DISEASES AND ENEMIES. 155 



DIAKRHCEA of chicks with clogging of the vent. Keep chicks 

 dry, add a handful of linseed meal to each panful of feed, and 

 put a tablespoonful tincture iron into one quart of cold water for 

 diink. Also remove the hardened excretion and anoint the 

 parts. 



DYSENTERY. The symptoms are frequent straining and the 

 passage of urates streaked with blood. Give ten grains sul- 

 phate magnesia, followed in three hours by five grains Dover's 

 powder. 



Loss OF SIGHT AND WASTING AWAY. Homeopathic Phos- 

 phorus, 6. As a general thing, however, no treatment is effective 

 in such cases. 



FROSTED COMB AND WATTLES. As soon as discovered bathe 

 with compound tincture of benzoin. 



FOR LICE on perches, walls and coops, use one of the coal tar 

 products, which can be diluted one-half, more or less, according 

 to directions accompanying the product. Use as a spray. 



Pyrethrum powder, sold as insect powder, is the dry leaves 

 and blossoms of Pyrethrum roseum ground to a fine dust. This 

 kills by contact and is effective for dusting in nests, and through 

 the feathers of birds. It is not poisonous to animal life. Its 

 judicious use in the plumage and nests of sitting hens will in- 

 sure immunity from lice for the hen and her young brood. 



Chicks and poults are often killed by large lice that congre- 

 gate about the head, throat, vent and wings. To destroy them, 

 soak fish berries (coccolus indicus) in alcohol, take the birds 

 from under the mothers at night and slightly moisten the down 

 of the infested parts with the poison. Kerosen^ oil, clear, or 

 mixed with sweet oil or lard may be used in the same way if care 

 be taken to use only a little. 



RATS, of all vermin, are probably the most destructive 

 because of their number and because they harbor in and around 

 poultry buildings. Cats, terrier dogs, traps and poisons should 

 all be used for their annihilation. Rats have a great liking for 

 duckling^ and it is necessary to guard them with special care. 



OPOSSUMS will lodge in rail piles during the day-time and 

 raid the coops and houses at night. They kill a few at a time 

 and gnaw the neck and head only. A steel trap set inside at 

 the hole where the animal enters and screened by boards tc* 

 prevent the fowls from interfering will catch the rascals 



