to impress this emphatically upon the mind of every reader, it will have ful- 

 filled a mission the benefit of which cannot be estimated, and will have 

 resulted in saving many poultrymen a large amount of money, not to men- 

 tion worry and disappointment. 



Many people maintain that lice can spring spontaneously from filth alone. 

 This is not true. Lice can generate only from parent stock and these, in 

 some manner, must be introduced into a flock before lice can be present. 

 The ways of introduction, however, are so numerous, that it is almost uni- 

 versally true that where the fowl is, there also will be found the louse. 



There are many kinds of lice that attack the domestic fowl and we 

 might enter into a technical description of their nature, habits and classifica- 

 tion, but this would be a waste of time from a practical standpoint. For 

 our purpose we can consider them under three classes, as their habits run 

 in three directions, and it takes three different preparations to exterminate 

 them all. NEVER PUT FAITH IN A CLAIM THAT ANY ONE 

 PREPARATION WILL EXTERMINATE THEM ALL WITHOUT IN- 

 JURING THE FOWL. We will call the three classes, Body Lice, Head 

 Lice, and Mites. 



Body Louse. 

 Lipeurus Variabilis. 

 Illustration No. 32. 



Head Louse. 

 Menopon Biseriatum. 



Mite. 

 Dermanyssus Gallinae. 



BODY LICE Body Lice are to be found on all parts of the fowl's 

 body, but more generally around the vent and wherever the fluffy feathers 

 are located. They usually remain on the fowl's body and multiply very rap- 

 idly. It is 'estimated that in eight weeks' time, one louse can have produced, 

 from itself and offspring, 125,000 lice. While this species do not suck the 

 fowl's blood, they live on the roots of the feathers and by attacking the 

 scales of the skin. This results in extreme irritation and constant fretful- 

 ness of the birds. 



HEAD LICE These lice are of the family "pediculidae" which are true 

 blood suckers, and have long bills with which to puncture the skin and blood 

 vessels underneath. They fasten on the heads and throats of little chicks, 

 leaving the head of the mother hen as soon as the chicks are hatched. They 

 quickly sap the vitality of young chicks, and thousands upon thousands die 

 yearly from this cause alone. Brooder chicks are not exempt unless the ut- 

 most care is, taken to keep the brooder free from lice. 



MITES These pests are the worst of all, if it is possible to make com- 

 parisons. Unlike the body lice, they remain on the fowl's body only at night. 

 During the day they hide in the cracks and crevices of the roosts, dropping* 

 boards, walls of the houses, etc., or any spot where they can conceal them- 

 selves Where the roost comes in contact with the side of the building, they 

 find a convenient lodgment. You may notice an accumulation there which 

 has" every appearance of a handful of dust. It may escape your serious notice 



54 



