MAINE AGRICULTURAL LXPKRIMENT STATION. 69 



The routine method which the Station uses in handling its 

 stock with reference to the lice problem is as follows : — 



All hatching and rearing of chickens is done in incubators and 

 brooders. The growing chickens are never allowed to come into 

 any contact whatever with old hens. Therefore, when the 

 pullets are ready to go into the laying houses in the fall they are 

 free from lice. Sometime in the late summer, usually in Au- 

 gust or early in September, the laying houses are given a thor- 

 ough cleaning. They are first scraped, scoured and washed 

 out with water thrown on the walls and floor with as much pres- 

 sure as possible from a hose. They are then given two thorough 

 sprayings, with an interval of several days intervening, with a 

 solution of cresol such as is described on page 7. Then the 

 roosting boards, nests, floors and walls to a height of about 5 

 feet are thoroughly sprayed with the lice paint (kerosene oil 

 and crude carbolic acid). Finally, any yearling, or older birds, 

 whether male or female, which are to be kept over for next 

 year's work are given two or three successive dustings, at in- 

 tervals of several days to a week between each application, with 

 the lice powder described below, before they are put into the 

 cleaned houses. 



As a result of these methods the Station's poultry plant is 

 at all times of the year practically free from lice. 



In keeping a poultry plant reasonably free from lice there 

 are two points of attack: One, the birds themselves; the other, 

 the houses, nest boxes, roosting boards, etc. For the birds 

 themselves experience has shown that the best way to get rid of 

 the lice is by the use of a dusting powder to be worked into 

 the feathers. In using any kind of lice powder on poultry it 

 should always be remembered that a single application of pow- 

 der is not sufficient. When there are lice present on a bird 

 there are always unhatched eggs of lice ("nits") present too. 

 The proper procedure is to follow up a first application of pow- 

 der with a second at an interval of 4 days to a week. If the 

 birds are badly infested at the beginning it may be necessary to 

 make still a third application. To clean the cracks and crevices 

 of the woodwork of houses and nests of lice and vermin a 

 liquid spray or paint is probably the most desirable form of ap- 

 plication. 



