DISEASES OF POULTRY. 271 



tive. The diet should be changed, and cleanliness and fresh 

 air are indispensable. 



III. VERMIN. 



The whole feathered tribe seem to be peculiarly liable to be 

 infested with lice ; and there hare been instances when fowls 

 have been so covered in this loathsome manner, that the natu- 

 ral color of the feathers has been undistinguishable. 



Old Mascall says, " They get them in scraping abroad among 

 foule strawe, or on dunghills, or when they sit in nests not 

 made cleane ; or in the hen-house, by their dung lying long 

 there, which corruptes their bodyes and breedes lice and 



The presence of vermin is not only annoying to poultry, but 

 materially interferes with their growth, and prevents their fat- 

 tening. In trifling cases, no particular attention is requisite ; 

 but where the cases are bad, the fowl should be secluded from 

 the rest. It is Dickson's opinion that the infected fowl should 

 be killed ; but this does not seem to be necessary, except 

 where the nuisance becomes intolerable. He thinks, likewise, 

 that vermin are the result of a constitutional state, and that 

 they cannot be extirpated. But there can be no doubt that, in 

 this respect, he has fallen into serious error. 



Remedy. A writer in the Cultivator recommends to mix 

 with Indian meal and water, and feed in the proportion of one 

 pound of sulphur to two dozen fowls, in two parcels, a few 

 days apart. It is said that this will exterminate the lice, and 

 produce a healthy and glossy appearance in the fowls. Another 

 writer says " lice may be destroyed by placing lard beneath 

 the wing and on the back of the chicken." But Mr. Bement 

 says, " that the best remedy we have ever found is cleanliness, 

 and to place plenty of slacked lime, dry ashes and sand, where 

 they can roll and dust themselves, by which means they will 

 soon free themselves. " In this opinion we are happy to concur. 



