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MRS. BASLEY'S WESTERN POULTRY BOOK 



it is equally efficious in killing insects 

 and is less poison to the birds. It is 

 used in the strength of two and a half 

 mixed with a gallon of water. I have 

 used very successfully in the summer 

 time when the weather is warm the 

 kerosene emulsion made as follows: 

 Dissolve one bar of soap or one pound 

 of soap powder in a gallon of boiling 

 water; add to it a gallon of coal oil 

 and a pint of crude carbolic acid; 

 churn for twenty minutes or until you 

 wish to use it. Take one quart of this 

 top solution and add it to nine quarts 

 of water. Dip the hens into this, be- 

 ing careful not to allow any of it to 

 go into their eyes or mouth, but thor- 

 oughly wet every feather to the skin. 

 This will kill every living louse and if 

 repeated in about five days will prob- 

 ably kill those that are hatched out in 

 the meantime and prevent their lay- 

 ing any more nits. Tobacco water 

 has also been strongly recommended 

 as a dip, and chloro-naphtholium used 

 as directed on the bottle. 



The Sand Flea How can I rid my 

 chickens from a small insect known 

 here as the sand flea? I have tried 

 coal oil mixed with lard without effect. 

 The hens scratch their heads so they 

 become sore and some have died; oth- 

 ers have had to be killed. Mrs. F. 

 A. F. 



Answer Those fleas are very hard 

 to get rid of. Spray the henneries 

 well with either the kerosene emul- 

 sion or good hot salt water, and while 

 the ground is still wet, scatter on it 

 air-slacked lime. Those hens that have 

 sore heads should have carbolated 

 salve put on them, after swabbing 

 them off with corrosive sublimate. 

 This will kill the fleas and cure the 

 sores. Be careful not to let any of 

 the corrosive sublimate get into the 

 eyes or mouth of the fowls. 



Stick Tight Fleas We have noticed 

 a tick or louse on a few of our chick- 

 ens and have discovered some of the 

 insects on the perches. They resem- 

 ble small black beads and are firmly 

 imbedded in the skin. On some of the 

 fowls we have used for the table we 

 noticed a few red blotches on the skin. 

 We would like to know how to get rid 

 of the insects, particularly how to get 

 them out of the hen house. An In- 

 quirer. 



Answer You have the stick tight 

 fleas in your hennery. They are very 

 hard to get rid of, being in some 

 places a perfect pest. A friend of 

 mine lost 500 out of 700 chickens last 

 fall from this. I told him to spray 

 very thoroughly with salt and water 

 and he purchased 600 Ibs. of salt, scat- 

 tered it all over the hennery and yards 

 and then turned the hose on them for 

 several days in succession. He tells 

 me now there is not a stick tight flea 

 on the place. I advised him to get 

 some corrosive sublimate diluted with 

 alcohol at the drug store, take an old 

 tooth brush and carefully apply with 

 it the corrosive sublimate on any fleas 

 he might see on the chickens, being 

 careful not to allow any of the solu- 

 tion to get into the chickens' eyes (it 

 would blind them) or into their 

 mouths, as it is very poisonous. You 

 can paint the perches with this; it will 

 kill everything it touches. 



Head Lice This time I write in 

 desperation, hoping you may be able 

 to give me a' remedy. It is head lice 

 I am fighting, and after working for 

 almost five months, I am as far off 

 from being rid of them as at first. I 

 have done everything that I have ever 

 heard of. I still find they have head 

 lice and red mites besides. I hope no 

 other beginner has had the trials I 

 have had. Mrs. W. F. K. 



Answer The red mites live in the 

 houses or coops, except when they are 

 feeding off the chickens, usually at 

 night. The cure for them is to spray 

 the coops thoroughly and constantly. 

 You can keep them out of the coops 

 by spraying once every three weeks, 

 but if they once get in, you will have 

 to spray twice a week until you get 

 entirely rid of them, then once every 

 three weeks, to keep rid of them. The 

 head lice live on the heads of the 

 chickens. They lay two or three 

 white silvery nits (eggs) at the root 

 of the feather. The eggs hatch in 

 about five days after they are laid by 

 the lice, consequently to completely 

 destroy them, you should treat the 

 chickens that have them at least once 

 a week. The best way I know of is 

 to take an old tooth brush, a bowl 

 with nice hot soapsuds in it and a few 

 drops of the best carbolic acid; brush 

 the chicken's head with this, being 

 sure to touch all the lice and mites. 

 This, I know, is an excellent remedy, 



