The Poultry Run.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 717, 31 October 1914, Page 7

The Poultry Run.

LIVER DISEASE. The starchy liver is of a color re-, presenting- pale chocolate, and instead of being firm to the touch it is soft and "pasty." The scientific name of this form of liver trouble is hypertrophy. iThe liver is enlarged, the result of overfeeding, or feeding on maize or starch foods .such as rice and potatoes. Either an excess of food or food of a starchy nature regularly given will bring about hypertrophy, and more especially if the birds have little or no means of exercise...

Congestion of the liver is the simplest form of liver trouble, and is generally traceable to sluggishness. If neglected it is very likely to become acute, and acute congestion of the liver as a rule ends in inflammation of that organ. Temporary overfeeding will -sometimes cause, the trouble, and then the fasting of the birds for a day will suffice to enable the liver to recover its activity.. Lack of grit is often accountable for the mischief, and the gizzard -being behind in its work, preventing the liver from unloading rapidly. Inflammation of the liver is a serious ailment following an attack of neglected congestion. It is attended with fever, which means .that death? is not* far off. Hypertrophy is liable also to end in acute inflammation of the liver; indeed, so closely is this ailment connected with congestion, the one running into 1 the other, that iit is difficult to, say, at times, which is mainly responsible for the more serious ailment.. When congestion exists there is not necessarily hypertrophy, whilst, on the other hand, the latter ailment is always accompanied by the former. It is enough to know that either ailment, if neglected, is liable to account for inflammation should the fowls contract a chill. The symptoms of liver disease are seen in the shrunken and dark appearance of the comb and wattles.' When the darkening of the comb and wattles is accompanied by a purplish hue, one may be certain that a v deranged liver is the seat of the trouble.

The Remedies. First of all, let the birds be put on a short diet, allowing" them just enough to. exist upon, and then they will feed upon the fatty matter stored up in thdfr bodies. Add a "little tincture of iron and some Epsom salts to the drinking- water, which will have the effect of clearing ana stimulating the wearied and degenerate organ. Sliould there be looseness of the bowels, give, a dose of castor oil to clear the intestines of foetid matter, and later with a dose or two of sweet oil, which''will soothe the bowels. 'During the time the birds have .been doctored let them have charcoal, grit, and green- 1 food —all they will * eat—and' when an improved condition is seen in them, let them be given a gradual- increase in their rations, and let the latter be more of a flesh-former than a fat-producer. Make the birds exercise among litter, so that a good circulation of the blood, may be ensured. ON CAPONIZING.

Capbnizing is an operation which removes the sexual organs of the male fowl, and the emasculation process an unsexed bird, which puts on extra fle.sh, of superior quality. The operation is performed at from three to five months of age, andrthe gain in weight is considerable; in fact, it is said that the ordinary iolb.bird would 'scale 151b. if caponized. Another, and a big virtue, is the fact that the emasculated birds may be.allowed to run with the hens. This is a„pomt of much consequence to the farmer whose fowls all run together. In ordinary conditions with him the cockerels are an unmitigated nuisance; they worry thte hens, and,' worse still, begin the work of propagation too soon,' vrih tlie result .that they: become sninted in ■ growth, the quality of their flesh deteriorates, and they produce weedy progeny. On the/other hand, if the male birds—barring the breeding stock—were caponized at three or four •months of age, all the undesirable items, mentioned would disappear, to the financial advantage of the farmer. Improved Quality of Flesh. The improvement in flesh quality of the capon is marked, for obvious reasons, and a further point in ravour or emasculation is the fact, that the bird may be rounded up and marketed as' tljeymature." This means that an uninterrupted supply of good poultry meat to the city consumers could be maintained, as the capon takes from nine to 18 months to mature. As it is to-day the rule is to market the cockerels as soon as they begin to spar around" alicl become aggressive with the hens, the' result being that the drafts from the country districts are sent mi more or less at tlie same time.