggested above. Or, if it is established that several birds in a flock are suffering from worms, all in poor condition, without any cause being apparent, should be dosed with santonin—three to five grains in the morning before any food has been picked up. After about two hours give a purgative of two teaspoonfuls of castor oil and soon after let the fowl have its morning food. As important as dosing the fowls, is disinfecting the feed troughs, the water vessels, and the soil of the runs in order to prevent re-infection.

Nodular tæniasis. Small nodules on the intestines, resembling the nodules in tuberculosis, are sometimes caused by tapeworms. The name “nodular tæniasis” has been given to this disease.

CHAPTER V
Post-mortem Examinations

1. Making the Examination

A post-mortem examination should always be undertaken if there is any doubt as to the cause of death. Poultry rearers who are not already familiar with the normal appearance of the internal organs of a fowl should take the first opportunity of studying them.

Post-mortem examinations should be done in a systematic manner; but, if desired, a very speedy examination may be made by rapidly removing, or bending back, the breast bone of the unplucked bird.

It will be more generally satisfactory, however, to devote time to the operation, and it is suggested that the work be carried out on the following lines:

1. Nail the body of the dead fowl on a board in the position shown in Fig. 30, having first partly or wholly plucked the bird.

Fig. 30.—POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION NO. 1
Fowl nailed on board; lines A B, A C and B D show where to cut.

2. With a sharp knife cut along lines AC, BD (Fig. 30), and bend the breast bone backwards, exposing the internal organs. (Fig. 31.) As the breast bone is raised it will be necessary to cut through the mesentery and other connecting tissues. Break it back at D, cutting through the flesh and the muscle with sharp scissors.

3. Remove heart, liver, gall-bladder and spleen, making neat severances and without injury to any of the other organs. If the heart or large blood vessels be injured in the operation, blood will flow out and interfere with the work.

Fig. 31.—POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION NO. 2
Breast bone removed; internal organs in situ.

4. Cut through the œsophagus, below or above the crop, as most convenient, and also cut through the large intestine near the cloaca. Without disconnecting the parts, lift out the gizzard, intestines, and other portions of the alimentary canal, carefully tearing away the membranous tissues of the mesentery.

5. Spread the organs out and examine each one carefully and critically, making sections if necessary. (Fig. 32.)

6. Cut open gullet, crop, stomach, gizzard, intestines, and cæca and examine the contents.

7. Examine the lungs, cutting off a portion and throwing it into water, when it will float if healthy, but sink if congested.

8. Cut through the skin of the neck. Sever the windpipe near the head, and also where the bronchi enter the lungs. With scissors cut it open, and examine for molds or gapes or for exudates indicative of various forms of cold or lung congestion.

Fig. 32.—POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION NO. 3
Internal organs removed for examination.

9. Examine the brain (Fig. 34) for blood clots. Some care will be necessary in cutting through the skull so as not to injure the brain tissue, which should be a milky white. A sharp and strong pair of scissors or a small, fine saw (e. g., tenon saw) will be useful for older birds. Remove the skin and cut from behind, raising the bones and exposing the brain.

2. The Normal Condition of the Internal Organs

(See Fig. 32.)

The œsophagus carries the food from the mouth and passing down the neck beside the windpipe opens into—

The crop, where the food is macerated. Thence it gradually passes into—

The true stomach (or proventriculus), which is lined with small gastric-secreting glands that may be seen with the naked eye. This organ is hidden by the liver, and opens directly into—

Fig. 33.—POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION NO. 4
Lungs, kidneys, etc., in situ.

The gizzard, situated on the left side of the abdomen. It rests on the coiled-up mass of intestines. It is dark red and is partly hidden by the left lobe of the liver. The walls are strong and muscular. Here the food is ground against small bits of stone, etc. The partially digested food passes out through an aperture near the entrance of the true stomach into—

The duodenum or upper portion of the small intestine. It forms a loop that incloses—

The pancreas, a compact, flattened organ, pinkish in color, that discharges its secretion by three ducts into the intestines.

The small intestine, after forming the loop (duodenum), continues its course. It first passes toward the left and is disposed in many folds connected by the mesentery; toward the end it passes up behind the true stomach. Connected to the intestines are the blind bodies known as—

The cæca, connected to the small intestines for several inches and which, after becoming considerably smaller in diameter, enter the alimentary tract where—

The large intestine (rectum) starts. This portion of the intestines is short and enters—

The cloaca, into which the urinary and reproductive ducts discharge. The external opening is known as the vent or anus.

The brain, situated in the back of the head, is protected by the cranial bones. It is milky white except where the blood vessels may be seen.

The windpipe connects the larynx at the throat with the lungs branching into the two bronchi.

The lungs, situated in the upper portion of the thoracic abdominal cavity, are firmly attached to the ribs, in the interspaces between which they fit. They are flattened and oval in shape, bright red in color, and loose and spongy in texture.

The heart is cone-shaped. The lower portion rests between the lobes of the liver. The heart is red and is inclosed in a sac (the pericardium) that is easily removed.

The liver, situated a little lower down than the heart, consists of two lobes. The right lobe is often larger than the left which may be cleft at the lower end. The left lobe covers the true stomach and part of the gizzard. If there is some delay in holding a post-mortem examination the edges of the lobes of the liver become discolored. Normally the color is a purplish red.

The gall bladder fits into a shallow depression on the underside of the right lobe of the liver and appears green in color. A duct conveys the bile from the liver into the gall bladder, whence it passes by another duct into the intestine.

The spleen, a nearly round, reddish body, with a purplish tinge, is attached by a ligament to the right side of the true stomach and is hidden by the liver.

The kidneys extend along the sides of the spine from immediately below the lungs to near the termination of the abdominal cavity. The general color is a chocolate red, but a small portion at the upper end (known as the adrenal), is yellow. There is no urinary bladder. The urates are carried direct through the ureters to the cloaca.

The testes (of the male bird) are attached to the upper portion of the kidneys. They are white or very light-colored, and may be of different sizes.

The ovary (of the female bird), situated on the left side, covers the kidney on that side. It consists of numerous ova of various sizes each of which may develop into an egg. As an ovum passes through the oviduct it is first coated with an albuminous covering (the white of egg); lower down it is coated with a calcareous deposit that forms the shell of the egg. (Fig. 18.)

Fig. 34.—POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION NO. 5
Examination of brain and of portions of intestines and windpipe.

3. Diagnosis of Disease by Post-Mortem Symptoms

For purposes of diagnosis each organ must be examined. Note in each case if it is enlarged, spotted, ruptured, inflamed or engorged with blood. Observe if it is an unusual color or if it possesses any other symptom of an abnormal character.

A single symptom in a single organ, unless very pronounced and characteristic, will not be sufficient evidence for forming an accurate opinion as to the cause of death. But if the condition of the other organs and the symptoms before and attending death are taken into consideration, there will seldom be any difficulty, from a practical standpoint, in deciding upon the nature of the disease. Many points can be decided only by a pathologist with the aid of a microscope, such, for example, as the difference between coccidial and bacterial diarrhea, but it is quite enough for the poultryman to realize that one of his fowls has died of an attack of an acute form of diarrhea and that the rest of his birds may become infected.

The following notes draw attention to the main diagnostic symptoms observable on post-mortem examination, arranged under the heading of the organs affected. Other symptoms are put in parentheses.

Post-Mortem Symptoms