LICE, MitES, TICKS AN> WORMS 



161 



for I have tried it. Another given by 

 a friend of mine is, get the druggist 

 to mix some corrosive sublimate with 

 the best pure alcohol, take the tooth 

 brush and brush the chickens' heads 

 with this, being very careful not to let 

 any of this get into the eyes (or it will 

 blind them) or into the mouth, as it 

 is very poisonous. This will not only 

 kill the head lice and their nits, but it 

 will also kill stick tight fleas, ticks and 

 any insects. It is very difficult when 

 once the pests get into henneries or 

 on chickens to get rid of them. It is 

 far easier to keep the enemy out by 

 constant and thorough cleaning at fre- 

 quent intervals, especially in the sum- 

 mer time. I find using tobacco stems 

 for making the nests of setting hens a 

 good preventative; besides this, I see 

 that all the fowls have good dust 

 baths in damp and mellow earth. 



Hump Themselves I will have to 

 come to you with my sick chickens. 

 It seems to be chicken raisers' only 

 refuge. I have lost several half-grown 

 and whole-grown. They kind of hump 

 themselves all together, do not care to 

 eat; do not stir around. I never no- 

 ticed any bowel trouble; it looks to 

 me like their heads turned dark; live 

 several days. What shall I do? 

 L. H. E. 



Answer It is very difficult to diag- 

 nose a case like yours with so little in- 

 formation about it, but from your de- 

 scription of the chickens humping 

 themselves and appearing sleepy, I 

 think they have worms. You should 

 open one and make a thorough exam- 

 ination; then you will know what 

 really is the matter. If it is worms, 

 give them thirty drops of turpentine 

 in a pint of water. Let them have no 

 other water to drink for a week, and 

 I think it will cure them. Possibly 

 they may be taking cold and very 

 probably may have lice. Examine 

 them and dust them, and try to dis- 

 cover what is giving them cold. Give 

 them a little poultry tonic and follow 

 my directions for the general care of 

 fowls. 



ever. He uses lime, sulphur and car- 

 bolic acid. Is there any way corrosive 

 sublimate could be used as a spray, 

 and would it be safe for the hens in 

 the houses? How long would the hens 

 need to be kept out after the spraying 

 was done? Am having the worst pos- 

 sible luck with my chickens. Have 

 probably hatched 550 chickens this 

 year and have less than 200 now. 

 When a week to ten days old they 

 begin to droop, refuse to eat and 

 starve to death. What is the matter? 

 No bowel trouble; no cold; no lice, or 

 only a few. Does cholera ever attack 

 such young chickens, and if cholera, 

 would they not have bowel trouble? 

 Would greatly appreciate an immedi- 

 ate answer, as the mites, get all over 

 me and drive me nearly frantic Per- 

 plexed. 



Answer The thing that is killing 

 your little chickens is not cholera, 

 otherwise they would have bowel 

 trouble; it is only the swarms of 

 mites. If they drive you nearly fran- 

 tic, think how the chicks must suffer. 

 The mites simply drain the life out 

 of them. The corrosive sublimate can 

 be put on with a spray, but it is dan- 

 gerous to do so, as if it splatters into 

 the person's eyes who is spraying, it 

 may blind him for life. One pound of 

 this costs $1.25 and that is sufficient to 

 make 120 gallons of the solution. As 

 it takes some time to dissolve in wa- 

 ter, it is usual to dissolve it in alcohol. 

 I have used it dissolved in alcohol to 

 paint henneries and nest boxes, and 

 it will destroy all insect life. You 

 must turn the hens out of your hen- 

 neries for several hours, or until the 

 walls are dry. 



Mites We are fighting mites, but 

 apparently with no success. We hired 

 a man who makes poultry ranch 

 spraying a business. We paid him $10 

 and he guaranteed to rid the place of 

 the pests, but they are worse than 



Flea Powder Mrs. C. B. R, Los 

 Gatos I do not think the "flea pow- 

 der" you mention would kill the little 

 turkeys, but as you ask what I use, I 

 will tell you. It is here called "Buh- 

 ach," and can be bought at any of the 

 poultry supply houses. It is made 

 from the "Pyrrethrum " daisy and is 

 perfectly harmless to all fowls, from 

 tiny canaries to mammoth turkeys, 

 but deadly to insects. It contains a 

 small quantity of an essential oil 

 which asphyxiates all insects, fleas, 

 ants, lice. etc. It must be kept in 

 an air-tight jar or tin box, as the es- 

 sential oil easily evaporates. Next in 

 value come the insect powders, the 

 foundation of which is tobacco dust. 



