6 Farmers’ Bulletin 1110. 
and around the vent. Care should be taken not to get too much 
grease on the chick, as that might prove fatal. These head lice are 
very injurious and chicks should be examined often for them and 
be treated at once whenever the lice are found. 
POULTRY MITES. 
Of all parasites affecting poultry it is probable that ordinary 
poultry mites are the most troublesome and destructive unless kept 
under control. Unlike the lice, poultry mites are bloodsucking 
parasites and live entirely on the blood of the fowl. They are very 
small and are gray in color. However, after they have been on 
the body of the fowl and filled themselves with blood they look 
red and are called red mites. When they are not filled with blood 
they look gray and are called gray mites. They do not stay on the 
fowl’s body all the time, like lice, but during the day hide away in 
eracks and crevices, behind boards that are near the roosts, in the 
cracks of brood coops, and in other places. At night when the fowls 
and chicks go to roost the mites come out of their hiding places, 
crawl on to-the birds, and suck the blood from their bodies. The 
irritation and loss of blood cause mature fowls to become pale in 
comb and wattles and poor in flesh; sitting hens may desert their 
nests and spoil their eggs, if they do not die on the nests, and 
chickens become weak and droopy and in many instances die from 
the attacks. 
These mites are very small and sometimes hide themselves away so 
completely that the boy or girl may think the houses, coops, etc., are 
free from them unless a careful search is made. Knowing their hid- 
ing places, however, every club member should look for them very 
carefully every ten days or two weeks, especially during the summer, 
when they breed most rapidly, and if any signs of their presence are 
found, begin at once to get rid of them. 
Since poultry mites hide away in cracks and crevices during the 
day, the first thing that should be done to get rid of them is to give 
the poultry houses, roosts, nests, etc., a good cleaning. After the 
cleaning, spray thoroughly with kerosene, crude oil, or some heavy 
coal-tar preparation, making sure that the spray reaches all the 
cracks and. crevices and every other place where the mites may be 
hiding. The heavy coal-tar preparations are most effective and last 
longest. They can be purchased at most drug stores, with full direc- 
tions for mixing and use. It is necessary to spray thoroughly and 
often, especially during warm weather, if the mites are to be kept 
from annoying the fowls. 
