PRESERVING EGGS — HEN LICE 377 



Another successful method is to slake two pounds of good lump lime, 

 and while hot add one pound of common salt. After cooling, add ten 

 quarts of boiled spring water and stir thoroughly several times the 

 first day. Then let it settle, using only the clear liquid, which may be 

 poured over the eggs after they have been placed in a stoneware crock; 

 or the liquid can first be put in the crock and the eggs put in that, day 

 by day, when gathered. The eggs must always be two inches below 

 surface. More of the solution can be put in when necessary. Stone- 

 ware vessels are the most desirable ones for keeping these mixtures in. 



Eggs are sometimes removed from the shells, canned, and kept in 

 cold storage or frozen, and sold to large consumers. The most whole- 

 some method is evaporation. The egg is then reduced to powder 

 that will keep any length of time, in any climate, and can be carried 

 to places where poultry-keeping is out of the question and where all eat- 

 ables carried must be reduced to a minimum weight. 



Parasites of Fowls (Crosby) 



Hen Louse (Menopon pallidum). — There are several species of 

 lice infesting poultry, of which this is the commonest. When full 

 grown, it is over one twenty-fifth inch in length, slender, and of a 

 pale straw-yellow color. The eggs are laid on the feathers near the 

 base. The lice do not suck blood, but run actively over the body 

 and feed on the dried skin and feathers, but in so doing irritate the 

 skin with their sharp claws. 



Treatment. — Keep poultry in clean, airy, well-lighted houses, and 

 use perches and nest boxes that can be removed easily. Spray 

 perches, nest boxes, and the whole interior of the house either with 

 a 2 per cent solution of cresol disinfecting soap (formula page 436) 

 or with a mixture of one part of crude carbolic acid and three parts 

 kerosene. The application should be repeated in about a week to 

 kill any lice that may have escaped before. To free the fowls of lice, 

 brush the powder (see formula, p. 436) in among the feathers about 

 vent, fluff, and under wings. Repeat in two weeks in extreme cases. 



Chicken Mite (Dermamjssus gallinoe). — Minute grayish or red- 

 dish mites which attack poultry, mostly at night, and suck their 

 blood. During the day they hide in cracks and crevices about the 

 perches and nests. 



