Parasites Cause Heavy Poultry Losses 



Vermin are exceedingly destructive to poultry, and in 

 many cases cause such heavy losses that the business 

 becomes a failure. An unrelenting war against parasites 

 is a necessary part of a farm program. 



Lice and other parasites increase very quickly in the 

 warm weather, and we should get a start of them by 

 exterminating the parent stock that has survived the win- 

 ter. In this way, the work will be much easier, and more 

 pleasantly done. The necessity for their extermination 

 will be more plainly seen if we understand just how they 

 affect the poultry. 



There are a great many different kinds of lice that 

 attack the fowls, but we can consider them all under 

 three classes, as they attack in the three different ways. 

 These three classes are body lice, head lice and mites. The 

 body lice are on all parts of the fowls' bodies, but more 

 especially in the soft, fluffy feathers. They usually remain 

 on the fowl, and they increase very rapidly. It has been 

 estimated that within eight weeks one of the lice will have 

 125,000 descendants. You will see from this how much 

 easier it is for one to destroy these pests before they get 

 well started in the spring. 



Body lice are not blood-suckers, but live on the roots 

 of the feathers and scales of the skin, causing irritation. 

 In getting rid of them, nothing equals a good insect pow- 

 der. Hold the fowl by the legs, head down, and dust the 

 powder into the feathers near the roots, rubbing it well 

 into the feathers and skin with the hand. 



Head lice are true blood-suckers. With their long bills, 



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