172 POULTRT- CRAFT. 



absence of a mark for mating No. i, and the ^ 



positions of the punch marks for Nos. 3 to 16, 1 ' l\ ' P* 



inclusive. /$\ /[\ 



247. Keeping Chicks Free from Lice. If & ^ 



the sitting hens have been treated to prevent the 2j 



rapid increase of lice while they are incubating, V 

 the chicks should be quite free from lice when i 



taken from the nests; but, as lice are elusive 6 



creatures, and not always found when wanted, "J> /[\ 



and as a very few of them can do a great deal of Q vj\ 



damage to a young chick in a short time, it is best ^ " JP. 



to powder all the young chicks when taken from J, ^61 \ / 10 s 



the nest, and at intervals of about a week, until JQ / ^|\ / ^]\ 



three or four weeks old. After that they need |V /K /K 



not be powdered unless unmistakable indications ( 



of the presence of lice are observed. \\ '6|o^ 



The easiest, quickest, and surest way to treat |Q ,^1^ 



chicks for lice, is to powder them in the coops in . . >K 



the evening or early in the morning, using a large * * ^ 



powder gun, which can be bought at any store ; J5 -MOv /olov 



or a box with a perforated cover, giving the chicks -in /K /K 



a good sprinkling of it the hen being meantime 

 held in one hand, working it well into the 



Fig. 78. Punch Marks for Chicks. 



feathers of the hen, held head downward, and 



puffing it into every corner of the coop, which should then be closed. If the 

 work is done at night, it should be left closed ; if in the morning, it should be 

 kept closed for half an hour or so. When coops like that in Fig. 44 are used, 

 the coop is tipped back during the operation of powdering. At first thought this 

 may seem an awkward way to go at it, but it will be found that neither hens 

 nor chicks can get out through the slide door as they can through a hinged top 

 when it is moved. Some poultrymen use lard on the heads, under the wings, 

 and at the vents of young chicks, to kill lice. This mode is effective, but too 

 slow, as it necessitates the handling of each and every chick. With the 

 powder twelve or twenty chicks are treated as quickly as one, and with fresh 

 strong powder the treatment is effective every time. 



248. Colors of Chicks When Hatched. Those not familiar with the 

 appearance of chicks of the various pure breeds when first hatched, are often 

 disappointed when they see the color of the chicks in the down so different 

 from that of the mature fowl, and imagine that there is something wrong with 

 the stock. Chicks of white varieties are generally canary colored when 

 hatched ; but White Plymouth Rock and Wyandotte chicks are often quite 

 dark gray. Light Brahma chicks are mostly canary colored, or canary colored 

 with one or two small irregular black spots on head and back. A few are 



