INSECTS AND OTHER TROUBLES 141 



sifter. A ten-cent box with a sifter top may be 

 bought at many drug stores. The hen should be 

 grasped by the legs and held head downward while 

 the powder is dusted into the fluff around the vent 

 and under the wings, favorite haunts of the lice. 

 The powder should be well worked into the fluff 

 and the birds put back on the roosts. It is well to 

 do this work by lantern light, so that the fowls will 

 " stay put." Special attention should be given the 

 roosters, as they are not likely to dust themselves as 

 thoroughly as the hens. 



A large proportion of the chicks which perish 

 every season succumb to the ravages of lice. It 

 often is difficult to make the amateur realize this 

 fact, but it is a fact, nevertheless. When the chicks 

 hatch, the head lice at once leave the mother hen 

 for them, speedily exhausting their vitality. The 

 body lice, too, accumulate rapidly. For the latter, 

 powder dusted on the chicks and under the wings 

 of the hen, where the chicks hover, will suffice. 

 This powder will not exterminate the head lice, how- 

 ever; a very little lard or proprietary ointment 

 rubbed on the head of each chick is necessary in order 

 to secure freedom from these pests. Several ap- 

 plications of these insecticides while the chicks are 



