CESTODE INFECTION IN CHICKENS 



229 



cies of tapeworm has been worked out in the United States, as is 

 discussed elsewhere in this paper. This species is known to have 

 its intermediate stage in the house-fly. House-flies breed commonly 

 in bird or horse manure, or any decaying vegetable matter. The 

 destruction of all such breeding places is a difficult matter and 

 little can be done along that line or with the destruction of adult 

 flies. However, fly traps* can be placed over the windows of the 

 chicken coop and many flies caught and killed. 



According to Stiles (1896:18), the principal remedies that 

 have been used for the removal of tapeworms from poultry are 

 such drugs as extract of male fern, turpentine, powdered kamala, 

 areca nut, pomegranate root bark, pumpkin seeds, and sulphate of 

 copper. These have been experimented with to a certain extent 

 and have been found to be satisfactory in some instances. 



The experiments with these remedies have been worked out 

 on individual birds. Each bird must be treated individually. 

 While such methods of treatment are thorough, they are not prac- 

 tical for a poultry raiser who has an infection in a flock of several 

 hundred birds. It would require handling each bird separately 

 two or three times, and demand a considerable amount of time ; too 

 much to be practicable on account of the expense involved. 



I tried experiments on a number of birds to see whether a 

 more practical method could be found. It had been observed 

 previously that hogs infected with worms could be freed from them 

 by feeding the ashes from corncobs. The ashes contain a large 

 amount of sodium and potassium carbonate. Lye is made from ashes 

 and of course contains similar substances, together with sodium hy- 

 droxide. 



The following experiment worked very successfully : Fifteen 

 birds which showed symptoms of tapeworm infection were placed 

 in a cage which was insect-proof and were given the following 

 treatment; A gallon of a mixture of wheat and oats, to which 

 was added a small tablespoonful of concentrated lye, was cooked 

 slowly for about two hours and allowed to cool. The birds were 

 fasted for about fifteen hours and were then given as much of the 

 mixture as they would eat, with plenty of water. Twelve hours 

 later one of the birds was killed and an examination of the small 

 intestine was made. It was found that nearly all of the worms in 



*Such as described by F. C. Bishopp, Farmers ' Bulletin No. 540, 1913. 



