378 PESTS OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS 
hens or young chicks, but they do not remain on them all the time, 
usually feeding only at night or when a hen is on a nest, and hiding in 
cracks in the henhouse during daytime. Often they will be found 
during the day clustered in little colonies on the under side of perches, 
especially in crevices in the wood. 
In control the first measure is a thorough cleaning up of the poultry 
house. Then spray the interior with lime-sulphur solution or with 
20 per cent kerosene emulsion. The spraying 
treatment should be repeated after a few days. 
% The Itch Mite of Poultry (Cnemidocoptes mutans 
% Robin.) 
This pest is related to the common chicken mite, 
but attacks rather the legs, the comb, or the neck, 
where it burrows under the skin, causing a scaly 
Fic. 605. — The 
Chicken Mite. 
Enlarged and Crust to form. 
natural size. Dry, sunny quarters should be provided for 
Original. fowls attacked. The legs or other affected parts 
should be washed in warm soap and water, followed by the appli- 
cation of a suitable ointment, which should be one containing 
sulphur. 
Another species, Cnemidocoptes galline Railliet, causes such irrita- 
tion that the fowls pull out their feathers; or the feathers break off. 
A whitish, powdery substance will be found in the base of the quills, 
and in this the lice live. 
Give the same treatment as for the other itch mite, just described. 
The Cuban Hen Flea (Argopsylla gallinacea West.) 
In the Southern states this species of flea seriously infests fowls 
and sometimes is a nuisance to man. On fowls, the fleas collect in 
large numbers on spots bare of feathers, such as the comb or wattles, 
bury their sucking mouth parts in the flesh, and stick so tight that 
they can hardly be dislodged. The young develop in waste matter 
in the nest or on the ground. 
The remedies are suitable ointments or washes. 
