IXTRODUCTIOX. xy 



few neck and body lice will stunt the growth of 

 chicks and turkey-poults ; yet few poultry-breeders 

 try to check this often serious loss. 



The further one investigates these parasitic infesta- 

 tions, the more one is impressed with the absolute 

 necessity of cleanliness and freedom. The diseases 

 described in this book have always been observed to be 

 far more disastrous in dirty and neglected poultry-runs 

 and houses, where the host is kept in unhealthy and 

 unnatural surroundings, and thus rendered a more 

 fitting habitation for its various ' guests/ whilst the 

 parasites themselves are placed in most favourable 

 conditions. 



There is yet much as to which we are in the dark 

 concerning Poultry Parasites and their treatment ; and 

 it is to be hoped that poultry-keepers themselves will 

 be on the alert to note and record new facts they may 

 observe in this department, thereby helping perhaps 

 hundreds of others who are liable to have their birds 

 afflicted with the various parasitic diseases here 

 recorded. 



