CROP TROUBLES IN POULTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 36

CROP TROUBLES IN POULTRY.

— A Form of Indigestion —

Poultry of all ages dies as a, rfesult oi trouble in the crop. This (says a writer in ■Idle . Fararar and Stockbreeder) is really a form of indigestion, but it arises from several different causes, and in many cases is due primarily to a disordered liver. Broadly speaking, crop troubles are of two sorts. Thers- is the mechanical form known as orop binding, in which, for some reason, there b an obstruction in the .passage leading * away from th© crop, which prevents the passing on of the food ; andi the other form of crop trouble is what is known as "eoffc crop," which is simply indigestion. Th' 9 writer continues : In the cou<rse of & short article I should like to point out the causes of thesa troubles, and the remedies for them. They axe common^ to no particular period of the year — occurring in summer and winter alike. The poultrykeeper is therefore always liable to have birds dropp'jtig 1 off here and th«.re with, this trouble. Consequently, a knowledge of how to treat the different forms is essential to every poTxltry-raieCT-"lt will he- noticed that as a fowl wanders about over the farm it picks up all sorta of different substances, and these are tnineled together in the crop — corn, grass, seedi, and grit all jumbled together. From the crop they pass on to the proventriole, or stomach proper, which is not a very large organ in a fowl, as the greater pro|K>rfcion of the digestion goes on in the gizzard. Now, if a fowl eats a lot of grass, or swallows a number of hay spikes, as poultry often do, it is easy to see how the little opening into the proventriole can become blocked. It only needs two or three 6pikes of hay 01 strings of grass stretched across the opening of the passage to effectively keep back the rest of the crop, and Bo th* crop becomes full of food, which cannot pass. This food starts to ferment-, and very soon trouble results.

'"Anothei way in which it may be brought about is by poultry overgorgiag themselves, as they will do sometimes with corn — particularly with maize. The crop is tba place in which the food taken by poultry undergoes a preliminary softening process, and the juices of tha crop cause the conn to swell very much. So that if a fowl gorges itself with Indian corn, as soon as the corn begins to swell impaction of the crop may ensue, and crop-binding is the result. The way to deal with this trouble is first of all to try simple methods, and if these are not successful an operation, will be necessary. Take the bird in (band and pour about half a teacupful of tepid watei down fche throat. Work about the contents of the crop with the hand, and see if he bird can be induced to disgorge by holding the head down. A little practice will enable the poultry -beeper to 'do this successfully, and if there be no long, stringy material in fche orop as a rule relief will ba given. All, then, that is necessary is to keep the bird foi a few hours without food, so as to enable its digestion to right itself again. If, however, the crop cannot be washed out in this way it will become necessary to open it from the outsi<se. ' This is not a serious operation if it is done carefully It must be borne in mind that there are two ekins to cut through — first the outer skin and then the firmer skin of the crop bag. A small opening, about an inch in length, should be made with a sharp pair of scissors. Then a mustard spoon can be used to extract the congested con bents. This having been clone,' a little warm, water, with a grain or two of permangauß/te ,of potash, can used to wash otrt the crop. Subsequently the hole must be sewn uj. This should Jbe done by using a little silk or catgut, great care being taken to sew tip the inner Bkin first, and not to allow the outer skin to be sewn on to the inner. This- having been done the bird's head should he tied up co that it cannot get at the- place. It should be fed for a day or two exclusively on stiff oatmeal pellets, and not allowed any liquid. The place -will very Boon heal up.

— "Soft Crop."— "Soft orop is the other common form tot trouble. It consists in the crop being always more or less full of watery fluid, jbhe bag of the crop hanging down and the Cowl not appearing to enjoy its food Now, this is indigestion pure and simple, and, e« I have already said, it often arises from liver taoubfe. The liver being disorgan-

