70 RELATION OF INTESTINAL WORMS TO HYGIENE 



grounds and houses, that birds may harbor them all their lives and 

 be a menace to the production of ideal breeders, and that they may make 

 lesions which may be the starting point of more serious troubles, are enough 

 to emphasize the necessity of their elimination from the bodies of the birds 

 and from the ground of any well conducted poultry plant. This is a 

 principle that is quite as fundamental in poultry hygiene as the cleanliness 

 and neatness of the houses and yards themselves. 



In the warfare against the conditions produced by these intestinal para- 

 sites a most rational hygiene of the poultry houses and yards must be 

 observed. It is no less a fact that domestic birds as well as human 

 beings may receive infection through contaminated food. All the 

 means of communication may be recognized, and just as the spreading of 

 human disease is held to be a matter of public concern, and preventative 

 measures instituted by experts, and in view of the facts that intestinal 

 worms may be associated with other diseases, that they destroy the in- 

 testinal epithelium and cause emaciation, and general intestinal disorders, 

 together with deranged metabolism, it is clear that the elimination of 

 these parasites is absolutely necessary if poultry hygiene is to be con- 

 sidered in the rearing of poultry. The relation of these intestinal worms 

 to poultry hygiene should be of great concern to the poultryman if he is 

 desirous of maintaining his birds in a healthy condition. Careful consider- 

 ation, however, of the elimination of these parasites is a fundamental 

 principle, and if thoroughly and consistently executed will do a great 

 deal toward the production of healthy fowls and clean breeding stock. 



