Up To A Week Ago The Chickens Had Been Exceptionally Well In Every Way
Categories:
Poultry Keeping
Now they seem to have a cold and a running at the nose and with it a bad
odor. It was suggested that this might be the beginning of roup, but I
see no swell-head.
The distinguishing characteristic of roup is not so-called "swell head"
or other form of cold, but the offensive roupy odor. When the cold has
reached this stage it is a pronounced case of roup, and highly
contagious. Separate all the ailing fow
s and segregate them in
comfortable hospital quarters, warm but with one side partly open for
fresh air. Disinfect the quarters of the well fowls by spraying with
distillate or cheap-grade coal oil and sprinkling the floors and about
the houses with air-slaked lime. Use some simple remedy like coal oil or
permanganate of potash to cleanse the throat and nostrils. With coal
oil, first wipe the eyes and bill with a clean cloth dipped in the coal
oil, then inject with a sewing-machine oil can enough coal oil to
open and thoroughly clean out the nostrils. If the throat is affected,
give a tablespoonful of sweet oil and coal oil, half and half, two or
three times a day until relieved. One of our correspondents has sent us
the following treatment with permanganate of potash which he has found
the best roup remedy he has ever tried: Dissolve 1 ounce of permanganate
of potash in 3 pints of water, hold the fowl's head in this for a
second, then open the beak and rinse out the mouth in the solution. Wipe
with a clean, soft cloth and apply a very little witch hazel or
carbolated salve to the eyes, nostrils and head. Repeat the operation as
often as the throat and head become clogged with mucus. Until the
disease is eliminated from the premises, keep permanganate of potash in
the drinking water of all the fowls, both sick and well. About 1 ounce
to each 2 gallons of water or enough to give the water a claret color.
The sick fowls should be allowed no other feed but a little stimulating
mash three times a day. Where the fowls do not show a decided
improvement in the course of a few days, or where the disease has
assumed a violent form, all such birds should be killed and the bodies
burned at once.