202 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



to twenty-four fowls, in two parcels, a few days 

 apart. It is said this will completely extermin- 

 ate the lice, and produce a remarkably healthy 

 and glossy appearance in the fowls. Strew oil- 

 meal about the floor, in the nests, and against 

 the rafters and sides of the buildings. Lining 

 the nests infected with lice with tobacco-stems 

 will expel them not only from the nests but 

 from the body of the fowl. Another writer in 

 the same paper says, "Lice may be destroyed 

 by placing lard beneath the wing and on the 

 back of the chicken." Sulphur, thoroughly 

 dusted into the roots of the feathers, and spread 

 over the entire skin, if used twice or thrice at 

 intervals of a few days, is a certain cure. But 

 the best remedy we have ever found is cleanli- 

 ness in their roosting-places and nests, which 

 should be often whitewashed with hot lime-wa- 

 ter, and to place plenty of slaked lime, dry 

 ashes, and sand, well mixed, where they can 

 roll and bathe, by which means they will soon 

 free themselves of the pests. 



Hens, while hatching, are very apt to be- 

 come infested with lice ; so much so, that they 

 are often driven from the nest. We have 

 known the eggs covered, and the nest alive 

 with them. In such cases we would recom- 

 mend removing the litter and eggs, and cleans- 

 ing the nest with scalding water. Then line the 

 nest with tobacco-stems. 



A friend of the author was complaining last 

 spring of the difficulty of keeping his hens on 

 the nest in consequence of the vermin infesting 

 them. We recommended the above, which was 

 adopted with perfect success, and he raised a 

 greater number of chickens than ever before. 

 This year he raised 250, while last year he 

 raised not more than 20 or 30 from the same 

 number of hens. 



RHEUMATISM AND CRAMP. 



These diseases, though differing in their na- 

 ture, arise so constantly from the same cause, 

 and are so readily removed by the same treat- 

 ment, that we have placed them together. A 

 disinclination and inability to move the limbs, 

 evidently not arising from mere weakness or a 

 permanently cramped condition of the toes, 

 are sufficiently characteristic. 



Caiises. Both disorders are caused by expo- 

 sure to cold and wet, and the tendency to them 

 may be much counteracted by preventing the 

 fowls, during their chickenhood, from running 

 among wet grass early in the morning. 



Treatment. Local applications are perfectly 

 useless. Good food, and a warm, dry habita- 

 tion, are generally effectual. When chickens 

 are hatched at such times as February and 

 March, it must not be expected that any treat' 

 ment can counteract perfectly the unnatural 

 circumstances under which they are placed. 

 If exposed, they suffer from cold ; and if con- 

 fined in close rooms, the want of fresh aii> nat- 

 ural green and insect food, produce equally un- 

 fortunate results. 



EATING THEIR EGGS. 



It is well known that hens, when kept shut 

 up, are very apt to eat their eggs. The best 

 preventive is to keep them well supplied with 

 lime and gravel, and with fresh meat, in some 

 form. 



Fowls to which a portion of chalk is given 

 with their food, lay eggs the shells of which are 

 remarkable for their whiteness. By substituting 

 for chalk a calcareous earth, rich in oxide of 

 iron, the shells become of a light cinnamon 

 color. 



