Sick birds should be removed and destroyed, but the time usually spent in doctoring sick birds and disinfecting houses can in this case be better employed in finding and remedying the cause of the disease. Such causes may be looked for as dampness, exposure to cold winds, or to a sudden change in temperature as is experienced by chickens roosting in a tight house. Fall and winter are the seasons of roup, while it is poorly housed and poorly fed flocks that most commonly suffer from this disease. Flocks that have become thoroughly roupy should be disposed of and more vigorous birds secured. The open front house has proved to be the most practical scheme for the reduction of this disease.
Chicken-Pox, Gapes, Limber Neck.
Chicken-pox or sore-head is a disease peculiar to the South. It attacks growing chickens late in the summer. Southern poultrymen who give reasonable attention to their stock, find that, while this disease is a source of some annoyance, the losses are not severe and that it may be readily controlled. In the first place, the animal epidemic of pox can be practically avoided by bringing the chicks out early in the season. If the disease does develop in the flock, the birds are taken from the coops at night and their heads dipped in a proper strength of one of the coal tar disinfectants. Such treatment once a week has generally been effective. This disease is an exception to the general rule that disinfectants which kill germs also kill the chicken. The explanation is that chicken-pox is an external disease.
Gapes is given in every poultry book as one of the prominent poultry diseases, but are not common in the Northern and Western States. Gapes are caused by a parasitic worm in the windpipe. Growing chicks are affected. The remedy is to move the chicks to fresh ground and cultivate the old.
Limber neck is not a disease, but is the result of the fowl's eating maggots from dead carcasses. It can be prevented by not allowing dead carcasses to remain where the chickens will find them. No practical cure is known.
Lice and Mites.
The parasites referred to as chicken-lice include many different species, but in habit they may be classed as body-lice and roost-mites. The first, or true bird-lice, live on the body of the chicken and eat the feathers and skin. The roost-mite is similar to a spider and differs in habits from the body-louse in that it sucks the blood of the chicken and does not remain on the body of the fowl except at night.
Body-lice are to be found upon almost all chickens, as well as on many other kinds of birds. Their presence in small numbers on matured fowls is not a serious matter. When body-lice are abundant on sitting hens they go from the hen to the newly hatched chickens, and may cause the death of the chicks. The successful methods of destroying body-lice are three in number: First, dust or earth wallows in which the active hens will get rid of lice. Such dust baths should be especially provided for yarded chickens and during the winter. Dry earth can be stored for this purpose. Sitting hens should have access to dust baths. Second: The second method by which body-lice may be destroyed is the use of insect powder. The pyrethrum powder is considered the best for this purpose, but is expensive and difficult to procure in the pure state. Tobacco dust is also used. Insect powder is applied by holding the hen by the feet and working the dust thoroughly into the feathers, especially the fluff. The use of insect powder should be confined to sitting hens and fancy stock, as the cost and labor of applying is too great for use upon the common chicken. The third method is suitable for young chickens, and consists of applying some oil and grease on the head and under the wings. Do not grease the chick all over. With vigorous chickens and correct management the natural dust bath is all that is needed to combat the lice.
The roost-mite is probably the cause of more loss to farm poultry raisers than any other pest or disease. The great difficulty in destroying mites on many farms is that chickens are allowed to roost in too many places. If the chicken-house proper is the only building infected with mites the difficulty of destroying them is not great. Plainness in the interior furnishings of the chicken-house is also a great advantage when it comes to fighting mites. The mites in the daytime are to be found lodged in the cracks near the roosting-place of the chickens.
Mites can be killed with various liquids, the best in point of cheapness is boiling water. Give the chicken-house a thorough cleaning and scald by throwing dippers of hot water in all places where the mites can find lodgment. Hot water destroys the eggs as well as the mites. Whitewash is a good remedy, as it buries both mites and eggs beneath a coating of lime from which they cannot emerge. Pure kerosene or a solution of carbolic acid in kerosene, at the rate of a pint of acid to a gallon of oil, is an effective lice-paint. Another substance much used for destroying insects or similar pests is carbon bisulphide. This is a liquid which evaporates readily, the vapor destroying the insects or mites. Carbon bisulphide or other fumigating agents are not effective in the average chicken-house because the house cannot be tightly closed. The liquid lice-killers on the market are very effective. They are usually composed of the remedies just mentioned, or of something of similar properties.