POULTRY FOR PROFIT 151 



an atomizer into the mother hen's feathers, under the 

 wings and around the vent once a week, will keep 

 her and her brood absolutely clean. 



Incubator chicks are free from lice when hatched 

 and will remain free if brooders are disinfected for 

 every new brood and are kept clean and at a dis- 

 tance from all hens, but it is just as well to dust 

 them occasionally as a matter of precaution. Dr. 

 Salmon says : "When anything is the matter with a 

 horse the maxim is 'Examine his feet,' and when any- 

 thing is found wrong with poultry or other domesti- 

 cated birds the maxim should be 'Look for lice.' " 



Dust and Distillate. — A friend of mine has de- 

 vised a clever method of keeping lice from baby 

 chicks. She finds a nice, dusty place in the back yard 

 and sprays the dust full of distillate. The chicks' 

 coop and wire run are then placed over this dust 

 bath, and the chicks wallow for several days. Their 

 down is soon filled with this oily dust, and the lice 

 never find them. 



Mites 



The most common and injurious of the eighteen 

 species of mites is the little red mite (Dermanys- 

 sus gallinae), which is found in nearly every 

 hen house that is not kept very clean. Cement 

 floors and a thorough sweeping out of all droppings 

 every week will go far toward keeping these 

 pests away. If in addition houses are washed out 

 with a garden hose every two weeks or oftener and 

 sprayed or painted once a month with some good 

 spray, mites will rarely find shelter in them. Nest 

 boxes must be cleaned often, painted with lice killer, 

 and fresh nest material put in. 



It must be remembered that whereas lice live on 

 the bodies of the fowls themselves and "subsist upon 



