92 TURKEY CULTURE. 



Is easier to keep them away. If the sitting hen or turkey 

 has been treated with insect powder, as advised in the 

 chapter on Incubation, no lice will be on the mother or 

 In the nest to begin work on the newly hatched poult. 

 But if they do come, and they may in spite of all pre- 

 cautions, you must quickly rid the birds of them or your 

 losses will be great. If the young turkey begins to droop, 

 refuses to eat, and acts depressed, at once examine the head 

 for lice. You may find three or four large brown ones half 

 buried in the flesh. Remove them and rub the head with 

 sweet oil, or fresh lard mixed with kerosene. Examine, 

 also, the ends of the wings. There you may find some 

 large gray lice, which must be treated in like manner. If 

 you know that all insects, from the largest dragon fly to 

 the minutest hen louse, have no lungs like animals, but 

 breathe through countless pores in their skin, the same 

 as though we breathed through the pores in our skin in- 

 stead of through our nostrils, then you must know that 

 anything which closes those pores quickly, produces suffo- 

 cation. The best two things known to do that are oil and 

 Pyrethrum (Persian insect powder). Neither produces 

 any harm to lung-breathing creatures. Having applied 

 the oil to the head and the wings, throroughly apply Py- 

 rethrum to the rest of the body by means of a little 

 blower, which can be obtained at a drug store. Also dust 

 the mother turkey at night the same way. Never use sul- 

 phur on young turkeys. Carefully watch your flock, and 

 if you detect the lice again, go through the same opera- 

 tion. When the poults are fully feathered and have 

 "thrown the red," they can wander about and keep the 

 lice away themselves. If the broods are cooped, thor- 

 oughly scald their coops with boiling suds; burn the lit- 

 ter in them, replacing it with a fresh supply. Filth will 

 soon make short work of them. Feed on clean surfaces. 

 Give them full liberty on dry, warm days, and keep a 

 space of dry sand at all times convenient, for gf it and 



