LICE, MITES, TICKS AND WORMS 



185 



ground and nests, put the chickens in a 

 box and left them three hours. We also 

 used crude oil, poured gallons on the 

 ground, painted nests, roosts, etc., but 

 still the lice stayed on the hens' heads. 

 Last week we bought six Buff Orping- 

 tons; yesterday we found they were 

 alive with body lice, yellow lice, espe- 

 cially around the vent ; there were thou- 

 sands ; then we examined the Leghorns, 

 found they were infected also. What 

 shall we do? Do you think it would 

 hurt them to wash them now with the 

 kerosene emulsion ? Am afraid it might 

 give them a cold. — Mrs. C. S. B. 



Answer — What I should do were I in 

 your place would be to get some Bu- 

 hach powder, rub it well into the chick- 

 ens' heads for the head lice, and well 

 into the fluff under the wings and on 

 the backs for the body lice, then put 

 the hens, six or a dozen at a time, into 

 a large size dry goods box, at the bot- 

 tom of which is a newspaper thorough- 

 ly painted with a good lice killer ; cover 

 the top of the box with a carpet and 

 leave them in for three hours, then look 

 them over thoroughly and pull out every 

 feather that has nits on it. The nits 

 hatch out about every five days, so in 

 a week's time look the hens over again, 

 powder them again, and again put them 

 into the box painted with the lice killer. 

 Two applications should cure them. Af- 

 ter this, once a month, at night, powder 

 them with buhach and look them over 

 occasionally, and, if necessary, go 

 through the performance again. You 

 can paint the roosts with lice killer, but 

 do not put any in the nests, for it will 

 not only flavor the esrgs, but will kill 

 the germs and make the eggs unhatch- 

 able. The best thing to use for the 



nests is a kettleful of boiling water with 

 a large handful of salt added to it, or 

 scalding soapsuds, putting in fresh 

 straw, or, better still, making the nests 

 of tobacco stems. You can get these 

 for 25 cents a gunny sack full. 



Spray for Houses— Last summer I 

 found a recipe in one of your articles 

 for spraying hen houses. I used it to 

 good advantage, but have misplaced the 

 recipe and cannot remember the mixture 

 exactly. It was composed of coal oil, 

 carbolic acid and soap, with a certain 

 proportion of water. If you will kindly 

 send it to me, I will appreciate it. — 

 C. W. 



Answer — I gladly send you the recipe, 

 which is excellent. I have used it for 

 ten years or more. It will kill fleas, 

 lice, mites or any insect pests in the 

 henneries. It will also thoroughly dis- 

 infect the premises from infectious dis- 

 eases. 



Dissolve one pound of hard soap (or 

 soap powder) in one gallon of boiling 

 water, remove from the fire and add 

 immediately one gallon of kerosene and 

 one pint of crude carbolic acid. Churn 

 or agitate violently for twenty minutes 

 or until you want to use it. If the oil 

 and water separate on standing, then 

 the soap was not caustic enough. Add 

 to this ten gallons of water. 



I keep the stock solution on hand, dip 

 out a quart and add to it ten quarts of 

 water and use it for spraying the houses 

 once every three weeks in summer and 

 every month in winter. Putting it on 

 hot in summer and slopping it well into 

 dark and dusty corners will kill fleas, 

 which are exceedingly troublesome on 

 sandy soil in this part of the country. 



FEEDING IN GENERAL 



Feeding System — I am not perfectly 

 satisfied with my feeding system and I 

 follow yours on the food question. I 

 note that you advise dried blood and 

 other food dried in the oven, green cut 

 bone and bone meal. Would you advise 

 boiled liver, lungs and scraps instead of 

 prepared meat scraps? Are ground clam 

 shells pood in place of cut bone? Could 

 there be any chafer from feeding too 

 much ground shell? Should gravel be 

 furnished to chickens to pick from?— 

 D. F. 



Answer — Boiled liver and lungs 

 chopped fine are excellent for fowls. I 

 prefer them to prepared meat scraps. 

 They must be fed while fresh, as spoiled 

 meat may poison the fowls. Clam shells 

 cannot take the place of cut bone. 

 Crushed oyster and clam shells contain 

 lime, which is very good for making egg 

 shell. There is no danger of the hens 

 eating too much of this. Gravel or grit 

 should always be furnished to chickens. 



