168 LICE MITES FLEAS 



fact that this parasite is called the red mite, it is 

 only red when it is filled with blood at other times 

 it is gray with black spots. 



These mites at times become very serious as they 

 multiply with wonderful rapidity, and especially 

 is this true during the summer months. When a 

 poultry house once becomes infested with these pests 

 it demands vigorous action half-way measures will 

 not do, it means a fight, and a hard one. 



The red mite works at night; it crawls forth 

 from its hiding place and attacks the fowls while 

 they are at roost. Hundreds of these may prey 

 upon a single hen, fill themselves with blood, and 

 then crawl back to their hiding places contented 

 until the next night. During the day these parasites 

 lie dormant in the cracks and crevices about the 

 hen house, hence they are not so easily detected by 

 the novice. 



I have known cases where setting hens died while 

 sitting upon the nest, traceable to no other cause 

 than red mites, which have been assisted in their 

 propagation by filth, which has been allowed to 

 accumulate in the nesting boxes and the floor of the 

 hen houses. Dark, dirty and damp houses are 

 especially adapted for the breeding of these insects 

 and offer favorable conditions for their rapid 

 multiplication. 



By paying a visit to the hen house at night, and 

 being equipped with a good light, these pests may 



