PARASITES AND DISEASES OF POULTRY 



ence to food, and, if present in large numbers, may 

 stunt or kill the chick, owing to the loss of life- 

 blood caused by the sucking parasites. Artificially 

 hatched and raised chicks do not require so much 

 attention for lice and mites as chicks hatched and 

 raised by a hen, because the latter will contract the 

 lice from their mother; but even brooder chicks 

 are seldom free from lice, especially after the 

 first few weeks, and so they, too, require attention. 



Sitting hens are especially liable to be excessively 

 lousy, because the conditions of heat and quiet in 

 the nest are exceedingly favorable to the breeding 

 and increase of the pests. If sitting hens hatched 

 as many chicks as they do lice and mites there 

 would be little use for incubators. Individual dust- 

 ing with insect powder is necessary here. 



The tiny, blood-sucking mites are white or gray- 

 ish in color, except when filled with blood, when 

 they vary from red to black. These 



Mites -11 i 



pests are terrible stayers and cause 

 more damage and are harder to exterminate than 

 the body louse. Especially watch for them around 

 cracks or crevices in the roosts, nests and droppings 

 boards. While the mites themselves can usually 

 be seen, a plain indication of their presence is their 

 excrement little grayish patches, like fly specks, 

 on the roosts and adjacent parts which they trav- 

 erse. When you see these specks you may know 

 with certainty that the mites are there. Liberal 



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