Treatment. Make any changes in feeding or management that may appear desirable. Search at night for mites or lice on the birds; in the daytime examine the straw in nest boxes, the roosts, and the cracks and crevices of the woodwork for parasites. Much time may often be saved in discovering what is wrong with the flock by killing one or more of the affected birds and making a post-mortem examination to discover if a specific disease is the cause.
APOPLEXY
Not a common trouble
Symptoms. Staggering gait and bewildered appearance; bird generally drops dead suddenly.
Cause. Attributed to high feeding or over-laying.
Treatment. There is usually no time for treatment, but if the attack is mild, put the bird in a dark place and give no food for a few hours; give a dose of Epsom salts and add green food to diet. Bleeding from under a wing is sometimes tried.
Post-mortem examination shows clotted blood on the brain, the other organs being normal.
The name vertigo is applied to congestion of the brain as distinct from apoplexy due to hemorrhage of the brain. The fowl has fits. It is difficult to distinguish this disease from epilepsy (see page 55). The cause is little understood.
Fig. 7.—Head Showing Brain Exposed