204 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



not merely on the feathers. This ointment will drive lice away and 

 kill them, but it is not good to use on stock that are being used for 

 breeders as it may cause infertile eggs. On all other stock it is all 

 right. 



Fits Due to Lice. 



/ have a hen that acts as though she had fits. She tumbles around 

 four or five times and draws her toes together as if in pain. She can not 

 pick her corn off the ground but if I put it in a box she will eat it. 



Give the sick hen a little warm mash in which you mix a table- 

 spoonful of Epsom salts. Use lice powder on her, and find out if she 

 has head lice. Probably lice and worms cause the hen's condition. 

 Louse powder may be bought at any poultry feed store in one-pound 

 cans and if you have but a few chickens, that will be the best way to 

 purchase, as it soon loses its strength. To apply, turn the hen on 

 her back and hold the leg's apart, dust well along the abdomen and 

 under the wings; then turn the hen on her breast and dust tail and 

 back well up in the head, neck and all around. Make a good job of it, 

 and put the hen in a coop for a short time so she won't shake all the 

 powder out of her feathers. 



Scant Feathering. 



I have chickens a few weeks old with very few feathers. What is the 

 cause of it? My neighbors say it is feather lice. 



It is natural for the larger breeds of fowls to be more or less 

 scantily feathered at certain periods of chickhood, but the lack of 

 feathers might be, to a certain extent, due to feather lice. If these are 

 present they may be readily detected by examining the chicks. They 

 are usually found on the larger feathers of the wings and tail. Any 

 good insect powder or very fine flowers of sulphur rubbed into the 

 plumage will destroy them. 



Cleaning Out Poultry Ticks. 



How can I get rid of poultry ticks? 



To clean the houses and ground of ticks requires a good strong 

 disinfectant and the will to use it. Kreso Dip No. 1, used strong 

 will do the work. Or take one quart of crude carbolic acid to three 

 gallons of crude oil, and spray every crack and crevice of the build- 

 ings, under the sills and in the ground around them, if you have to 

 turn the buildings over to do it. Then dip the hens in a solution of 

 Kreso Dip No. 1 and warm water, or take Creolin and use a table- 

 spoonful to the gallon and dip the hens over head, see that the 

 feathers are well soaked, then set them out in the sun to dry. Grease 

 the ends of the perches and underneath with tallow and beeswax to 

 prevent the ticks from crawling onto the hens again if any survive. A 

 soft grafting wax with plenty of tallow is fine, but it must be soft or 

 they can crawl over it. 



