DISEASES AND INJURIES.
With ordinary care in cleanliness, freedom from cold damp drafts, and a well-regulated food supply, canaries are subject to few ills. In fact, most of their troubles may be traced to some untoward circumstance in handling them. Their diseases are very little understood and correct diagnosis is difficult, and though much has been written regarding them this has served mainly to reveal general ignorance on the subject. Present knowledge does not warrant an exhaustiveaccount of diseases, but in the following notes information is given on the more usual complaints of canaries.
When canaries become sick the first care should be to see that the diet is proper and to examine into the general sanitary conditions under which the birds are living. If canaries are confined in company with others, sick birds must be removed at once to a separate cage, since their companions will continually peck and worry them. Where numbers of canaries are kept, as a precaution to prevent spread of contagious or infectious diseases ailing birds should be removed from the bird room. It is always well to move a sick bird to a warm place. Heat and protection from drafts work wonders with ailing canaries and often are sufficient alone to restore them to health.
When medicine is necessary it is best to administer it in the drinking water. If this can not be done it may be given directly in the bill by means of a quill or a medicine dropper. In administering medicines it must be remembered that a canary is small and that a single drop in most cases is a large dose. Indiscriminate dosing of birds with various remedies is to be avoided.
The few instructions that follow are not to be regarded as infallible, but they may be of assistance in simple ailments. When a bird is seriously ill there is usually little chance of its recovery.
In case of bad fractures or injuries it is perhaps best for all concerned to end the trouble by killing the bird. If a valuable bird breaks a leg, a slender splint of wood wrapped in a slight wisp of cotton and held by a bandage may be applied with care. This support must not be touched for two or three weeks, but then it may be removed entirely. When the break occurs in the lower leg (tarsus) a small quill makes a simple support. The quill is split and cut down until it fits snugly around the part affected. It is then padded inside with a few shreds of cotton and tied carefully in place with silk thread.
Broken wings should be allowed to heal without outside interference. All high perches should be removed from the cage, and food and water made easily accessible. A bird with a broken wing must be kept as quiet as possible in order that the fracture may heal.
Baldness is sometimes occasioned by mites or bird lice and may be treated best by removing the cause. Loss of feathers about the head, however, may indicate old age or general debility. At the natural time of molt the growth of feathers on the bare spots may be aided by warmth and a well-regulated diet. In addition to the usual food, twice a week give a little bread moistened with milk which has been dusted with a mixture of two parts of sulphur to one of potassium chlorate. At the same intervals rub a little carbolized petrolatum on the bare places. Baldness is said to arise at times, particularly in spring, through failure to provide the canary with lettuce, apple, or other green food. In such cases improvement may be made by supplying this need.
The fact that canaries are injured by cold drafts can not be too strongly emphasized, and it may be said that a large proportion of their common ailments come from such exposure. In many cases exposure is followed by congestion in the intestinal region, and death ensues in a very short time. In ordinary colds there is difficulty in breathing and some liquid discharge from the nose. Frequently this is accompanied by coughing. A bird thus affected should be kept in a warm room free from all drafts and protected from irritating dust, vapor, or tobacco smoke. The symptoms are increased as the cold progresses and becomes acute, and the bird sits with feathers puffed out, seeming really ill. Breathing is difficult and rapid. If there is enough catarrhal secretion partly to block the respiratory passages a slight bluish tint is noticed beneath the transparent sheath of the bill. As a remedy, place in the drinking cup 1 ounce of water to which have been added 20 drops of sirup of tolu, 10 of sweet spirits of niter, and 10 of glycerin.
Pneumonia in cage birds often follows exposure and is nearly always fatal. The symptoms, rapid and difficult breathing with little catarrhal discharge, appear suddenly. The bird becomes very weak at once and usually dies in from two to seven days. Little can be done beyond sheltering the bird, as noted above, and providing an easily assimilated food, as egg food and bread moistened in milk.
Asthma is a chronic affection, in which there is difficulty in expiration of air in breathing. In severe cases a contraction of the abdominal muscles is evident in forcing the air from the lungs. Asthma is more in evidence at night, and often birds apparently free from it during the day will wheeze when at rest. There is practically nothing that can be done for it. Sometimes a semblance of asthma is caused by indigestion from overeating. Fanciers consider asthma hereditary and do not recommend birds so affected for breeding purposes.
Intestinal troubles in canaries arise in most cases from the food or water supply and are avoided by cleanliness and proper care. Dirty water cups with foul water, decayed or soured fresh or soft foods, or a poor seed supply lead inevitably to trouble. Should the canary contract diarrhea, remove all green and soft foods from the cage for a time and give only the normal seed supply. As a remedy, add a small quantity of Epsom salts to the drinking water for a day. If there is no improvement, feed the bird a bit of moist bread, with the surface covered lightly with bismuth (subnitrate), or place an ounce of water in the drinking cup, to which have been added three or four drops of tincture of opium. For constipation, the addition of lettuce, apple, chickweed, or other green food to the regular menu is usually sufficient; if not, a pinch of Epsom salts may be added to the drinking water. The quantity of the purgative should be enough to impart a faintly saline taste to the solution. Castor oil is not a good corrective remedy for small birds.
Occasionally birds in confinement “go light,” or waste away until they are far below their normal standard of plumpness, without marked symptoms of disease. In such cases change the seed supply, making sure that the seed is fresh and wholesome, and vary the diet with green foods, and with bread softened with milk. It is also beneficial to change the location of the cage; if possible, place the cage where it will receive the sun for a few hours each day, except in the heat of midsummer. Make sure that the canary is not infested with mites.
When worms are present, as sometimes happens, small fragments of these internal parasites may be seen in the droppings when the cage is cleaned. As a remedy, place in the drinking cup 8 or 10 drops of tincture of gentian in an ounce of water. This may be given for two days, and, in addition, two drops of olive oil may be administered in the bill by means of a medicine dropper.
For more serious complaints than those enumerated it will be well, if possible, for the amateur to seek the advice of some person with experience in handling cage birds.