PARASITES AND DISEASES OF POULTRY 
ence to food, and, if present in large numbers, may 
stunt or kill the chick, owing to the loss of life- 
blood caused by the sucking parasites. Artificially 
hatched and raised chicks do not require so much 
attention for lice and mites as chicks hatched and 
raised by a hen, because the latter will contract the 
lice from their mother; but even brooder chicks 
are seldom free from lice, especially after the 
first few weeks, and so they, too, require attention. 
Sitting hens are especially liable to be excessively 
lousy, because the conditions of heat and quiet in 
the nest are exceedingly favorable to the breeding 
and increase of the pests. If sitting hens hatched 
as many chicks as they do lice and mites there 
would be little use for incubators. Individual dust- 
ing with insect powder is necessary here. 
The tiny, blood-sucking mites are white or gray- 
ish in color, except when filled with blood, when 
they vary from red to black. These 
pests are terrible stayers and cause 
more damage and are harder to exterminate than 
the body louse. Especially watch for them around 
cracks or crevices in the roosts, nests and droppings 
boards. While the mites themselves can usually 
be seen, a plain indication of their presence is their 
excrement—little grayish patches, like fly specks, 
on the roosts and adjacent parts which they trav- 
erse. When you see these specks you may know 
with certainty that the mites are there. Liberal 
239 
Mites 
