1218 CYCLOPEDIA Ol- LIVE STOCK AND COMI'LETE STOCK DOCTOH. 



powder in a box with a perforated cover, grasp the fowl by the legs, and 

 shake the powder well among the feathei-s. Dust at le.-ist three times at 

 intervals of about a week in order to catch the lice which hatch out after 

 the first dusting. 



The mites subsist on the blood of the fowls and are not usually found 

 on the bodies of the bird except when at roost or on the nest. During the 

 day they inhabit cracks and crevices of the walls, roosts, and nasts. Sitting 

 hens are often so annoyed that they are compelled to leave the nests in 

 order to relieve themselves of these pai-asites. The free use of kerosene 

 about the nests and perches is useful in fighting mites. The walls of the 

 house may be sprayed with kerosene, the operation being repeated every 

 three or four days for two weeks. Insect powdere are of little avail. 



The following method has proved excellent in ridding houses of mites 

 and lice when the weather conditions are such as to perniit the birds being 

 kept outside the house for five or six houi"s. Close all the dooi*s and win- 

 dows and see that there are no cracks or any other openings to admit air. 

 Get an iron vessel and set it on gravel or sand near the center of the house; 

 place in the vessel a handful of shavings or straw saturated with kerosene, 

 and on these sprinkle sulphur at the rate of about 1 pound to every 90 

 or 100 square feet of floor space. Instead of wyug tht^ shavings and kero- 

 sene the sulphur can be saturated wth wood alcohol. When everything 

 else is in readiness light the material and hastily leavv:, the house. In case 

 any anxiety is felt about firo, a glance through a window will show 

 whether everything is all right. There is vei*y little danger of fire when 

 proper precautions have been taken to have plenty of soil beneath the 

 vessel. Allow the house to remain closed for three or four houi*s, at the 

 end of which time one can safely conclude that there are no living beings 

 inside. Now throw all the dooi-s and windows wide open so as to drive 

 out the sulphur fumes thoroughly, and then the fowls may be allowed to 

 enter. Let them in one by one, and iis each cntei*s catch it and dust it 

 well with insect powder, which will destroy the lice on the birds. Tobacco 

 dust is also good to use instead of insect powder. The birds and house 

 have now been freed fi-om vermin for the present, but the eggs of the in- 

 sects have not been de-troy cd, and in a week another swarm will be 

 hatched out. Therefore it will be necessary to repeat the operation once 

 or twice before the pests are exterminated. After this care should be 

 used to see that no strange fowl is admitted to the house or yard without 

 having been thoroughly rid of lice, for ono lousy hen will contaminate all 

 the rest 



