DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



175 



Fig. 38.- 



-Meiiopon biscr latum. 

 (Fowls.) 



ing- loose boards and thus uncovering the parasites 

 that the extent of the plague can be appreciated. It 



should be reniem1)ered at all 

 times that the external animal 

 parasites are the most common 

 and frequent cause of trou- 

 l)le in the poultry -yard and 

 ])igeon-cote. If the birds are 

 not thriving and conducting 

 themselves satisfactorily, look 

 for these pests, take measures 

 to repress them, and in most 

 cases the results will be sur- 

 prising and gratifj'ing. When 

 anything is the matter with a 

 horse the maxim is examine his 

 feet., and when anything is 

 found wrong with poultry or other domesticated 

 birds, the maxim should be look for lice. 



C.vusATiON. — The louse ^. 



plague is the result of con- 

 tagion. The parasites are 

 introduced upon birds, and 

 they multiply and increase to 

 a remarkable extent when 

 the conditions are favorable. 

 It has been estimated that 

 the second generation from a 

 single louse may number 

 twenty - five hundred i ndi - 

 viduals, and the third gen- 

 eration may reach the enor- 

 mous number of one hundred and twenty -five thou- 

 sand; and all of these may be produced in the course 



Fig. yi.—Menopon latum. 

 (Pigeons.) 