lsed cannot perform the work which it is called upon to do, and consequently it cannot take from the crop ths food as rapidly as it ought to take it. The best possible treatment in oases of this kind consists first j in starving the fowl — that is to say, in i only allowing it a small quantity of food for a few days until it has recovered its normal condition. "This may .start fche cure, but further treatment will have to be pursued. This ( consists in giving medicine whioh. will tend to clear the liver. An occasional dose of Epsome salts -will do as much good as anything, there toeing nothing" better than that for clearng the livers of poultry. At the same time, a little powder added to tho food, or em occasional ohaxcoal and butter pill will be very aseful, as that will tend 'to counteract the acidity and sourness of the crop. If a bird is .persistently suffering from trouble of this kind it may oe taken for granted that such a one is not likely to prove a very profitable bird to beep, and it should therefore be disposed of at the first favourable opportunity — I mean, should be and killed." COLUMBIAN WYANDOTTE. — An English Standard. — The following is the standard and scale of points adopted by the Columbian - Wyabdotfce dub of Great Britain: — In both sexes the beak should be yellow or horn-coloured, the eye brigthfc bay ; the oom'b. face, ear-loibee, and wattles, bright red: ■hhe' Jesrs a-nd feet should be yellow or orange yellow. In th-c cock* tiho head should be silvpry white, the neck hackle silvery white, witn a disfci.net black strip** down "the centre of each ■foaAher: but the hackles should be • f r«3 from a black outer edging and blacfc tips. The saddle hackles <»hauld be a silvery white, and tail coverts a glassy greenblack, either laced or not with white. The tail feathers shauld be erlossy ffreen-blaclc. Tho primaries should be black or biaekediged with white. The secondaries should be black cm the inner edge and white on the outer. The rest of the 'body should be pearly white, entirely free from ticking, the imder-coloux being either slate, bluish- ! white, or whitei In the hen the head should be silvery I white, the 'hackles bright intense black feathers, entirely- surroumJaid with a silvery i white margin. The tail-feathers should be black, except the top pair, which, may or may^ not be laced with white. The primaries should be black, or black edged wiflh whiter the secondaries black on the inner edge and white on the outer. The rest of the plumage should be pearly white, entirely £ree from ticking, the under^ colour, beiniw either slate, bluish-white, or white. COCK OR HEN. Deduct Delects. up to Coarse or Brahma head .. .. .. .. 3 -Defective comb 5 Defective ear-lobes and wattles .. . r 4 Pale leas k 5 Scanty hackle 4 Defects in haokl-e f ft, t . .. 20 Primaries ou. of carder .. . .„ .. 4 Defects in tail 5 Want of size and condition .. . . .. 15 Want of type or shape . 10 - Impure body colour f . .. 25 j A perfect bird to count . . . . 100 Disqualifications. — Wry tail, deformed back, j crooked bill, and feather on leg. THt TOREEST-. XST WILD STATE AICI> DOMESTICATED. (E. OustaJet, in Chasse et Peche.) The young turkey© feed principally opstrawberries, blackberries, and grasshoppers, and the adults browse grass, piefceer grains, and all sorts of berries, or they devour chaffers, frogs, and small lizards.* Towards, the beginning of October the old males on •one part, the females and the young ones on the other, start in groups of 60 to 100 for fertile valleys, where they hope to find sufficient food. Arrived at their destination they separate in smaller groups, and during the entire end of autumn and the entire -winter they wander in the forests, approach isolated farms, mix with domestic poultry, and penetrate into th© barns in order to find grains. A certain number of them is thus^ caught, but it is especially in the spring that they are caught in traps or shot. "The wild turkeys," says Aud<ubon, "often approach the domesticated ones, unite or fight with them, turn them out, and appropriate their food. Sometimes the males court the tame females, and are. generally favourably received by the latter, as well as by the owners of them, who know perfectly well the advantages of this kind of union. In fact, the progeny in that case is much more vigorous than that of the domesticated turkey, and consequently it is easier to rear. At Henderson, on the Ohio, I possessed, among maay other wild birda, a magnificent turkey reared by me since his youfch, for 1 caught him when he was but two or three daya old. He became so -tame that he follow-&d everybody when called, and he became the favourite of ths whole little village, however, he never wanted to rooet with the domestic turkeys, but he retired regularly every night on the roof ot the house, where he stopped 1 till dawn." When this turkey reached the age of two years he used to pass his days in the woods, and one ovening he did not turn up as usual. Audubon thought him lost, but one day -w hen hunting he saw a turkey which allows-d hia dog to approach, and which the dog seemed to know. It was the same turkey which ran away some time before He was conducted again to the poultry yard, but he violated again the liberty which was accorded him to return to the woods, nhaie he was shot by a cportsmjm. The Prince Ch. L. Bonaparte has also made allusion to these matings between the wild turkeys and domesticated 1 ones of the United States. '"It is well known," says he, "that these birds associate easily, and, such is the influence of slavery even on the turkeys, the robust inhabitants of the forest can appropriate the food of his degenerate brother and deprive him of hi 3 females. He is generally well received by these latter, and the farmers know all the value or such alliances. The progeny is much appreciated by the epicureans, as it possesses tho juicy fat of the domestic turkey, at the same time the Savour of the wild turkey. A gentleman who lives in the County of Westchester (New York) procured some- years ago a young female -wild turkey for the purpose of trying a crossing, but owing to divers circumstances he did not succeed in hie enterprise, and he nearly lost the female, which disappeared in the spring.. But next autumn bhe re-

turned to the farm allowed by a numerouh progeny. The young ones were, in the beginning-, completely wild, but little by little they got tame, and it was possible toput them separately in an enclosure, whereas the mother ha 6 been left at liberty. She stopped at the farm till spring, and disappeared again : to return in the autumn. The came thing occurred during several consecutive yeare." ( CENTRAL PRODUCE MART (LTD.). s Messrs" Reilly, Scott, amd Gill, proprietors, report for tho week ending Satui Iday, ,14tih inst.: — Poultry: Light supplies came forward last week, the bulk being old, sbagv birds. Prifces at otsf usual w«ekly sale were well maintained, hens making from & to 2s 9d, amdi some extra choice to 3s; young roosters made from 2s to 2s lid; old cocks, Is 3d to Is 6d ; pullets, 3s to 4s 3d; store fowls, from Is to Is 3d; dxicks, 3s 9d to 4s 4d— all at per head. No geese forward. Turkey gobblers made 8d to 9d, jocks 3£d to 4|d, hens 5d to 7£d pea: lb. Eggs have beeD arriving t foeely. We cleared the whole of our conj sig-nmenfe a* Is to Is Id, though we hear at sales being made at lid per dozen. We 1 hold large orders at lid, and confidently | invite consignments. Pigs came forward ' freely, and we cleared our eonsagnmeMts at 4£d to 4-sd. Butter is in over-supply, and sales arc difficult to affect. We cleared our consignments from B£d to lid, though we hear of sales being made at 6£d to 9jpd. Oheese, 6£d. Rabbitskins are in excellent demand. We sold from Is to 2s 6d per lb. Fat, 16a to 20s. Horsehair, Is sd. J Beeswax, Is 4d. Honey, 3sd to 4|d. , Correspondence and consignments respect- • fully solicited.