WHEN DISINFECTANTS ARE USELESS 335 



eggs of flies, which are highly poisonous. Taken into the bodies 

 of the fowls these bacteria soon attack healthy tissue. 



Since few fowls or animals meet with accidental deaths, or 

 die without cause, it is well to consider all dead animal matter as 

 being highly poisonous, therefore unfit for food. 



All the disinfectants in the world are useless, and spraying, 

 white-washing and cleaning go for naught if the carcasses of 

 dead birds are left about the premises. We can treat disease till 

 the end of time, but we can never hope to exterminate it so long 

 as a single infected specimen remains on the plant. These are 

 not the vaporings of a crank. They are plain truths. And the 

 sooner we recognize them, the better it will be for our poultry 

 and other folks' poultry as well. 



If the evils resulting from the careless handling of dead animal 

 matter were a little more tangible, no doubt we would be held 

 accountable unto the law for spreading contagion. The fact 

 that these evils are not tangible, and we are not held technically 

 responsible, does not alter the moral obligation, however, conse- 

 quently we owe it to the community, as well as to our own security, 

 to provide every precaution. 



Flies thrive and breed upon carrion. They are notorious germ 

 carriers, traveling far and wide and doing untold damage. Your 

 flock of fowls may be perfectly well, and the conditions under 

 which the birds are kept may be the acme of sanitation, but if 

 your neighbor's ways are negligent, it will be only good fortune 

 if at some time or other your birds do not suddenly break down 

 with illness of some kind, which, if it could be traced, would be 

 chargeable to this neighbor. 



The Easiest Way. — Dead bodies, especially those of little 

 chicks, are improperly disposed of largely because it is deemed 

 easier to get rid of them by the shortest route. This is a fallacy, 

 if the bodies return in the form of disease, for nothing is more 

 troublesome to combat than a flock of sick chickens. In back- 

 yard flocks the bodies of dead chicks are frequently thrown into 

 the garbage cans, many of which are without tops. With or 

 without lids to the cans, this is a bad practice. 



