POULTRY NOTES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 172, 7 August 1937, Page 17

POULTRY NOTES

' . . > : The Treatment of Sour Crop SUSCEPTIBLE BIRDS Sour crop.is a condition in which the food moves so slowly through the crop • that it bulges, and the contents become sour, watery and soft.. It is a trouble' Avhich is difficult to cure if left neglected. It pointa to a more or les* severe derangement of other organs, which, ifleft in that state, may become. acuLely . diseased. ' Soiir crop is identified when food xemains undigested in the crop in - Ihe morning. This is the very first sign* of what may. become a serious ailment. Generally, however, • the trouble is not noticed so early, and it is only when' the birds arO depressed, ' . ruffled in' plumage, anaemie, and the fiock yield is 1 dwindling that the fact of something being amiss strikes the owner. At these sigrts be sure. to apply the early morning test while the birds are still percbing. The crop piay then be full and watery, or coiitain undigested- mash or g'rain. • The task is to find out why 'the crop has become so affected, and there, inay be more than pne cause. In the first place the trouble- frequently occurs with fowls which are fed Qh sloppy mash "containing a high proportjon of cooked vegetables. This caiises the intestinal tract to become flabby and reduced in cfliicency. To give nothing but dry mash would be too great a change, but proportion of vcgetable matter could, be cut out and the mash dried off better, using less water and more bran. The ingredients may need to be, adjusted to balance lack of essentials in tlie scraps. Anything which > affects the digestion of food in the intestines must cause a sluggish riiovement from the crop, so much so that many swollen sour crops are caused by worms, coccodiosis or chilling (the latter particularly with chicks). In this case the crop is not so watery, and contaihs a considerable amount of undigested food in the shape of grain, etc., which can actualiy be felt. Examine the excreta for worms, and, if seen,. worm-expelling capsulea should be given. If there. are brownish areas, blood cleansing doses of Epsom salts should "be adminiatered (1, lb- to each ? 100 adult birds). There may alsO be some intestinal catarrh and derangement, and the following should be given in the drinking water each day for twelve days: — To each gallon of dfinkihg water add one ounce of a mixture of one ounce of powdered, iron sulphate and three ounces ot powdered copper sulphate dissolved in one quaTt of vinegar. If a too forcing and concentrated mash is fed the fowls will endeavour to bulk the food out, and may get meals of diy, tough, coarse grass or straw litter, which binds together in the crop. In this case the crop will feel hard, full and bulging, and show little liquid. Treatment must be to loosen the mass by giving glycerine, and expulsion by the mouth, but more important is it to prevent trouble by increasing bulk (using bran, lueerne or clover meal) in the mash up to . twenty per cent. Birds, which lack vigour are commonly sus^eptible to crop trouble simply because the intestines are slow tQ absorb food, which, therefore, remains in the crop. Such birds take on a more or less permanent and chrome form of crop swelling which does not respond to treatment. In this case the bird is best killed, and may do for table if sufficient flesh is on the carcase. In conjunetion with the treatment advised above, fTTe crop itself should be washed out by pouring in oliva oil and kneading the contents. With a liquid-filled crop, a warm disinfectant solution should bo poured in, rinsed round, and then expelled by inverting the bird and squeezing the crop. At the laying tests in England it would seem as if Rhode Island Reds are the supreme layers at the moment. I.ast montli, at Dorset, a Rhode Island Red had an unbroken sequence of 59 eggs. In the southern test a Rhodes team heads the list with 872 eggs, Light Sussex next with 836. In the Momnouth test Rhodes lead with 815 eggs, Wbite Wyandottes second with t90. At North- ■ ampton Rhodes are again in front with 909 eggs, Wyandottes 876. White Legliorns usually fill third place. Sometimes a poultry keeper is puzzled by the appearance of one or more chieks with beaks which seem too long and too tkin for the size of the bird. In addition, the logs may seem skrivolled and the toe-nails excessively long., If one or two only are affocted, it is probably a case of inherited weakness, the ehickens coming from an undersized hen or one iaekiug vigour. Should the whole brood seem affected, the probable cause is lack of direct sun rays. Poor nutrition, that is, wrong fceding, will caus6 these symptoms, which then poiilt to the fact tllat tho chick is not receiving enough of the proper food. Liver has been recognised during recent years as possessing unusual food value. Its use a ; a cure for anaemia lias become fairly general among human beings. Anaemia is a cominon complaint with poultry, and many breoding birds suffer from it, particularly towards the cnd of the breeding season. The inclusion of about 10 per cent. of liver in "meat meal has a marked eff-cct upon tho health of the birds, and it increascs fertility considcrably. The coarsost liver posscsses the same l food value as tho tondcrest, so that jfc . is oftcn possible to buy the former ' cheaply, as tlicre is not tho demaud for J human con&uraptioh. The best Avay 1" use liver is to simriler it for some liours, j pass it through the niincer, and use , both liquid and meat. Only a small quantity is nccessary, say, 1 ib. of li\Ter I , to evory D lb, of meat- meal, i