The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-10-29
WHAT / KNOW ABOUT THE
GAPES.


Gapes is q disease which is USUALLY
found in young chicks. The peculiar
symptoms are a gaping of the chick
affected, accompanied by restless, I'm.
easy movements, and subsequent
weakness and death, with which all
poultry-breeders, are familiar. The
supposed cause of the disease is the
Judgment in the throat of the chick of
knots of small red worms, which can
often be extracted with a feather or q
looped horse. hair, and the patient be
cured. The origin of these worms
has been much discussed, but from
the fact that they usually accompany
wet weather, or heavy dew on the
grass where the young chicks feed, it
is surmised that the eggs from which
they are Matched are derived from the
moisture or rain water, and subse.
quently develop in the throat. Chicks
which drink from rain-water barrels
are also much afflicted with them.
Older chickens can cough or sneeze
them out, but young birds are sufo-
Gated and die from the effects of their
parasitic activity.
Various remedies have been recon.
mended to destroy the eggs and
worms, the best among these being
%turpentine and carbolic acid. The
Poultry Keepers method of admins.
tering the former remedy is a good
one, and is as follows: GAS soon as
signs of gapes appear, feed the entire
brood with a warm mass OF corn meal
moistened with milk or boiling water.
To each pint of meal, add a teaspoon.
full of spirits of turpentine. Mix the
turpentine with the meal while the
meal is dry. Feed it moist and
warm as stated above, and see that
every chick eats. If any refuse, give
them a pill of the mixture. This will
at least prevent the spread of the
gapes, and in many cases will cure the
disease"
Another method of using the tur.
pentine remedy, is by stripping a
feather, dipping it in spirits of turpen.
tine, and twisting it in the chicks
throat. The worms cannot stand a
strong-smelling substance; hence gar.
lie and assafetida have been success.
fully used in France. Giving the
bird a small piece of camphor daily,
and putting q few drops of camphor
or ~turpentin in the drinking water, is
also a good remedy. If a few drops
of kerosene be put in the drinking
water each day, it will be found use.
full.
In cas none of these simpler rem
edies prove effectusl, the process of
Immigration must be employed, the
main object being to cause the chick
to sneeze or cough the parasites out.
For this purpose put the chicks in a
small box, covered W it'll a cloth, haV-
ing a Slated bottom; heat a brick,
iron shovel or oyster shell, pour car
bolic acid on it, and allow the fumes
that arise to pass upward into the box
for from two to ten minutes, accord
ing to density. Watch the chicks
closely to see that they do not sufo'
cate. This has proved very e%fectual,
but must be done with care, otherwise
the chick will be destroyed also. Sui
phur, tobacco and tar may be used IN
the same way. Qucklime is also a
valuable remedy, and may be sifted
down through the cloth until the
chicks e readily, or a small pinch
may be dropped into the throat OF the
chick, the bill being held until 1t has
inhaled some of it. A powder pat
ented in England, and used for the
same purpose, is as follows: crow
dered quicklime, l h.; powdered sui
phur, ] h.; ~tincture of assafetlda, !
o.; arsenious acid white arsenic),
dr., and oil of thyme oroil of cummln,
l or. This is to be kept in a closely
stopped bottle to prevent stacking OF
the lime or evaporation of the volatile
constituents. When required, two OF
three tablespoonfuls are placed in a
depression in the centre of the coop,
and then a sharp blast from the nose
| of a bellows blows it all up into the
air, filing the coop and entering the
nostrils of the BIRDS"
If possible, chicks troubled VIII
gapes should be removed from the
healthy ones, and the ground dlsln'
fected with thecarbolic solution recon,
mended above for cholera. Deaq
chicks should be burned or buried
deeply.-C. z. WRrBRooK, in Country
/ Gentleman.