238 



POULTRY CULTURE 



Young chicks infested by large numbers of lice sit around, 

 mope with wings hanging down, and in a few days, usually 

 ten days or two weeks (depending upon the abundance of lice), 

 may die. For this reason it is the common experience that 

 brooder chicks thrive better, grow faster, and are freer from 

 many ailments than chicks hatched by the hen. 



Lousy sitting hens may desert their nests, the comb turn 

 dark in color. Finally, the birds, unable to rest day and night 

 as a result of the irritation caused by the crawling, biting 

 insects, become emaciated and die. 



Fig. 97. — The proper way to dust a ben. 



Parasites cause more loss to the poultryman than any one 

 other cause, and lice as well as other biting and blood-sucking 

 parasites may transmit or carry germs of disease from a bird 

 suffering with a contagious disease to a healthy one. 



It is not difficult to find the lice on a lousy hen. Part the 

 feathers and the lice will be observed close to the skin and run- 

 ning in different directions. 



More hce are found in the fluff, near the vent, and under the 

 wings. 



If the large head-lice are found upon the heads of the young 

 chicks, it is good treatment to grease the tops of the heads with 

 plain vaselin or lard. Care should be exercised not to apply 



