LICE— MITES— FLEAS 165 



numbers as to make the work of extermination a 

 most difficult task. On the other hand, if the 

 poultryman is on the lookout for these parasites he 

 will detect them at such time when the application 

 of lice powder or other lice killers will rid the 

 fowls of the trouble makers before they have a 

 chance to get a good foothold. 



Lice live, sleep, and eat among the feathers of the 

 birds ; they lay their eggs on the shaft of the feather, 

 mostly near the vent, and the heat from the fowl's 

 body does the incubating of these eggs. The only 

 chance a hen has in combating these pests is the 

 process of a dust bath, either in fine road dust or 

 ashes. The active fowl can destroy many of the lice, 

 which breathe through the tubelike openings in their 

 bodies by dusting, but insects which live on the blood 

 or gnaw the skin of the fowl seldom are killed unless 

 given the proper treatment by the poultry raiser. 



The "dust box" is without a doubt one of the 

 most valuable contrivances and no poultry house or 

 ward should be without one. It is one of the neces- 

 sities which can be supplied at little or no cost save 

 the few minutes' time it takes to keep it clean and 

 refilled. This box should be kept in a dry place, 

 preferably in the scratching shed. Setting hens 

 should also not be neglected in this respect; they 

 need the dust bath as well as the laying hens and 

 growing chicks. 



The chief preventive against the ravages of these 



