106 The Business Hen. 



If combs are smeared with glycerine or vaseline they will not be so liable 

 to frost bite. A good dressing for all wounds on animals is one part 

 carbolic acid in three parts of sweet oil. Feather pulling is usually caused 

 by idleness or a lack of meat in the diet. Generally there are a few birds 

 in the flock who do most of the mischief. If they can be caught at it 

 they would better be killed. Make the hens work or scratch for their 

 food and provide meat in some form. Little chicks sometimes kill and 

 eat each other. Members of a flock have been known to attack some 

 wounded bird and pick it to pieces. The victim usually has some wound 

 or sore that shows blood, and the others attack this spot. It usually indi- 

 cates a lack of meat in the ration. This should be supplied, and if the 

 trouble is bad the chicks should be separated, taken to fresh ground and 

 sorted so that the smaller ones are kept separate. 



THE CHICKEN MITE.— This little insect is probably the worst 

 single enemy of the average farm hen. It does more damage than the 

 large body lice, and is harder to destroy. No hen can be profitable 

 when infested with these mites. The hen stops laying, the feathers are 

 roughened, the head becomes pale, the bird is a picture of unthrift. It 

 is not uncommon for hatching hens to die on the 'nest, or to be driven 

 away from their eggs by these horrible creatures. The mites also attack 

 the little chicks and kill great numbers of them. The insects work mostly 

 at night, and not only suck the hen's blood but destroy her rest. The 

 insect is very small and very active. Fig. 46 shows one greatly en- 

 larged. In life they are one-twenty- 

 fifth of an inch long, gray in color 

 except when filled with blood, when 

 they are red. They usually only re- 

 main upon the hen long enough to 

 secure a meal. They hide in cracks 

 or in filth and litter during the day, 

 and at night when the hens return 

 to the roosts crawl out and begin 



their blood-sucking. The eggs are 

 Ki(!. 46. CHICKEN MITE. , .^ j , ., j • .t y ■ a- 



laid and hatched ui these hidmg 



places. The under sides of the roosts, the litter and straw in the nests 



are favorite places. They breed rapidly, and unless destroyed will swarm 



all over the house. There is no doubt that these mites can be carried 



from one farm to another on poultry, coops, clothing or eggs bought for 



hatching. That is one reason why no strange fowl should be put in the 



house without a thorough dusting with insect powder. A good way to 



use the powder is to put it in a large pepper box and shake it out among 



the hen's feathers. In some cases hens are dipped in a warm tea, made 



by steeping tobacco stems, or a preparation like Zennleum. The "dipped" 



