28 POULTRY DISEASES 



in decayed surfaces of wooden walls cannot be 

 reached, as by the gaseous disinfectants. Fowls 

 need not be shut out of the building for several 

 hours, as is the case when the gas is used. This 

 is often a considerable advantage. Furthermore, 

 the germs and parasites hidden in the walls and 

 roosts and buried in the decayed surface of wooden 

 buildings can in a great measure be covered up 

 and rendered harmless by the use of whitewash, 

 which should always be a part of the cleaning-up 

 and disinfecting of a poultry house. 



Liquid disinfectants are best applied with the 

 spray pump, and all the force possible should be 

 used in throwing the spray on the walls. In this 

 way it will reach all parts of an uneven surface 

 better than when applied with a brush, and much 

 time will also be saved in its application. 



Disinfectants will act more vigorously when ap- 

 plied hot, and solutions should always be at least 

 warm when they reach the surfaces to be disin- 

 fected. A copious quantity should be used. The 

 solution may cost but a fraction of a cent, or at 

 most a few cents a gallon, and it is a poor policy 

 to economize by using an insufficient amount. 

 Every part of the surface of the interior of the 

 building should be thoroughly wet and completely 

 covered with solution when disinfection is com- 

 pleted; great care must be observed that no part 

 is skipped. 



Mercuric chloride is one of the most powerful 

 disinfectants, but it is intensely poisonous and 

 must be used with caution. No puddles of the 

 solution should be left from which the birds may 

 drink when they come into the building, and tab- 

 lets of this disinfectant must on no account be 

 left where children can get them or where their 



