128 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



painting it on the cankers, if the disease has reached this 

 stage. If not, I use one or two grains of quinine to a 

 fowl, or aconite and spongia in the drinking water. A 

 dozen homeopathic pellets of aconite to a quart of drink- 

 ing water, given early in the attack, may ward it off very 

 promptly. 



Good poultrymen everywhere rely less and less on 

 medicines, but more and more on prevention and disin- 

 fectants. The chief means of prevention for this last 

 class of diseases has been the open-front poultry house. 

 In such houses, diseases of the breathing organs are not 

 common. Sunshine and fresh air, here, as everywhere, 

 are Nature's best simples. 



Disinfectants to be used to ward off vermin may be 

 considered a necessity to every poultryman. He who is 

 most cleanly and who uses the most dry earth, kainit, 

 etc., on the droppings boards, will need the least insecti- 

 cides. Time, money, and work in incredible proportion 

 will be saved by using these aids as preventives. It is 

 rather easy, by spraying roosts once a month in hot 

 weather, and once in two months, possibly, in the colder 

 months, to keep the houses entirely free from the red 

 mite (which is gray or brownish when not gorged with 

 blood), one great foe to successful poultry raising. If 

 lice paint be used for this spray, the larger lice which 

 infest the fowls under the feathers will also be destroyed, 

 as the fumes of these sprays are fatal to the vermin. 



A paint, or spraying material, of this sort, much used, 

 is made by dissolving a pound of naphthalene flakes in 

 one gallon of kerosene. After it stands a day or so, with 

 occasional shaking, it will probably be in good condition 

 to use. Fowls, and even chicks, may be treated by 



