508 DISEASES, PARASITES, AND ENEMIES 



bird's plumage after dipping, and to the impossibility of properly 

 fumigating without injuring the birds. 



A natural dust-bin should be provided "for each flock in some 

 dry, sheltered place, and it is a safe rule to dust the birds at least 

 twice a year with some reliable insect powder, repeating the process 

 twice, at intervals of a week or ten days, to catch the young lice, 

 which are still in the egg at the time of the first dusting. The 

 powder should be liberally sprinkled from a metal box with per- 

 forated cover, the birds being held by the feet, and the powder 



ifcJBl 



FIG 212. The scaly-leg mite, 

 Sarcoptes mutans. (Highly mag- 

 FIG. 211. The red mite of do- nified.) 



tnestic fowls, Dermanyssus gallince. 

 Such mites stay on the fowl's body 

 only at night; at other times they 

 hide in cracks and crevices about the 

 poultry house. (Highly magnified.) 



worked into the feathers with the fingers. Most of the lice will 

 be found in the down near the vent, and these parts should be 

 well dusted. 



Few of the commercial lice powders are reliable, but the fol- 

 lowing can easily and quickly be made at home, and is sure death.* 



Take 3 parts of gasoline and 1 part of crude carbolic acid, 

 90 to 95 per cent strength. Mix these together, and stir in grad- 

 ually enough plaster of Paris to absorb all the moisture, which 

 will usually be about four quarts of plaster to one quart of liquid. 

 Thorough mixing of the liquid and dry plaster will result in a dry, 

 pinkish-brown powder with a fairly strong carbolic odor. 



A commercial apparatus for dusting fowls consists of a hollow 

 cylinder in which the bird and powder are placed and revolved, 

 after which the bird is immediately liberated. This is effective, 



* Lawry's Lice Powder, Cornell University. 



