88 PARASITES OF THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



Control and Treatment 



In dealing with lice of poultry we should first discriminate between 

 the lice and the ticks, bearing in mind that the latter do not breed upon 

 their hosts. According to whether they be one or the other the treatment 

 will be modified somewhat, though certain measures of eradication may 

 be suitable for either. All species of lice, without a known exception, 

 passing their transformation upon the host, there may be confidence in 

 attacking them that there are no eggs and yoimg developing in some 

 out-of-the-way retreat, as in the case of ticks or bedbugs. 



As a means of controlling bird lice the dust bath should receive first 

 attention. The fine dust particles enter the spiracles of the insects, 

 killing them by suffocation, therefore, of whatever material it may con- 

 sist, the dust will be most effectual when fine and penetrating. Road 

 dust is usually quite suitable; it will be the more efficient if powdered 

 tobacco be added in the proportion of about one of tobacco to five of 

 dust. Fine ashes, in which powdered sulphur is mixed, make an ex- 

 cellent dust wallow. A mixture of road and lime dust, with the addition 

 of a cupful or two of sulphur, may be used with as good results. The 

 dust baths should be in deep and roomy boxes placed where they will be 

 sheltered from the rain. 



As an insecticide for the individual treatment of badly infested birds, 

 any oleaginous substance is effectual. As with dust, the principle upon 

 which its use is based is that of suffocation, the unctuous agent serving 

 to plug the breathing pores of the insect. A mixture of lard and sulphur 

 answers well for all birds. It should especially be applied at the throat, 

 upper neck, bases of the wings, and at the base of the tail feathers. If a 

 powder is used, as pyrethrum, the skin should be first moistened with 

 soapy water or equal parts of glycerin and water and the powder then 

 blown well under and through the feathers. 



Investigations by the United States Bureau of Entomology with 

 sodium fiuoride have demonstrated that lice infesting poultry may be 

 readily destroyed by the application of a small quantity of this powder. 

 It may be used in the powdered form or as a dip. Applied by the former 

 method, it should be sprinkled under the feathers of the neck, breast, 

 back, tail, below the vent, and upon the imder side of each wing as these 

 are spread. If used as a dip, this may be prepared by adding one ounce 

 of commercial sodium fluoride to the gallon of water. The solution 

 should be made tepid and the entire body of the fowl, excepting the 

 head, immersed in it. For the treatment of one hundred fowl, about one 

 pound of the powder will be required. 



As the lice are likely to be dislodged from their hosts to be harbored 

 for a time about nests, roosts, etc., it is essential that the eradicative 

 measures be also applied to the quarters of infested birds. The louse 



