The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-02-08
PREVAILING DIEASES.

i An attempt is here made to deal onl
with those diseases which may becom
epidemic, or which may be frequentl
met with. Such diseases. therefore, a
liver complaint, egg bound, trouble
caused by bruises of body or CROP
dropsy, peritonitis. or any of the dis
L eases which may be peculiar to a few
will not be discussed. The disease
which are prevalent on these Islands
and which tend to influence the pro
duction of chickens to a considerab l
extent, are colds, catarrh, distemper
roup. sore head, pneumonia, light at
tacks of diarrhoea, canker in thu
mouth cholera, and those enemies o.
the chicken yard which promote
diseases-Iice, worms, mosquitoes, etc
The latter may render the chicken SUB
ject to incubation by breaking the
skin, as in the case of the mosquito
and louise, or they may lower the vi
tally of the fowl, as in the case OF
| the intestinal worm, which appropr1-
ates>the food the chicken eats to salts
| fly it's own appetite
CHICKEN POX (SORE HEAD.
| While no records are in existence as
| to all the different diseases. to which
chickens were subject in the early
10, come have been EaS---15--aa, s.-SS.....-.
which is chicken pox, or sore head
Diseased chickens were submitted to
the Bureau of Animal Industry of the
United States Department of Agricul-
ture and the disease was definitely
identified by Dr. ID. E. Salmon as
chicken pox The disease is called
chicken pox or sore head, but since the
latter name seems more prevalent
in the Hawaiian Islands, it is gener-
ally used in this bulletin. AS far back
as 1885, and probably earlier, the poul-
try fancierS were endeaVoring to COM
bat this dreaded malady, and to the
n hi uIn tn,
be one of the great obstacles to sue
cessful chicken growing in Hawaii.
Colds, bowel troubles, and other COM
plants were met with, but their raw
ages We're not so great as from sore
head. and for this reason little is found
relating to these subjects. At the
present day sore head holds first place
among the diseases of the poultry yard,
not excepting those which have been
introduced by importations of foreign
chickens and the new diseases which
may have originated in this climate,
and which would attack the less resist
ant imported stock.
Sore head is essentially a malady of
the hot summer months, and attacks
the chickens at the age of six weeks.
At the time when the disease attacks
the chick it is not as heavily clothed
with feathers as previously or later
Just at this time the mother hen begins
to show her chicks less attention, and
often fails to brood them properly.
At this time, too, they are subjected
to the pecks of the older fowls, and
begin to quarrel among themselves. All
these conditions render the young birds
subject to diseases which they might
otherwise be proof against. Then, too,
lice and mosquitoes have full sway
with their victim.
Sore head is due to parasitic fun
gus which attacks the chicken in the
oct ROT tnI auto Of he bn1
especially around the head and eyes.
The first symptoms of the trouble are
by the appearance of a very
small pimple or eruption of the skin
about the ear or eye, or perhaps the
bill. This grows so slowly and incon-
veniences the chicken so little that the
breeder rarely takes note of it. Later,
another eruption makes it's appear
ance, perhaps adjacent to this or per-
haps on the other side of the head.
the first has developed into
a large, scabby wart, which spreads
day by day. and yet the patient does
not appear to suffer greatly. The eyes
and decline sets in. The bird is not
able to find its food or water: a slow
siege of starvation follows, and a COM J
oination of diseases attacks it. colds
and roup being among the most i'm
portant Finally death comes to the
,ften forced out of their sockets and
he sight is certainly a painful and
disgusting one. Whole fiocks are
sometimes lost by the ravages of this
disease, and the fact that 1t is contag-
GUS renders it very difficult to handle.
PREVENTIvES AND REMEDIES.
Since the disease is caused by fun
rus, anything on which the spores can
i've will be a source of infection. The
disease germs may not necessarily be
onfined to the body of the chicken, but
exist also in the rubbish and
weepings from uncIean houses 1t is
ertain that the eXcrement of infected
irds will transmit the disease. At this
lime. too, the chicken is still trying to
luddle under its mother, and must {
therefore, come in immediate contact
nth its fellows. The filth on the moth
T may be a harbor for the germs. al
hough she may be resistant enough to
void incubation, while the brood !
18th their bare, henpecked. and mos
uito- bitten heads. are subjects on
-hich the fungus may find good condi-
ons for growth. The chick. once !
iseased, becomes a constant menace J
} the rest of the flock. 1t drinks the C
anne water. eats from the same trough T
r pan. and is bitten by lice and mos
uitoes. which may then attack
ealthy bird. and in time the whole :
pCk may become injected Inc de- /
,ction of the disease perhaps needs :;
ore attention, in that people do not r
sually observe the trouble until the
,cond stage of development. This is c
ute natural, as in a flock of small T
lickens it is difficult to detect one
hich may have an eruption on the
cad no larger than Il pin head, but l
lis is the time when the bird should C
2 detected and removed from the T,
ock. All the specimens examined,
ith the exception of two, were in the -
'cond or last stages of the trouble.
he disease is quite likely to escape Y
odce in the first stages, because the a
eneral health of the chick does not
,em to be impaired, and no other =
lysical indications are apparent. W
The disease has n regular period of W
evelopment. Precautionary measures
eing taken TO carry the patient
trough this period, it Will probably re- II
'ver with but few i'll effects. except o.
general rundown physical condition p
this connection it might be added b
lat if the warts can be kent off tho