682 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



can once be entirely freed from lice, they may be kept so by keep- 

 ing away all stray fowls and by thorough treatment of new stock 

 may be brought in from the outside. To rid a flock of lice, the 

 best time to do the work is late summer or fall, preferably before 

 the moulting period, and when there are as few fowls in the flock 

 as will likely be kept at any time. 



Experiments by Bishopp and Wood have shown that the best 

 material for treatment is sodium fluoride, which is obtained in the 

 form of a dry powder. One application of this material, properly 

 used, is said to free the premises entirely from lice. 



The material is applied either as a dust or in water as a dip, 

 the action as a dust being slower than when applied as a dip. 



Applied as a dust it should be placed in small quantities, about 

 what can be picked up between the thumb and the forefinger, to at 

 least a dozen different places on the body of the fowl, these places 

 to be distributed as evenly as possible. Or the material may be 

 sifted into the feathers while they are ruffled and spread out, but 

 this method is not as convenient as the so-called pinch method. 



Sodium fluoride for dipping should be used at the rate of three- 

 fourths ounce to the gallon of lukewarm water and dipping should 

 be done toward noon on a warm sunny day. The water should 

 be placed in a tub and the fowls dipped directly into the water, 

 the feathers being ruffled while the bird is submerged to allow 

 the water to penetrate. The head is immersed once or twice 

 after the rest of the body has been dipped. This method is 

 quicker than the pinch method but should not be used in cold 

 weather unless one has heated poultry houses to work in. 



In West Virginia it has been found that a pinch of blue- 

 ointment rubbed into the skin just below the vent and another 

 on the head and under the wings, will rid the fowls of lice but that 

 this method must not be used for young chicks or for hens brooding 

 young chicks. 



Other remedies for lice have been tried, but in view of the 

 excellent results from the sodium fluoride treatment it would 

 seem inadvisable to recommend any other treatment. 



